Helen's Wardrobe

Initially published with TYD I wanted to share this amazing shoot with my readers. The original article and photography sees Helen’s Wardrobe delve further into the realms of beautiful abandon…

CLANDESTINE FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY.

Once again I find myself in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forgotten architecture and crumbling memories and once again I have set myself the challenging task of shooting a no budget project in furtive circumstances. But before I explain further let me start from the beginning, to clarify the reason for the situation I find myself in.

The idea of nature reclaiming a once bustling place has always had a personal allure, there is a long list of abandoned places I wish to explore and capture through photography and this artistic obsession recently merged with my love for fashion and styling to form an altogether different beast. Fuelled by this aforementioned passion and a general dislike for the vain repetition of generic fashion blogs, I decided to wage a visual battle against said vanity projects and introduce something with a bit more aesthetic bite and a lot more substance. Clandestine fashion photography to be precise.

To satisfy the need for unorthodox surroundings combined with a total lack of budget has resulted in last-minute ventures across the country to accomplish this notion and to date previous locations for my own blog shoots have included an abandoned theme park, derelict lido and a stately home. To make our ventures a little more challenging there are rules to be followed, unspoken urban exploration rules. Because the idea of “urbex” is nothing new, I’ve just added fashion into the equation, we all agree in unspoken terms to certain criteria. Nothing must be broken to gain access to a location, no criminal damage must take place and leave each location as you found it for other explorers to enjoy. As my own rule I do not share precise locations or how I accessed them, I work hard to research my projects and it’s up to others to do the same.

Illustrating the opinion that fashion is temporary and combining this with the backdrop of an altogether bigger idea of evanescence lands me back where I started, surrounded by woodland and buildings consigned to oblivion. So here I am, with a small team of equally motivated helpers, we clamber, crawl and stumble to discover outre scenery in which to parade my chosen outfits. Working against the threat of being discovered at any time the photos take on a certain natural charm, we have no time for additional lighting or reflectors, what you see is what you get. I have to capture as many shots as possible before being asked to leave otherwise the whole day and prior preparation is wasted. So not only do we have to be collectively organised and on the ball we have to be spirited and steadfast to the project.

The result of all this is something different, almost poetic, a dreamlike scene of dereliction explored to reveal the beauty in abandon. As nature reclaims the former public buildings our imaginative minds experience the reverie of this other-worldly location, after this everything else seems so ordinary. So this is it, clandestine photography is not only a way of challenging the unimaginative, it has also become an artistic sweet tooth, I wonder where I will end up next? For now let us capture the vision through haunting retrospect and inspire with style, as I give to you my latest example of clandestine photography…

Georgina’s Outfit: Black Jacket, Musto. Black Skinny Jeans, Levi’s Curve ID. Boots, Read or Dead. Leather Gloves, AllSaints.

Adam’s Outfit: Black Jacket, Musto. Black Skinny Jeans, Levi’s. Biker Boots, Vintage. Rings, Model’s Own.

Photography, Styling and Concept, Helen S Stanley. Creative Associate, Jessica Speller. Models, Georgina Goodman and Adam Speller. With special thanks to Musto.