New work w/ Aussie burlesque performer, Kate!

10:00p.m. Tuesday night, and I’m at @caffetto, grinding out some more work. Chipping away at the mountain chasing me day by day. @tarotbyfergus did come by this evening and we had a chance to play a few games of MTG with the new cards. Tomorrow is the big @vermillionfox party. We have fifteen bags of slow rise pizza dough, tons of cleaning and work to finish before all our friends arrive in the evening. I think this’ll be the most amount of company we’ve ever had at our house. It’s going to be madness […in a good way], but that’s exactly why I wanted to be productive today.

So, I’m still on the Australia and New Zealand initiative, getting work back to clients from the summer trip to the other side of the world. Tonight, I started editing photos of my friend Kate. She’s a burlesque dancer in pinup model in Sydney, and we’ve actually shot together years ago in LA. It was during one of the most chaotic times of my life, and although I recall her being sweet an enthusiastic about our shoot and her time in the US, I was overbooked, overworked and past mental and physical exhaustion. This time, I was in a much better place creatively.

Kate met me in Melbourne, VIC, which was already a humbling reality. She flew in, booked a hotel in downtown and I met her that evening. The space was contemporary, and I immediately saw great possibilities. It wasn’t entirely dark outside, though, and I decided we should take a walk to see what we could get in the Melbourne streets and alleys. I’m glad we did because we found some memorable compositions outside the hotel. Once back inside, we moved around the hotel space, experimenting with lighting and best showcasing her form.

Kate has been patiently waiting on these photos and this is just the first set I’ve been able to get to. I’m endlessly grateful for friends like her that can give me space to work, catch up and trust that I’ll be able to turn back a better product when I’m not stressed. It was also rejuvenating to come back to a shoot that I haven’t looked at in a while. I was able to get excited about these images all over again. The next ones of Kate will be coming very soon. Thanks for reading. For more photography, follow me here @kommmienezuspadt!