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The Falling by Melissa Rodwell

It has been five months since Melissa Rodwell had her first story published on Ben Trovato, and as the Melissa Rodwell fans that we are, we have since then been  eagerly waiting for the day when we can yet again shout Melissa’s name from the mountain tops of social media. Today is that day. Melissa has shot yet another beautiful fashion editorial for us, and this time she is moving back to the style she used back in the day when she was shooting film. “To be honest, it’s really how I “see” fashion shot, it’s my vision of it,” Melissa tells us before advertising that we’ll see more of this coming: “This shoot for Ben Trovato is part of that new wave of shooting this way again.

The Falling was shot at stylist Rodney Burns’ unique CHURCH Boutique in Los Angeles, which was also where the wardrobe of the story was picked out. A wardrobe that almost on its own set the general direction of the shoot. Well that and Melissa’s fascination for an old rolling stone: “- I’ve been collecting a lot of Keith Richards photographs lately and he always wore these very beautiful Hindu inspired pieces. Colorful but very textured and raw, they remind me of Arabian Nights or India, some far off distant land.

“When I saw these clothes at Church, the Keith pictures came to mind and I sort of took my shoot in that direction.”

Rodney agrees saying he especially loves the color and texture of the concept, bringing out The Maria Dora hand woven yarn dress as his favorite piece from the shoot. “- Maria’s use of color construction and whimsy leant itself well to embody the concept.

Styling the shoot was a joy!” he continues, before telling us that “shooting with Rodwell and her crew is always a no brainer when you know the end result will be beautiful!

Floating seamlessly into the conceptual setting was the wonderful model Asha from LA Models. “Asha was great! She really is beautiful and it was a pleasure to work with her,” Melissa says.

The shoot at CHURCH gathered a complete team of seven, including makeup artist Marina Gravani and hair stylist Jonathan Mason, both represented by Artists By Timothy Priano: “- Timothy Priano was a God send for me during my 6 week trip to LA last January. He introduced me to Jonathan Mason who was just the bomb! I love that kid and he has huge career ahead of him. Through Timothy also hooked me up with Marina. This story for Ben Trovato was our first shoot together but then we ended up doing another shoot the next day where I shot video, which is something I’m starting to shoot now. Stay tuned!

Credits
Photography by Melissa Rodwell (blog)
Styling by Rodney Burns
Makeup by Marina Gravani @ Artists By Timothy Priano
Hair by Jonathan Mason @ Artists By Timothy Priano
Model - Asha @ LA Models
Photographer’s Assistant - Tyler Mitchell
Stylist’s Assistant - Justin Lynn