In collaboration with the talented Camila Lajcha from Miah Management, photographer Guillermo Irriguible has done a captivating photo series that celebrates the beauty of the natural world. With makeup and hair by Sofia Ambrosini, this series captures the essence of authenticity and the allure of analogue photography.
Guillermo:
I think in this story, I would simply like to limit myself to introducing it. I had a concept for a fashion film in Super 8 film. But part of it would include analog photos in 35mm. I wrote to an agency I had collaborated with in the past, and they sent me a few “new faces” options. I wasn’t fully motivated until I came across Camila while browsing Instagram kinda randomly. It took me just a couple of photos to know that I had to work with her. I contacted her directly… she was interested, and we shot a small part. We had a falling out, and that project was shelved. I don’t know if we are too similar or too different. Perhaps we both have strong personalities. I don’t know if it’s an astral incompatibility. There were no real culprits; besides, I was going through a tough time in my personal life.
Months went by. One day, I posted a few random photos from the shoot. She liked them a lot. I don’t know how, but I convinced her again, along with her friend Sofía, one of the best MUAHs I have ever known, who was very generous with her fee out of love for the shared project. The three of us came back together, and Camila had leveled up even more compared to the first time I shot with her. In both the motion picture footage and the photos, she simply hypnotizes the camera. She was born to model; she has that power of always knowing how to look in ways that escape my understanding. I can only capture those moments. It’s a kind of dance of flames, where I prefer to step back just a little bit to observe her indisputably enchanting beauty. These photos were taken alongside the mentioned shoots, and they are enough to make you understand what I mean when I say she is simply fire.
Camila:
Staying busy and booked is what every professional model wants, at least from my point of view and from what I’ve talked with other colleagues and dear friends in the industry.
Only a few things feel more empowering in the job sphere than looking at your calendar and seeing almost none of the blank spaces.
On the contrary, I still am (with a big help from my therapist) working on managing the anxiety or self doubt that creeps in when I have nothing defined for the weeks ahead. Intrusive thoughts, catastrophizing and black and white thinking are the go-to cognitive distortions my brain decides to loop on when 2 weeks pass by and I haven’t heard from my booker. I was in one of those particular moments last year (2023), when I received a sudden follow and DM from Guillermo inviting me in the most witty yet worthy of a car-seller-speech’s way, to collaborate on his fashion film project. I had already done collaborative shoots, but this one sounded different. I could not yet understand why I felt so curious about it, because trust me, we had to work on our communication from the very beginning of our journey. Luckily, within 2 minutes of chatting, I already felt there was enough confidence between us two to tell him “It sounds so interesting but to be honest I need you to communicate your ideas more clearly”, and so he did, and that was when this journey began.
Even though I love my job and I feel so passionate about transmitting what others envision for their brands, bringing their products to life in a way that helps them get to their target audience, it is also true that getting to choose and having decision-power on a project feels deeply satisfying, and that’s exactly how I felt from the get-go on this one.
“Until last year, I was so fearful of accepting myself and the fact that I’m worthy in any shape or form. My body image would be the filter for absolutely anything that happened in my life.”
Guille asked if I knew a makeup artist and hair stylist that I trusted and would like to jump on this project and I could not think about anyone else other than my beloved friend Sofía. She said yes and then altogether we started defining the styles and details necessary to make it happen. The film consisted of 3 different scenarios in which the main character would showcase different moods in her very solid and unapologetic identity. During summer 2023 we shot the first part. I don’t know if it was how naturally comfortable I felt to communicate my opinions or to express my boundaries, how much we disagreed with Guille, the fact that we may have been siblings in another life, but after a few long chats we decided to let the project aside for a while.
Earlier this year, Guillermo sent me some pictures he had developed from our shooting 6 months earlier, and oh boy, the moment I saw them I got this instant spark of inspiration and motivation to take on the project again. We both felt the same way, and Sofi was up for it too, so we were back in the game.
Around the time we were getting back in touch with Guille, I was trying to get deeper into healing my relationship with my body image and self acceptance. This is a topic that I’ve been battling with since forever, something that goes back to my childhood and that it’s deeply rooted in me. Until last year I was so, so fearful of accepting myself and the fact that I’m worthy in any shape or form, my body image would be the filter for absolutely anything that happened in my life. That perception made me feel like such an impostor as well, how could I be a model and dislike my own image? Fortunately I got fed up with myself (or the inner bitchy critic who I was letting run the show), and started to slowly take small actions to befriend my reflection. One of the things that I felt constantly guided to do was a lingerie shoot that I really liked and felt proud of, and going one little step further, sharing it publicly.
