November of 2010, Nahoko Spiess made jaws drop with her Adieu My Love story shot in Paris for Ben Trovato. Today she’s making a comeback with yet another exclusive story for us, but this time she has teamed up with digital artist and art director Maxime Gé, also based out of Paris. Hold Your Breath is a result of two artists combining their ideas and fascination for a world that is yet fully discovered: the underwater world.
“There is something universally pure about the ocean, those wide landscapes of water which we fear and admire,” Maxime says, adding “Men struggled to conquer every bit of earth and the underwater grounds are the only one we can’t get our greed onto. And I think we should protect and think more about these places of pure and wild nature.”
As to the approach the team says they from the beginning where focusing more on harmonic compositions than hyperrealistic photo manipulations.
“The pictures should be considered as poetic illustrations of a girl in an appealing yet lonely world, evoking birth, solitude, mind peace, etc. “
After thorough sketching and planning, the team gathered to shoot the raw photos in a studio in Paris. “Obviously, there is a real need of visualization skills since we shot in a regular studio and not underwater like some other photographers would have done,” Maxime explains. “On top of that, we needed the model to concentrate on emotions. So it wasn’t an easy job. In addition to the pictures I planned to get according to the sketches, I wanted Nahoko to take a free picture of the model with every dress we had. That way, we were able to mix our styles to come up with a unique series.”
The star of the story is model Johanna F with M Management. She had makeup done by Vivhika Yorn, and hair by Takayuki Nukui. The amazing dresses designed by May’s Ange were brought in by Nahoko herself.
The result of two extraordinary talented artist’s rendition of an underwater world is a mind-blowingly beautiful story - or rather - a journey taking us down to the deep blue of life.
Credits
Art Direction by Maxime Gé
Photography by Nahoko Spiess
Post production by Maxime Gé
Makeup by Vichika Yorn
Hair by Takayuki Nukui
Fashion by May’s Ange
Model - Johanna F @ M Management
