Journal
Tailoring in tall grass
Whitlock’s tailoring, three models and a hayfield south of Milan, under a sky that would not clear.
( Published )
( Category )
Field notes
( Reading time )
4 min read
We scouted the field on a bright morning and shot it under a flat grey sky three days later. The forecast promised sun. It never came, and it was the best thing that happened to the campaign.
Beige tailoring disappears in hard light: the highlights burn and the shadows go brown. Under cloud, every weave and stitch stays visible, and the grass turns the same soft colour as the clothes.
Three people, one line
Groups are hard in open land because there is nothing to lean on. We gave each model a mark in the grass, a few steps apart, and worked from a low ladder so the horizon sat behind their shoulders.
No one smiles in the final selection. That was not a direction. After two hours of wind and seed heads in their collars, the calm faces were real.
Out here, the weather is the art director
The Lombardy plain changes its mind by the hour. I plan every outdoor shoot with a sunny version and a grey version of the shot list, and I no longer hope for either. The day decides, and the clothes usually agree with it.
— Nora Steinmann, Zürich
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