(Note: “The Housewives” was a term I fondly coined in 2006 after I started getting shoot requests from private, individual women who became my clients. Many of the women who contacted me were married and in their mid 30’s and were doing the shoots as gifts to their husbands. The folder in my archives is still called this and so I’ve stuck to it, in part just for the irony: most of these women are not “housewives” at all, but strong independent and forward thinking women who I have had the honour of documenting.
All are private commissions and the demographic has changed substantially over the years. Some I’m still in contact with, others I’ve totally lost contact with, some have become friends, some may wish not to have their real names used, others don’t mind, some may have their faces obscured for privacy reasons, others have generously shared their experiences of being photographed.)
I met and photographed Janine in December 2012, I already can’t believe it was that long ago. Colleen joined me to do her hair and makeup in Noordehoek and we drove through to Witsands beach between Kommetjie and Scarborough for the shoot. I remember that she felt a bit self conscious about her body (as most women do) and expressed concerns about areas she felt uncomfortable about at that time.
She is uniquely and has beautiful dark hair and yes and I was amazed how incredibly femininely her body photographed. The beach was (almost) deserted and we trod up into the sand dune area in the wind to prepare the last details and styling before I began shooting.
We shot a series of images up against the windbreaks, the still quite early morning light was diffused by thin clouds and the reflection of the sand around her. The wind picked up substantially during the hour or two we were there and by the time we were shooting the last images it was blowing up a mini-sand-storm over the dunes and looked magical. I asked her if she would run up into it for some pics which she did. The images were beautiful, aerie and dramatic and afterwards she and I and my camera were caked in sand!
I really loved how natural these images are. There is also a strong tactile element due to the sand on her skin and the movement caused by the wind. She was thrilled with the images (as was her partner) when he received them for Christmas. I had the feeling that for both of them it was very powerful to see her body from this different perspective. They are images I still really love.
And behind the scenes on this shoot day…..
