Last night, a few friends and I attended a night of Drink & Draw hosted by The Loft in Belfast. This happens every three weeks and it's a great way to unwind mid week. There are various casual life drawing tasks laid out by the artists in this converted bank building, which results in a hand made prize being awarded to the person whose life drawing receives the most votes.

Here's a little shot taken by one of the artists of my friends and I in action.. and also our attempts:

Through my extensive photography research for my current project, I have discovered many styles and approaches of photographing a project. This particular post is based around a fashion campaign.

I am talking about fashion company Maiyet's F/W 12 shoot, which took place in Kenya!

Creatively directed by Gabriella Zanzani, Maiyet is a relatively new high end artisan company who produce their goods ethically. Zanzani has an impressive resume, having worked for names such as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and one of my favourite brands, Céline.

Before discovering the F/W 12 shoot, it was actually Maiyet's S/S 12 collection that first caught my eye. This sees the striking Daria Werbowy star in a series of photograph's shot by Cass Bird which also took place in Kenya. I have posted a selection of my favourite images below:

  

 

I particularly love the relaxed stance Werbowy is portraying here. It looks so effortless and as if she was casually
photographed whilst walking as opposed to a photo shoot.

This picture tells me a story of an end-of-summer mood. The bright, cold evenings 
escaping like birds from august into cold september. I love the subtle motion.

Some of the most inspiring photos from the F/W 12 shoot for me were:

One of my favourite landscape shots from the series. I love how the majority of the motion blurred picture is consumed by land
with a small introduction of sky at the top. Also, the lonesome tree brings life to such a massive scape.

For me, this obsolete, twisted tree speaks life! Although old, it reminds us of existence and survival.
Werbowy represents a contrast of aliveness to such a humble picture.

Overall, the collection reminds me of a nomadic journey in which Werbowy is taking. It is all about survival and natural existence amongst the stunning set of Kenya. To view the rest of the images from the campaign, click here.

Welcome to a blog by me, Ruairi Tomás.

I will use this blog space to discuss the ever expanding ideas and inspiration of my current projects and the intellect behind my work. The inspiration I receive on a daily basis comes from pretty much anywhere - and of anything! Some examples of these disparate sources include street style, social situations, cult movies, books, music videos and of course music itself.

One of my recent fascinations has been zany filmography. This interest started out with short movies of cinematic campaigns, fashion films and artsy videos. One that stands out most for me is a premier of short film 'The Painted Lady' directed by Liz Goldwyn which stars Jena Malone posing as a femme fatale in the 19th Century:

I am allured by the films smoggy filter as it captivates a lot of attitude, bringing depth to such a minimalistic set and disposed Malone. I particularly love Malone's pristine pronunciations and how we can sometimes hear her smile during the pleonastic prose (0.44). Even the potent styling of colour is loud but balanced well with the contrast of black and white video shots. I am very intrigued by this simple set up that presents a strong impression - perhaps I will make my own video sometime in the near future..