Alexandra Merino

I shot with my friend, Alexandra today. We've been talking about doing this for months now but we could never get out schedules to match up. Things finally worked out and I don't think I could possibly be happier with the results.

Alex is a designer and has been making her own clothes for several years. She doesn't like comparisons to Lady Gaga, but to sum her up, she was sort of Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga was Lady Gaga. She's been doing this for so long that most people I know have never even seen her in "normal" clothes. We went to high school together and for as long as I can remember her, she has been dressing like this in her own designs.

She's done a lot of studio work before but had never really done anything in my style; more natural, less artificial, so we were both excited to work together. This outfit in particular had a red veil but she somehow lost it and doesn't know where it went, she told me this little story about how she knew she'd lose it so she made it a point to leave it with the rest of the outfit, but it still managed to disappear anyway haha. So instead, she actually just painted a veil onto her forehead, which I think may have worked out even better in the end.

Let me remind you all that I have never claimed that I'm good at continuity. Every time I shoot is a chance to experiment. I don't think I'll ever have a set way to process photos.