Tag: studio shoot

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Interviews & Conversations Projects Women I've Shot

Women Who Create
This is Tiffany Marx

Women Who Create is an ongoing portraiture project all shot in B&W in my studio in Woodstock, Cape Town. I love to connect with other creatives and see what motivates them and find out what is behind there work.

I’ve known Tiffany for well over two decades and started jewellery design alongside her when we were at school. Tiffany went on to become a full time pro-jeweller. I’d describe her as a passionate, hardworking force to be reckoned with and a loyal and beautiful friend. Tiffany produces her unique handmade range of jewellery and bespoke, custom made orders from her airy, industrial studio in Salt River, Woodstock.

After graduating from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology she launched her own highly successful range of “Inspired Jewellery” at the 2007 Design Indaba.
Now, several years later she runs her own shop in The Watershed at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.Over the years Tiffany’s ranges have evolved yet also remained consistent in their integrity and her personal style which is bold, clean and contemporary. I’ve included many examples of her work and you can find more here on Instagram.
 


A Q&A with Tiffany Marx:

What is your all time favorite quote?
I have far too many to just choose one, here are some of my favourites:

“Where there is love, there is life” – Gandhi

“What keeps life fascinating is the constant creativity of the soul” – Deepak Chopra
“The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“The earth has music for those who listen” – Shakespeare
“Watch carefully, the magic that occurs when you give a person just enough comfort to be themselves” – Atticus
Do you have pet peeves?
People who litter and those who don’t respect another’s time.
Your worst trait?
I can be a terrible procrastinator!
What is/are your greatest extravagance/s?
The usually VERY rare weekday lie in with my kitties all snuggled up purring in bed with me (this has been a more frequent occurrence during lockdown and I am loving it) and my ever-growing Gin collection.
Your greatest fear?
Losing the use of my hands and eyes…
What defines your idea of happiness?

The fact that I wake up excited and get to do what I love every single day.

When and where are/where you happiest?
I have two. The first is in my studio – in the early morning or late afternoon evening when the light is at its most magical and I can sit and work and soak up the views of the mountain. The second would be in our beautiful home – snuggled up with Jack and my two amazing kitties.
What is your most treasured possession?
The amazing art pieces that I am lucky enough to have inherited from my late grandfather and Artist, Hannes Harrs
What does your (physical) creative space look like?
Amazing natural light, pops of yellow, green trailing plants, industrial glass windows with a panoramic view of Lions Head and Table Mountain, and the most beautiful polished, textured concrete and resin floors.
What do you get huge satisfaction out of doing apart from your primary creative outlet?
I adore cooking and find massive satisfaction in working with clay – any creative pursuits that I can get stuck into and really experience the process of.
When creating what is your biggest frustration?
Not having big enough chunks of time to just sit at the bench and lose myself in my work.
When you’re in your ultimate creative space what word would you use to describe the experience?
Transcendent
You can find Tiffanys Instagram feed here,- its gorgeous.
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Interviews & Conversations Women I've Shot

“The Housewives”, Private Commissions:
This is Lairen

(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 photographer WBFF pro figure model Lairen Terblanche for the second time in 2016. She has a body that takes so much work and dedication to maintain and photographically its interesting and quite amazing to work with. Sculptural in ways.

I asked Lairen a few questions about the experience below:

What motivated you to do this shoot? Its different to our last shoot in that this seemed to be more about you as apposed to our first shoot together which felt like it was much more about body building. What were your feelings about doing this shoot, what motivated you?

I have always wanted to pose for playboy and you know I still do.

Having a different body I know I am not the Playboy look but was great to be able to work with someone like you Leah… amazing, my second time to do so. I mean THE photographer of Playboy….Playboy experience and has a certain way of taking her photos.

Classy sexy…

I also wouldn’t be scared or feel uncomfortable taking my clothes off or doing a certain pose that would only be something my husband would see. . . .

And what was the experience of the shoot itself like for you?

The experience was thrilling… I felt so comfortable… and I just … I don’t know it was so empowering… also when we got to full nudes… having my husband watching me… well …. I felt proud. Very proud. I want to do it again and I know Etienne wants me to do it again lol ! A memory just came up yesterday haha!

It was a rush… being able to pose the way I want in what I want and just celebrating a body I worked very very hard for. Granted. I am much more relaxed now and I am working on a smaller, softer frame… probably more your play boy look to be honest :) I guess I have just come to the realization that I have competed…. and I wont compete again so now carrying around muscle mass that I dont need for stage is just silly.

From the end of Lairen interview she add…. So sweet!

Leah you are amazing. I LOVE working with you. They say you know you have found a great photographer who can capture great images of you that don’t require a lot of editing at all. As much as I also know the responsibility lies with me to look the way I need to for whatever it is I do.

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Women I've Shot

A breastfeeding portraiture series shot in studio

I set up and shot this free series of studio portraits on short notice to who ever heard about it and could confirm they could make it. The idea was that the images would be given to La Lechue League to use for any marketing the NPO needed.

I photographed four moms on that day,- Tara, Kelly, Jade & Marian. Here is a selection of their portraits.

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Women I've Shot

MATERNITY SHOOT with Emily in Studio

I worked with Emily on a series of maternity shoots shot over three different spaces: The beach, the studio with natural lighting and the studio lit. These are the lit studio portraits from our second session.

Emily’s little doggy joined in all three parts of our shoot (also the natural light studio shoot and the beach shoot), so sweet!