Behind the scenes w/ @dressedtokillyou!

What’s up, Hive? I’m still on the road, shooting dark pinup photography throughout Los Angeles. I haven’t been here since January and for the most part, it’s been great. I’ve been grappling with some feelings. AgaIn, like I’ve said for years, this isn’t a sustainable career no matter how much I may want it to be. Side hustles like posting on Hive and the Dark Pinup NFT collection on WAX do help, but it still isn’t there. I have gotten to see friends. @thomaskuntzart and tomorrow, after my morning shoot, I’ll be making my way to San Diego to meet @felblob and @artedellavita.

I also got to see @dressedtokillyou! That’s right! I almost forgot I brought her here years ago. She lives in London and we haven’t seen each other since before COVID. This was a fortuitous coincidence because we didn’t coordinate her being in LA as the same time as me. When I found out, I texted her and said, “We’re shooting, right?”. How could we not, especially after all this time. We’ve been friends since 2016 and we’ve been through a lot. We looked at our schedules and there was just a tiny window that we could actually make it happen. 8:00a.m., this morning, before my other shoots.

Poor thing, jet lagged and sleep deprived, she Ubered all the way from Torrance to Pasadena, looking stunning. We unpacked her wardrobe and made some choices. As usual, I’m staying at the estate of legendary actor, Clark Gable. This house is endless with rooms featuring original furnacing, wood and art. We started on the back patio as the sun was just coming over the roof of the house. We made our way inside and after an outfit change, shot in the guest bedroom on the second floor. Watching her walk over cobblestone in fetish heels was most impressive.

We wrapped up and I started my second shoot. @dressedtokillyou called me saying that she forgot to take Polaroids, as this was customary for all her shoots. She keeps them as a memento from her travels and career. She came back after my shoot ended and we did shoot another round of Instax images, which turned out great considering those were some of the first I’ve ever shot. Ultimately, though, this was about seeing my friends and finally collaborating together again. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the photos!