The Search for Meaning...

Music | Basique by Little People

Recently, I was setting up a shoot to photograph a few models wearing Françoise Weeks' wares. I had found a great out of the way location, set up my gear and wait for my subjects to come to be photographed. While waiting, I decided it would be smart to do a test shot to make sure my lighting was going to work. I used Françoise to test upon and shot 1 exposure. My judgement at that time was more about what I had planned to shoot, not what I had just shot. As a test, what I saw on the lcd screen was fine - nice balance, good contrast, separation from the background... so I commenced to wait for the main event. Complications with planning for the event turned out to be not so good and I was told I was not going to have the opportunity to shoot the models...

A bit dejected, I quickly packed up my gear and left. We fortunately shot most of Françoise's work as still lifes so it was not a loss. We ended up getting fantastic photos. When I got back to the office, I thought about the shot I took of Françoise. As I downloaded the files onto the computer, I pulled the file of her immediately to get a closer look. My attention suddenly shifted to what was in front of me. Quite excited, I worked the colour image to black and white, made minor adjustments and came out with a wonderful portrait of Françoise; one that I thought held profound truth within it. Most people as I imagine see her full of life, brilliance and always with a smile. Those qualities alone captured in a portrait often would be enough. However, in my eyes, there was that, but so much more held within the rectangle box captured by the image.


Françoise Weeks | 2014

Here she is, not in context to her usual persona of all things soft and with vibrant colours. The disassociation of how most people who know her or even just seeing her work makes this image all the more powerful to me. I love tension... contrast... the unexpected...  Here we see beyond the floral poet. Here, with her hands gesturing as a genius conjuring another amazing idea and the intensity in the eyes shows a side of Françoise people don't go far enough to see. This image takes you a step further.