Stranger Kids

Photography is probably what led me to fashion. I am extremely guilty of judging a book by it's cover: if the article doesn't contain interesting images, I won't read it; if the website doesn't have the right aesthetic, I won't use it; if the shop doesn't have a considered interior then I won't shop there. It's really bad. It's to the point where I get happy if my outfit matches my room and I stay away from green sweets cos the colour green makes me feel uneasy.

So this week I landed on the articles posted by Dazed and Confused that looked at two of the main characters from Stranger Things (Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard) who will be the main faces of D&C's Winter 2016 issue.

Now since I'm an actual netflix fiend, I was all too familiar with the sci-fi series, Stranger Things, and the characters that these two play. So to see them photographed and portrayed in such ways by Collier Schorr, it encouraged me to explore them further.

Millie Bobby Brown plays Eleven, a girl who seems to have been experimented on by her so called 'Father' who is trying to harness the unusual powers that she has. To see her playing a fairly vulnerable character, to then seeing this head strong, determined-looking, slightly seductive girl, plays on my mind a bit.

Saying this the powers Eleven has is something along the lines of being able to move objects with her mind and throw cars into the air.. so she is super innocent but also accidentally badass.

What i find interesting is how Schorr has stayed true the time Stranger Things appears to be set in (the 80's) with collared shirts and blazers being the main points of interest. Is this slightly pixelated, noise, RGB type of photography making a come back? We all know vintage aesthetic is a guilty pleasure of most culturally aware people, but have we overdone the blank background, model specific editorials. Saying this, these images allow us to digest both the character and the actor/actress in the sense that I still see Finn Wolfhard as an anxious, less popular, easy-to-pick on kid, just as Millie Bobby Brown is displaying her heroine side of her; with the arched eyebrow, confident stare and eye contact with the lens.

I mean I even love the colour of his turtle neck sweater, the salmon against the beige pinstripe or cord blazer and possible waistcoat (?) with a muted backdrop and his tousled brunette locks definitely makes a dreamy colour palette.

Schorr's work is admirable in this shoot because he has managed to make a single shape, silhouette, point of interest because 1) he has instantly recognisable models 2) he's been able to play on the innocence of both characters and the idea of youth and children themselves 3) he's picked up on the natural contour of both models, using black and white to exaggerate Millie's cheek bones and a slightly sideways profile of Finn to appreciate his sculpted nose and lips.

Although it's important to digest as much as you can from Fashion image (or the industry all together) it's always good to invest extra time in what you immediately love. Reading the articles attached to this in Dazed and Confused (http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/33828/1/winter-2016) gave me as a Stranger Things fan a real insight into the talented kids who play these massively important characters whilst also being able to appreciate the stories and narrative Schorr has applied to their shoot.