Dystopian Desert

Saudi Arabia, Rub’ al Khali, Dubai, Gobi, Sahara, Nambi, Tabernas, Pinnacles,
United Arab Emirates. We could be anywhere.

The idea for this fashion editorial has played in my head for awhile. You miss 100% of the shots you do not take, and what better year then 2020 to take a trip into a Mad-Max type future?

My team and I traveled several hours and spent a weekend on the sandy hills creating some of these epic images. From the ram-horned god, to Immortan Joe's wife Capable, anything and everything is possible under the heat of the desert sun.

For his editorial my creative team gathered from all over and started hair and makeup process early in the morning. We still got behind however and when we finally did arrive a the location…we ended up in the wrong place. Access to the area is limited and so we ate up even more time rerouting.

We were mistaken that this was the hardest part. Have you ever tried to climb giant loose sand wile carrying packs upon packs of gear and costumes? Well, it is not fun and we all got a workout that day. I did find a location right away that had a lot of great unique features, including several large sun bleached trees still struggling to grow through the sand, and hills with sand blown ripples cascading down them.

Shooting against the sun was the only way to create some of the looks I wanted, and so I used the new Canon mirror-less EOS R6 and Godox strobes with HSS capabilities to overpower the sun, held by assistants on long stands. The effect is perfect- hot, steamy, sweaty, and completely sexy and bedraggled.

I hope you enjoy Dystopian Desert, knowing a little of what went into making it come to life. We will be posting a great behind the scenes video feature on the entire adventure so watch for that soon.

(Click to enlarge image)