Revisiting and retouching

I've been guilty of revisiting old pictures at least one time. Now I'm doing it again. And again, the model is Anna Maria (I love working with her). Taken at Studio Luma. Photos & make-up by me. It was a project for a friend's etsy shop. Below are the results of a new take at editing and retouching. It turned out quite low-key.

I guess there are more to come since the days are so short I can't catch any natural light to take new pictures. Coming home after the sunset is really depressing not only in terms of photo opportunities, but I think I can manage a couple of weeks more.

Gosia & yellow cab

Inspirational Monday. Hair & glases edition

It took me ages to find this picture I remembered so well. Finally, there it was.

My first musical fascination happened around the time when I was in high school (it's said this is exactly the time when such things happen, so nothing exceptional) and was probably my one and only such fascination. At the said time I was practically obsessed with John Frusciante's solo projects. I knew all the lyrics from my favorite albums (To Record Only Water for Ten Days, The Will to Death and some other), I've red and listened to the interviews and – first and foremost – listened to the music. Oh, I even made a drawing that I hung in my room, and the internet still remembers that.

I'm not a teenager any more (thank God!) and my obsession has faded, but my heart still flutters when I hear The Past Recedes, and obviously Frusciante still makes great music. But what's more important here, I recently discovered that there is an image stuck in my head. Yes, the one that you see above.

I think it's form the time of Californication, but it doesn't really matter here. I always loved this photo (even when I was a teenager obsessed with long haired boys). There is a strange seriousness in the glasses, the expression and yes – there is something about the shaven head. Something monk-like, something that suggests a wise person. It might be that this picture came to my mind only now, when I'm on the lookout for a simpler and more sincere life. I also just realized that when I cut my hair I kind of wanted to evoke that feelins. So next time maybe I'll go for a full 3 mm shave? A colleague of mine says that everyone has to go through the shaven-head phase. Is that really so?

Zen Place

Moja ostatnia wyprawa do Warszawy odbyła się pod hasłem „włosy”. Dermatolog kazał mi obciąć się najkrócej, jak się da, a ze sprawami zdrowotnymi się nie dyskutuje. Przyjęłam ten wyrok z ciężkim sercem, bo od kilku lat praktycznie nie skracałam włosów i sięgały już za łopatki (a to, że i tak zwykle nosiłam je spięte na czubku głowy w koczek Małej Mi, to już inna sprawa).

Tak drastycznego cięcia nie można powierzyć byle komu. Godziny na Pintereście pozwoliły mi na zestawienie fryzur, które najbardziej mi odpowiadają. Tak wyposażona udałam się z Agnieszką do jej zaprzyjaźnionej fryzjerki, Sylwii.

Zakochałam się. Sylwia prowadzi Zen Place – najpiękniejszą pracownię na ziemi, pełną akcesoriów fryzjerskich, kosmetycznych i krawieckich. Malutkie mieszkanie ma też uroczy ogródek, gdzie po traumatycznym cięciu można się zrelaksować z kubkiem zielonej herbaty.

Sylwia zajęła się moimi włosami bardo delikatnie. Cięła jak najdłuższe pasma i odkładała na bok na wszelki wypadek – gdybym źle się czuła w nowej fryzurze, mogłabym zrobić sobie przedłużenia z własnych włosów.

W Zen Place miałam ochotę sfotografować wszystko: mieszkającego tam królika, szmaciane lalki i ozdoby, różowe ściany, kosmetyki, dekoracje, drobiazgi (których było mnóstwo). Przy obróbce zdjęć zdecydowałam się na coś innego niż zwykle, bardziej moim zdaniem pasującego do estetyki pracowni Sylwii.

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To cut my hair short I went to Sylwia's magical atelier called Zen Place. As it was full of pretty things, I couldn't resist taking a couple (ok, a few dozens) of pictures.

I decided for a different rendering than usually – it seemed more appropriate for the atmosphere of Zen Place.

Evening at home

I tend to complain that I can't take the pictures I like because I'm lacking not only skills but first and foremost the equipment. Yet, sometimes I manage to fight this feeling and use what I've got. These pictures were taken at home with one room dark (and model sitting there) and another room, this time well-igt plus a regular desk lamp from the side/back of the model. It's really grainy but the ISO had to be 800.

Dreadlocks

I spotted her last summer at the Grodzka Street. She didn't speak Polish (she was French as far as I remember), which came to me as a relief. I am very, very bad at talking to people, witch isn't really good for a wannabe photographer. Because she was foreign, it was easier for me, but it's hard to explain why. Maybe I felt safer because it would be unlikely to meet her again? Because then we would kind ok know each other, but not really.

I took a picture of her, because I really liked how her hair was done – the white ribbon, the green details. Dreadlocks influence one's style very much, but she seemed very comfortable with that.