London fashion photographer Paul Whitfield made his debut on Ben Trovato back in May 2012, and today he’s finally back on Ben Trovato with another great piece. His latest contribution is titled W3, after the zip code where it was shot.
I caught up with Paul, asking him a few questions about his latest editorial for Ben Trovato.
Could you describe W3 in your own words?
It’s a raw street shoot- just fucking cool looking attitude kids was my aim. To capture the essence of British style street gangs with a slight retro approach in the way I shot it. Cold starkness.
What were your main sources of inspirations when shooting the story?
I get inspirations from so many sources - living life - everything feeds into the creative process - movies. The classic film the Warriors did have a certain input to this story (I do love Larry Clark - Martha girl amazing), 90′s hip hop music, and also Joey Bada$$ from modern stuff, and then art; Basquiat and the whole NYC 80′s movement. So many influences to mention.
The models look great, how were they to work with?
Models were great - as it was a cold day and they all worked professionally and hard. Followed direction well and added their talents in the mix. I like to it simple natural not forced.
How about the rest of the team? Have you worked together before?
Great team! I have worked with all on many projects, all very talented. Good team effort and I love seeing the transformation from an idea / mood board to fruition of finished shoot.
Could we get a short comment from the stylist (Ozzy Shah) on the styling of the shoot?
Inspiration behind this take on the normal street gang story and looks into a sartorial view on gang fashion. Using industry favorites, Acne and McQ as well as high street.