Boy girl, girl boy!

Great portraits of boys…or girls!

Logan is 12, the last ‘shoot’ we did together, he was face painted (see image below) and I loved the resulting image which was made by Logan’s characterful face which really made the shot compelling.

I exhibited the pics in my Portrait exhibition in June and we did a prize draw at the event for the dubious prize of having another portrait shoot done by me! Logan was drawn out of the hat and was up for doing an unusual image, which is of course Big Stick Photography’s forte!

We discussed hanging upside down as spiderman, we mentioned pouring paint over his head and still Logan was unruffled…what about photographing you as a girl Logan…how would you like that? Logan showed little concern, shrugged his shoulders and said; “Ok” .

Make up and styling

We needed some make-up help…it was important the make up was convincing for the illusion to work. So Clare Watts Big Stick’s favourite make-up and hair artist was drafted in to help. The idea was to have Logan as a boy looking at himself as a girl which, we thought could be a startling image and one which would make the viewer ‘look twice’.

Logan’s school companion Sophie was an additional ingredient so we could photograph a girl as a boy too and see if they could both carry it off as it were. We bought ‘wigs’ for both girl and boy and selected clothes from the Big Stick Photography wardrobe.

When working with children there is always the possibility you will get some unscripted results, especially when the children in question are characters with lively personalities, which was certainly the case here.

(* important to mention that written permission for the shoot was obtained from both parents and a make up artist and a parent were present throughout and Carl is CRB checked).

Firstly, we did the photograph of Logan as a boy and had Sophie stand next to him, so he could look over at someone and respond in a realistic way.

We tried different hair styles and different outfits and kept the lighting dark and moody to add a little mystery to the shot. Then, whilst Logan had make up applied and a blonde bob hairstyle fitted, we photographed Sophie.

A model attitude

Sophie had never been in front of a studio camera before but she warmed to the task and soon relaxed, she particularly enjoyed the dressing up aspect and definitely gained confidence from seeing images of herself looking great!

Having got individual shots, it was now time to change sexes! Logan donned a blonde wig and stylish make up and looked knockout as a girl! He found it highly amusing and with a little encouragement camped it up and ‘acted the part’ beautifully.

So much so that, I think the images of Logan as a girl stand up on their own as fashion shots.

Sophie too played the part…initially, despite wearing boys clothes and a boys wig, she still had the mannerisms of a girl, so with Logan prompting, we soon had Sophie pretending to be a boy…she threw her head back and chin out and looked defiant!

We also told her not to stand so straight but to ‘slob’ a bit more, let her shoulders droop and put her hands in her pockets. It was really interesting to observe what characteristics actually made her believable as a boy.

When you’re a boy…

What was surprising was just how good both looked switching sexes as the images below confirm. The shoot was great fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it, we laughed the whole way through and marvelled at how the kids had switched sexes so well, and how striking the images were.

The plan now is to continue testing the boundaries to provide startling shots which, show characters in a new light but still looking great…if you have an unusual idea for how you would like to be photographed, feel free to give Big Stick Photography a call

we will be happy to hear from you and are always up for pushing the boundaries to produce an amazing image.