Earlier this month, the students of Dazed+Labs took over a studio in west London for a day to partake in their first-ever professional photo shoot. Supported by Converse, each student was allocated 20 minutes to get their shots, with tutor Eddie OTCHERE and assistant Alfie White on hand for any queries, and looks styled by Tara Greville (with help from student Grace Phillipa Israel-Albertine).
For any photographer, the costs of renting a studio for the day, hiring models, and a grooming team, as well as equipment can add up quickly. With costs not an issue for the students, each had the absolute freedom to execute their own vision in its entirety.
Student Edward Jia Jun Kau said it was his first opportunity to work in such a setting: "I’ve never been to a professional studio environment, it was interesting for me to see how a shoot is made, and the behind-the-scenes of it."
For fellow student Tibiyan Hayden-Smith, it meant the opportunity to work in a creative team for the first time. "I learnt how to work in a professional space but with other people’s inputs," she said. "Because it’s normally just me taking pictures by myself. It was good to have someone on set advising you what to do."
Grace Phillipa Israel-Albertine added: "I’ve learned to be more confident in terms of shooting and how to make the models feel more confident."
A selection of the images will be shown at the students’ end of term exhibition in early December, hosted at the Rugby Portobello Trust in west London.
Thanks also to models Ziggy (Nevs), Nile (Brother), and Sarah (Nevs)