Even if you’ve lived under a rock you’re probably familiar with the iconic movie actress and humanitarian beauty that exemplified Audrey Hepburn. Living through Hitler’s regime as a child living in Belgium, she faced starvation, brokenness, and extreme poverty. All that was set aside as she rose into a woman judged as the third greatest actress during the golden age of cinema. Having lived through hardship herself, her humanitarian works were as highly regarded as her iconic film career. Truly a role model to emulate!
Enter stage left, my client and friend Amy. While designing my website (the beautiful one that you are on right now!) , she discovered that I love the artistic challenge of a creative session. She asked during one of our zoom check in meetings for our website design strategy, if I would consider doing an Audrey Hepburn inspired photo session of her in my studio. The answer was obviously a resounding YES! And a passion project was set into motion.
As a child growing up, my sister Missy and I watched Hepburn movies on our VCR over and over – Missy and I liked to dress up and pretend to be her. So naturally, I was all in on this vision. Amy and I created a Pinterest board for inspiration and quickly realized there was synergy in our ideas that could create an exponential experience. The next step was bringing in my hair and makeup team into the conversation. I needed to make sure they were confident in transforming Amy into a convincing Audrey – they agreed she had the waif-like qualities that could bring Audrey into the 21st century. Hair color – present, eye-liner – check, bangs – trimmed, french twist – in place, lashes – applied, Sabrina like wardrobe – present and accounted for! This was like being an adult and getting to play dress up again, in the best possible way!
I asked Amy what had made her decide to do an Audrey themed photoshoot. She said “I love the styles of the era when Audrey was making movies. Have you seen my furniture? I love her simple but elegant style and I feel this is similar to the style I strive for in my work. I love when I feel playful like she was in the movies I’ve seen her in. That’s how I felt in my early adulthood.”
Now ready for her moment on my “silver screen” we started her session. She got to play out her dream and make it come to life. There were gloves, there were pearls, there was laughter – and maybe just a spritz of Chanel No. 5. An era that represented glamour and sophistication came to life before my eyes. From the evening gown and Hollywood lights, to my friend’s personality changing from the modern woman she is to the timeless icon… I think we nailed it.
If you’d like more info on Amy’s website design work, you can find her at https://harmonygraphicdesign.com/
How do YOU want to be photographed?
For all of you who think that you could never look like or resemble the person you so admire, I challenge you that it, in fact, can come true. It certainly doesn’t hurt to try!