Grey Manner: Greymanner 3rd Editorial

Our 3rd Editorial is called 'Dansa', Indonesian for the word 'Dance', made during my recent trip to Bali, this time featuring Monica Cindy, my sister. I actually still have another photo session to go, but due to our hectic schedule I've decided to divide the Editorial into 2 parts. Like I told you before in my recent post 'Greymanner 3rd Editorial - Behind The Scenes', I had to take Jordan's role as the photographer since he is in Vancouver. I'm not a professional photographer, so long story short, I ruined the pictures. So that is the answer right there in case you're wondering why this editorial doesn't have high-res quality.

This is our first editorial this year, so it would be appropriate to welcome the new year with a theme about the celebration of life. You can see the style for our editorial this time is more like a 'surrealist watercolor' painting. Despite my taste for anything surrealist, this was not what I had in mind in the beginning, as I prefer sharp details and bold colors for every spread. But again, for technical reason, it seems this is the best style we could apply on regarding the photo resolution. 'Speed effect' and 'blur background/objects' are not just meant to reduce the picture quality, but also because it worked well with the concept - The idea of 'stopping in time' and 'catch the moment'. This effect is also intended to draw attention to some certain points and details in the picture that is supposed to be the highlight.

Moreover about the concept--In life, time flies by, and we as people often worry too much about the future or dwell on the past, and forgetting the most important thing: that is to 'enjoy every moment and stick to the present' . Therefore, I chose 'dance' as the metaphor for this subject matter - what is the best way to celebrate the moment but dancing' ? ( My sister was a professional dancer so I thought it would make it easier for her to relate ). In this editorial, I pictured a girl on the beach. As if the world just stopped in a moment, she treasured her brief moments,..by dancing, as a form of celebration and appreciation of life, while everything around her walks by with time.

Every element in the picture contains heavy symbolism and subtle metaphor, followed by inspiring quotes. I chose a pastel color scheme and soft hues throughout the pictures to blend with the sun settings to create a 'spiritual, serene and calm' kind of feel. My goal is to make people see it as if it's a painting rather than a photograph, but not in a melodramatic way. I chose 'Sun' as the background settings not just based on the aesthetic factor but also because the sun as the source of life, has dual meaning. Just like sun rises and sets every day, it represents the cycle of birth, death, and reborn.

I also did the styling myself, on behalf of Alyssa, I selected dark colored materials that would make my sister move around comfortably enough but still look elegant. In addition, to add some masculine effects, power and energy in her presence to work in contrast with the soft pastel colored backgrounds, I added an ethnic headband and crazy patterned see-through stocking to go with her outfit. Let's just say I was trying to mix a little bit of 'Pixies', 'Amazon warrior' and '20's British Aristocrat' in one look.

Well, that is our 3rd Editorial the first part for now. Please feel free to share with us your comments and feedback.

Editorial after the jump.