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I Am The Prototype by Simon Cecere

In a conceptually intriguing and unique debut story for Ben Trovato, Adelaide based photographer Simon Cecere comments on the mass production in in fashion, and explores themes surrounding key issues in our current global climate such as sustainability, globalization, individualism, homogeneity, and consumerism.

I was inspired by science fiction films. The themes of the shoot seemed to have an affinity with the genre. I imagined a dark future obsessed with mass production - a world which was a slave to its own ideals,” Simon tells us, and continues “.. I played upon visual references such as repetition and singularity and was influenced by films such as ‘Songs from the second floor’  by Swedish Director Roy Andersson. The garments inspired the locations. There were three locations in total: A metal fabrication factory, a wool factory and a packaging facility.

The beautiful garments were all designed stylist and designer Cristina Tridente, through her label Couture+Love+Madness. Simon praises her creative vision and tells us they work together on a regular basis.

Cristina explains that “ […] the themes of sustainability and mass production gave rise to the idea of creating the garments using materials such as polystyrene, aluminium, wool and plastic. Originally the garments were designed for a Goldwell hair show by Orbe Salon and used huge hair pieces which were later toned down for the photo shoot. I wanted the overall styling to be high fashion and used classic silhouettes juxtaposed with the raw materials to give the styling a ‘beautifully disposable’ look.

The rest of the team consisted of aforementioned Orbe Salon - who did the amazing hair, Daniel Westerman - who did a tremendous job with the makeup, stylist Ida Tirimacco - who worked with Cristina to make the fashion pop, and of course the breathtaking models Jemimah Webb, Natalie Scalamera, Teraseth Deng, Lucy Lehmann, and Emma Winder-Hipkiss. “All the models were fantastic to work with. They were all very excited about the story which really helped them to understand the type of direction I was after,” Simon says (!).

Assistants on the shoot were Nicholas Cioffi and Michael Vozzo.

Credits
Photography by Simon Cecere
Styling by Cristina Tridente & Ida Tirimacco
Garments by Couture+Love+Madness
Hair by Orbe Salon
Makeup by Daniel Westermann
Models - Jemimah Webb, Natalie Scalamera (Finesse), Teraseth Deng (Finesse), Lucy Lehmann, Emma Winder-Hipkiss
Photo Assistants - Nicholas Cioffi, Michael Vozzo