“She’s in a phase of regret and anguish; the phase where she realizes that she has to say good bye to her one true love, thus the title Au Revoir.” Calope, who is a Ben Trovato favorite, tells a story all too familiar to most, in this stunning and emotional editorial.
Toronto based photographer Carlo Calope is known for the artistic overtone in his work. In this particular story, some of the blurred photos almost look like paintings. Not unlike Paolo Roversi, his style reflects the era of romanticisim in the mid-1800s. According to Calope, Au Revoir is “about a woman who was in a very loving relationship. However, due to circumstances that were out of her control, their love story had to end”. His main source of inspiration is quite introspective, as he seems to have faith in soul mates and what true love really means. He examines the tragedy of what it is to lose somebody even though it is beyond one’s own control. He refers to one of his mother’s favorite movies Somewhere In Time, “Towards the end of the movie, the leading man loses his one true love due to an uncontrollable circumstance which led to him feel regret and lose faith in life. What if, in the movie, he did things differently? The phase of feeling regret and anguish, the what if phase in life, was what inspired me to shoot Au Revoir and I hope I was successful in sending the message across through the photographs I captured with Kelleth”.
Kelleth, a model at Next Canada, has been a friend of Carlo for four years as well as a former neighbor. “I knew she understood me as a person and she understood the element of my photography. The trust and connection was already there, that’s why having her as my first choice for the story was a no-brainer”. She told the story very well, especially in the shot where she seems to be reaching out the window towards something, or watching someone walk away. The mood is dark and reflects the inner turmoil and anguish often experienced when we have to accept that a relationship is over.
Calope was featured on Ben Trovato recently with his beautiful and bare portrait shots of fresh new faces in Le Mannequin, and in 2011 with his editorial Coeur Solitaire. We look forward to seeing his future work.
Credits
Photography by Calope
Modelling by Kelleth @ Next Canada
