A while back, we had the chance to interview fashion photographer Janna Park.
A while back, we had the chance to interview fashion photographer Janna Park. In that interview, I rambled on about sad movies and her work’s intimacy (you know, the usual dramatic flairs I never put down). Anyway, we really liked her work, so when she asked if we’d like to feature her again, we said, “Sure, but can we do something different?”
Different means different things to different people. Differences are just similarities for different things.
For example, I love reading poetry and assuming you’re mature and saved yourself from suffering from it, you probably don’t, so we might have that difference between us, but in reading poetry, I’m also similar to someone who loves poetry (these are my most special people).
But different right now, for this particular article that you’re reading, means that this interview isn’t really an interview. It’s, well, an interview + MORE!
No, I lied. It’s really an interview, but we are using exclusive photos, photos that have never been seen before. Yes! That’s the difference. Oh, also, Janna Park read these questions before her shoot then answered them after it. That’s that. This is that. It’s an interview about one shoot on one day.
Enjoy!
Before anything, could you give us a timeline of your shoot? When did you wake, when did you sleep? Also, make this timeline a list.
9:30 AM – Wake up
12:00 PM – Headed to the garden store in search of a cactus.
1:00 PM – Packed up supplies for shoot (Got camera and equipment together, along with wardrobe and props, a cooler with water and snacks)
2:00 PM – Makeup/Hair
3:45 PM – Makeup/Hair complete and putting on first outfit
4:00 PM – On the Road
5:15 PM – Arrived at location
7:30 PM – Done shooting
7:45 PM – On the Road back home
9:10 PM — the rest of the night – edited pictures until suddenly I was waking up on my laptop the next morning.
Whoa! That is what we call a Janna Park day.
What are your thoughts going into the shoot? What were the pre-production steps, or research?
Going into the shoot, the whole team is pretty excited. We’ve been waiting to do this for a while and so we are all very eager to finally bring it to life. The majority of our prep work really just included some minor shopping: buying the cactus, buying the flowers, thrifting for outfits. As for research, I browsed some other desert themed fashion editorials to see if there seemed to be a constant with lighting and how the red and yellow tones were handled not to look so overpowering. I’m always anxious about light.
Could you describe the weather on the day of your shoot? What was the light like?
The sun was still high in the sky by the time we started shooting, which was a little disheartening at first. Although, after walking around and getting a feel of the location, we noticed that in some areas, the sun was casting the most perfect golden beams through the stagnant dust that lingered in the air. This diffused the light enough to shoot freely despite the looming sun.
How did you prepare for shoot the night before? Did you read? Did you surf the web? Did you facebook?
I stayed over at the model, Brittney Flanders, house the night before the shoot. She’s a triple threat being an amazing model, a stellar creative director, and my best friend in the whole world. So naturally, we commenced a full out girls night featuring coconut oil hair masks, dead sea face scrubs, and Long Island Medium on que. It was really important for the mood of the shoot to be genuine, so we both wanted to feel as fresh and naturally beautiful as possible.
What are your goals going in? What image, or images, do you have in your head that you want to achieve? What colors are these images? Which moods?
The goal for the shoot was to produce images that were dripping with freedom, summer, and youth. I had pictures in my head of fringe dancing in the wind, of the sun peaking over the trees and casting a golden aura upon the entire valley, and for every surface to have an array of textures and patterns. I wanted to bring about a consistent essence of the importance of life.
Is there a story behind your shoot?
There’s not a story as much as there is a depiction of a spiritual journey. Everyone, at some point in their life, experiences a defining moment, or a series of defining moments that help guide one along the path to finding oneself. This shoot is about enlightenment.
This set has a lot of editing. What’s the motivation behind the edits?
Each wardrobe change marks a phase. The Aztec top with the purple skirt is the come up. The red top with the floral kimono is the peak. The Black leather jacket and the yellow floral body suit marks the come down, and the blue pants/gold top combo is the after-glow.
How many images did you take?
We took roughly 500 images.
Can we see more?
For sure, click here (Editor’s note: this last question is fictional. I wrote the answer. I thought it’d be clever to avoid my usual endings, which all sound like this: Be sure to check out all of Janna Parks’s work on her website! I think it works. Anyway, there are tons of photos left. I’ve included them below!)
Here are more photos to check out fron Janna Park!