I felt it was kismet that Guille and I reconnected and were on track to bring the fashion film to life again around the same time that I was feeling self-encouraged to do an underwear shoot under my own rules and likes. I knew it would be a good thing to ask if he was willing to be the photographer. He said yes straight away (not without the usual small obstacles we learned to sort in our communication), and now we were orchestrating not only one creative project, but two!
It’s funny to think how long and complicated it was for us to get things done last year, while this time we wrapped both projects in 2 sessions and the 2 prior weeks of planning, getting the styles, defining the locations. The fashion film was the big chunk of course, an indulgent dessert, but this lingerie editorial was definitely the cherry on top. Not only because of the tangible result, the sublime pictures Guille took and edited, which I love to look at, but also everything it has given space to sink in.
“Film simply gives the gift of more space and time between each step of the process, allowing emotions and reactions that, when working in a digital atmosphere, happen at such a speed that can’t just be perceived.”
From embarking on these 2 projects at the same time, I’ve learnt that when nothing is happening on the outside as a professional in the fashion industry, taking action and creating something by ourselves, can actually make waves. Now I’m more sure than ever that in order to get out of a rut, an independent project, one that allows you to have a voice, that gives you creative power, that allows you to co-create alongside other professionals in a way that a commercial project doesn’t, can sometimes have more impact than an actual job, and certainly unlock things and aspects that were hindering the professional or commercial path. Assuming responsibilities and tasks that I normally wouldn’t as a model when I book a job, such as brainstorming and making creative decisions alongside Guille and Sofi, creating looks and moodboards, collecting all the styling items, coordinating and scheduling the sessions, make you value even more the role of other professionals. I think that it allows you to become a better one, as you are more able to empathize with others and tell what they actually need. Such as how a missing size or a late shipping could dismantle a whole look, and how resourceful and able to juggle with so many variables a stylist needs to be. How much a producer needs to be flexible and tolerant, yet resolutive, assertive and decided in order to fit in everyone’s schedule and assure that things get done and delivered. For a makeup artist and hair stylist how necessary it is to have reference and good guidance in order to make the exact magic thing you are envisioning happen, ergo, how much it helps being well versed, knowledgeable of terms and trends, and able to provide more than just a few loose words.
Watching Guillermo do everything in terms of photography and video without an assistant (well occasionally Sofi would fill in that position) and listening to him talk about measures, different types of cameras, films and lenses, made me appreciate even more the craft behind creating a film or capturing the right scene.
So many aspects of this project wouldn’t have flourished if it hadn’t been all analog. Working with film impregnated this project with intrigue, mystery and I guess hope, “I wonder how they’ll look like”, “oh I wish I could see them now”, “I hope that was a good one, the light was tricky”, we usually don’t get to experience those emotions during the daily hustle. Working with analog film also gives you that sense of limitation but in a positive light, with a roll you don’t have hundreds of chances to shoot and change SD cards, it obliges you to develop patience and also motivates you to devote so much more dedication to the shot. And when you finally get it in your hands, looking at it feels vastly satisfying. Everything just feels more intense. I’m even starting to believe that I became a bit more benevolent and forgiving, to a certain extent, of details that I’d have considered flaws on a digital shot, and that was exactly a spice I needed for my slow cooking recipe of body-image and self acceptance soup. Embarking on an analog project just made everything slow down and inevitably allowed things to be felt with more intensity. Film simply gives the gift of more space and time between each step of the process, allowing emotions and reactions that, when working in a digital atmosphere, happen at such a speed that can’t just be perceived. With this I’m not saying that I’d rather always work with analog, a statement I think Guille would disagree on, because from the get go when I asked to do this lingerie shooting he said “yes, but I only work with film on my personal projects”, but that working on a analog project felt therapeutic, allowed me to connect more with the beautiful profession that I’ve chosen at a whirlwind industry, and that I’d recommend it to anyone who’s feeling a bit disconnected from their work and just needs to immerse themselves on the thrill of a creative project knowing that it’ll be a roller coaster, but at some point you’ll finally get to the end of the ride.
