“City Streets Melody”

If you read my last post, you have an idea of what the days were like leading up to the “shelter-in” orders issued in New York City. Approximately 2 weeks prior, I shot this editorial with one of my favorite photographers and stylists in the city, Anna Garbowska (@anka_nyc) and Stasi Berezovskaya (@stasi.berezovskaya) (respectively), as well as one of Stasi’s assistants Izzy ( @bizzy.bean) and hair and makeup team, Anthony Payne (@anthonypayne) and Jaz (@jazminedavonbeauty) .

Editorials are photographic fashion stories, and one of my favorite things to help create. In most cases, fashion editorials don’t pay very much, if anything at all, but are an excellent way to build a portfolio (basically a model’s/photographer’s/stylist’s/artist’s version of a resume) and flex and strengthen your creative muscle. The designers that lend the clothing to these kinds of shoots benefit by showing some of their pieces styled in a ready-to-wear look to a wider, more diversified audience than those watching from the sidelines of a runway during Fashion Week. In this case, Anna (the photographer) reached out to me and let me know she wanted to shoot a spring story. We have worked together a few other times, and in the process, developed an amazing friendship and respect for each other, so I jumped at the bit. I connected her to Stasi, whom I’ve also worked with on a few other occasions, and we formulated a mood board. ( A mood board is a photographic representation of the theme of an editorial. It will show examples of styles of clothing, locations, beauty looks, and the general feel of a photo shoot).

Once we settled on a date, Stasi was able to assemble a hair/ make-up team and location close to the area we planned on shooting. There, we all met, set up the looks to be reviewed and finalized by the team, decided on the hair and make-up that would be most appropriate for each outfit, and made some of the outfit changes before switching to different shoot locations. A published editorial usually requires 6-10 different looks. We set up home base at Flying Solo, a concept-store located in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, NYC. We shot the looks in different spots that Anna had scouted a few days prior in SoHo and Tribeca. Anna titled our story “City Streets Melody”. It can be easy to forget some photo shoots when they become away of life, but this is one I will always remember. Covid-19 had already become a deadly threat abroad, causing lockdowns and notable changes in the everyday lives of people throughout the European and Asian continents. The United States was beginning to get increasingly more cases, and threats of a city-wide lockdown were imminent, yet not a certainty. The week that we shot this story was probably the last before businesses began to shut down, castings began to become less frequent, and “social distancing” became a part of the everyday vernacular. Two months later, snapshots of our 4 hours together was published in L’Official Baltic’s:

When I decided to pursue fashion, instead of Neuroscience, I was drawn in by the collaborative and creative aspect. I loved being able to work with others to transform an idea or vision into an moving or stationary image. There is something really special about working in a team with individuals who each have a very specific expertise and role. It allows you to focus on and fine-tune your personal craft, while learning about and synergistically developing additional skill sets. It took me a minute, but I am truly seeing the silver-lining and necessity of sheltering in, yet itching at the bit to get back out and resume creating. Until then, I’ll be making the best use of my time at home, and taking you along the way.

Stay tuned,

xxTiffany