Bryan Farley Photography Educator

Hot Couture 2016 Fashion Show

On Valentine’s weekend, I photographed The Crucible’s 2016 version of their Hot Couture fashion show. This year’s theme was Alchemy & Ardor, “A Fusion of Fashion and Fire.” This was the third year that I photographed the show. Every year I learn something unexpected about creativity; each year I learn something about myself.

from runway 1 – click to launch gallery

Before I photographed fashion, I assumed that designers were boring. I don’t know how I arrived at this preconception. The designers at Hot Couture are a little too exciting for this blog. I don’t even upload some of my photos, because the designers are too interesting.  I am the boring one.

from runway 2 – click to launch gallery

While I don’t have much style or since of fashion, I have learned that I like fashion. I haven’t changed how I dress. I would need a personal stylist to help me match colors and textures, but I appreciate style more. I certainly enjoy studying photographers who shot fashion. The last two years I channeled Gordon Parks and slowed my shutter speed so that I could capture motion. I still like it.

from runway 3 – click to launch gallery

Fashion, and perhaps all art, seems to reveal and hide. As I was writing this post, I kept trying to remember some quote I have seen recently on Instagram about being kind to others because everyone is fighting some battle that nobody knows about. The more I looked through my previous Hot Couture posts, the more I realized

Everyone is fighting a battle that they don’t realize yet, or in my case, hiding from himself.

I realized I was hiding after one model and some audience members threw glitter. I almost always photograph in color, but occasionally I will photograph people in black and white stripes. When I photograph roller derby, I often photograph the officials who wear black and white stripes. I almost never think about the last time I wore a black and white striped shirt. It was traumatic.

I must have enjoyed photographing these women and the other striped people the next day, because I was able to unlock a difficult memory. I also rearranged my memories so that I think about one of my favorite photographers when I see black and white stripes. This morning, Magnum Photo sent a bulk email about their Werner Bischoff celebration. Werner would have been 100 this year. I adore his work. I love it. It sounds strange, but there is something about the way he composed his pictures that soothes my soul. His pictures are the opposite of bad fluorescent lights…

and he had a well known photo titled Zebra Woman

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 at 11:18 pm. It is filed under Education and Technology and tagged with Fashion Show. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.