Phillip Wong Production

Editorial/Beauty

Beauty Sun Care

          Over the course of two weeks, when working with the German publication Madame, our production shot content for multiple articles, from fashion, to beauty, to lifestyle and covers.

          Balancing between the models that editors (and I) wanted, and location availability, transportation, small item (usually accessories), hair and make-up, we ended up with a beauty shoot, and a cover that we had to shoot on the last day. 

           The beauty story was about an awareness of sun on the skin of fair skinned people (our model had red hair). The hair and make-up was light and natural, but we needed a location.

           I went in back of our editors’  hotel, and finding a few palm trees and a view of the ocean, asked hotel management if we could shoot there. Since the editors had rooms there, management had no problems with our using the area.

         Using the palm trees as a backdrop, some gauzy material, a white swimsuit bottom that we hadn’t used on any other shoots, I stripped the beds, and asked one of the housekeepers for additional sheets, climbed the trees that would be on of our backdrops, and wrapped them in white. 

         Wrapping the model’s white bikini bottoms with a gauzy wrap (to echo the wrapped trees), and leaving her topless (to emphasize the skin and sun and cloudless skies), we finished the shooting within an hour.  We shot her as one potential cover, and another model (who was being made-up as we shot), for the cover the editors guessed would be used. 

           In both cases, we had to work fast – the sun was burning and tanning both models with each moment in the sun (which we would later see in our shots as time progressed).

Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial Photography

Eyes Of A Nation

          In terms of shooting editorial, there is an element of budgeting. What can be done that is of interest to an audience, have relevance or importance, and can still be managed financially on a limited budget? Working independently, and for Verve Fashion Magazine our focus has to be on completion . . . .

          When we were discussing story ideas and wanted to do a Beauty Feature. How would we style it? Where would we go with it?  Hurricane Maria, and it’s impact on Puerto Rico was still in the news, and I wondered whether there were any Puerto Rican designers of clothing or accessories working or selling both in Puerto Rico and the continental United States.

          We started doing the research on all items and then using our Beauty Feature as a starting point, developed articles on Puerto Rico’s history culminating in the economic and political situation of today, and stories from people with families in Puerto Rico, or who had visited since the hurricane.