Alexander Shelley
Client: NAC Orchestra
Location: Studio, Gallery Elder
Brief: Alexander Shelley portraits to market the NAC Orchestra
Theme: Renaissance Elegance
Process: Having worked with the NAC Orchestra and Alexander Shelley a few times, we wanted this new series of photos to be different, exploring themes that would resonate with patrons of classical music. When photographing Alexander, we've leaned into his comfort in front of the camera. Let's be real—he's a good-looking gentleman. We knew he'd be generous with his time so we elaborated a few scenarios for the portraits.
Gallery Elder resonated with the aesthetic intentions of our theme, Renaissance Elegance. Both Shelley, the ochestra and music he directs and the nature of classical music itself speak to this level of history and elegance we wanted these new portraits to portray. The space is thoughtfully curated by owner Tyler Brand, with a very specific intent to share the vintage history of the furniture and art he's curated in his store. It was essential to work with a space already suited for the shoot to add simplicity to our day schedule, ensuring that we maximized our time with a high-profile client; Rémi did a practice shoot at Gallery Elder with Maryn using his old Hasselblad. Those photos help prioritize the scenes and share the general direction with the client.
We then moved to HoC studio, playing with shadows and poses. We wanted to create a unique feel rather than the standard studio shot, keeping Shelley's James Bond-esque vibe. I want to dig deeper into the origins of classical with the choice of locations, that was my first intention. Having the Music Director himself featured in the photos was important. This was very important and present in mind in preparing the shots we would create. We were also able to achieve this by creating strong V shape shadows, clean full-body portraits and some shots outside with our favourite 6-foot scrim.
Location: Studio, Gallery Elder
Brief: Alexander Shelley portraits to market the NAC Orchestra
Theme: Renaissance Elegance
Process: Having worked with the NAC Orchestra and Alexander Shelley a few times, we wanted this new series of photos to be different, exploring themes that would resonate with patrons of classical music. When photographing Alexander, we've leaned into his comfort in front of the camera. Let's be real—he's a good-looking gentleman. We knew he'd be generous with his time so we elaborated a few scenarios for the portraits.
Gallery Elder resonated with the aesthetic intentions of our theme, Renaissance Elegance. Both Shelley, the ochestra and music he directs and the nature of classical music itself speak to this level of history and elegance we wanted these new portraits to portray. The space is thoughtfully curated by owner Tyler Brand, with a very specific intent to share the vintage history of the furniture and art he's curated in his store. It was essential to work with a space already suited for the shoot to add simplicity to our day schedule, ensuring that we maximized our time with a high-profile client; Rémi did a practice shoot at Gallery Elder with Maryn using his old Hasselblad. Those photos help prioritize the scenes and share the general direction with the client.
We then moved to HoC studio, playing with shadows and poses. We wanted to create a unique feel rather than the standard studio shot, keeping Shelley's James Bond-esque vibe. I want to dig deeper into the origins of classical with the choice of locations, that was my first intention. Having the Music Director himself featured in the photos was important. This was very important and present in mind in preparing the shots we would create. We were also able to achieve this by creating strong V shape shadows, clean full-body portraits and some shots outside with our favourite 6-foot scrim.
