Shooting with friends
There’s something different about working on a project with friends, and by that I mean friends that aren’t your peers or colleagues. Emilio’s been my neighbour since the 4th grade, and we spent much of our teens climbing water towers and downing shots of Jaegermeister. He got with Andi a couple of years back, and since then Andi and I have gotten to know each other a little better too. I was so excited to come back to the Philippines a few months back as I knew it would be a good opportunity for me to weave some new stories whilst in the company of friendly faces from my hometown. The vibe’s just different, you know? I’ve been doing all sorts of commercial and editorial work in London but the standard case is you don’t really end up seeing the people you’ve shot with unless you’re working together on another project – it’s different when you set out to craft something with people that you know, trust, and have fun with.
Cheap thrills
We didn’t plan too much ahead of the shoot, fact is we only decided to do it a day or two prior to our date. We thought it best to keep the photos raw and personal, and that meant not overthinking themes and preparations. Andi is a gem in front of the camera, and ever since they’ve been dating Emilio’s had a few moments in the spotlight as well. Their playful interaction made for intriguing photos, intimate and honest but gritty and imperfect. In between takes we drank whisky, smoked cigarettes, and filled each other in on what happened in the year we were apart.
Love in the air
It started out a bit strange when I found myself photographing my friends not only intimately, but in a sort of romantic way. I do engagement photography all the time for clients here in London, but it’s different when it’s your friends! We quickly settled into the vibe though, and despite jokes of this being a pre-nuptial photoshoot we got quite silly with it and just tried out whatever layouts worked!
Project details
Photos taken with a Sony A9 + 70-200 f/2.8 and Contax G2 with a 50mm f/2.0 and Agfa Vista 400, shot on location at Diamond Hotel Manila. What do you think of these photos? Let me know by leaving a comment below x
