An Education Inspired Photoshoot

I had a very wonderful shoot with the very fantastic photographer Alan Walker and lovely makeup artist Carly Samantha in celebration for my love of education. The brief for this shoot was business, school, empowerment and having fun and the team put together a selection of different styles and sets ranging from boxy masculine business wear to feminine lace, faux fur, school geek-chic and even a little fancy dress in time for Halloween!

I welcome you to come and take a peek here at how we created these looks…

Being an influencer in the public eye, many people believe that everybody with followers is “famous for being famous” with little or no substance behind their status and as a result of this they question “what is your actual job?

I’ve worked in the media as a model since the age of 18yrs in newpapers, magazines, TV, radio and even a few movies! I’ve written as a journalist for worldwide publications to raise awareness for health, beauty, fitness and charitable causes that are dear to my heart and work in media and marketing to help known brands and small businesses to increase engagement and extend their reach.

I competed in natural bodybuilding and got my PRO card in 2017 making me a professional athlete, became a personal trainer and nutrition advisor specialising in plant based transitioning and this year alone have almost completed a year of learning to speak Hungarian, qualified as a yoga instructor, meditation teacher, life coach and am presently studying neuro linguistic programming.

I absolutely understand that if you see a blonde, curvy, tattooed model online it can be easy to pass judgement upon intellect – with many classifying me as a “bimbo” or telling me to “get a real job” on a daily basis, without knowing my sheer love for education, being an A* student and thriving to bring about a healthy positive change to the world by motivating and inspiring others.

So I felt that my social media needed to reflect this deeper side to me, the reality of who I am as an unashamed geek, book worm, teachers pet and my drive for continual progression which is why the brief of this shoot was set to portray business, empowerment and education and what the team put together was nothing short of incredible!

(L) Relfecting Light For Headshots (R) A Natural Makeup Look By Carly Samantha

Working through a series of makeup looks for this shoot, my makeup artist Carly Samantha began with a beautifully feminine nude lip, gentle neutrals for the eyes and a soft blush on the cheekbones to show a more natural and stripped-back side to my appearance to reflect a sensible and more vulnerable side of my personality. Teamed with a plaster wall, the textures of lace, faux fur and more conservative styling, I absolutely love how dreamy the set turned out.

My photographer Alan Walker has always been such an inspiration to me, from his guidance and postural corrections to lighting techniques, angles and style of shooting; he innately knows how to bring out the best in each shot and his attention to detail is nothing short of genius.

With Photographer Alan Walker Using Lighting From Behind A Glass Door During A Saint Trinians Set

Something new that we tried this time was a monochromatic colour scheme for which we used versions of the colour blue from the sky blue backdrop to a baby blue blazer over a royal blue lace bodysuit and the result was so powerful. Teaming a boxy masculine blazer with the ornate lace of the bodysuit, exposing the leg and bodyart yet appearing business like and collected was such a feast for the senses. I’ve previously only thought of monochrome as the use of black and white, but using many variations of the same colour is just as iconic and something that I will definitely use again in future.

For the final look Carly Samantha built upon my makeup to include a dark eye and bold red lip for our Black Swan inspired set with inspiration taken from the movie which unleashed my inner glam! The reason this set was included in the education inspired theme is because of how we view ourselves and are judged by society – much like the white swan.

(L) A Blue Monochromatic Colour Scheme (R) Shooting A ‘Black Swan’ Inspired Glam Set WIth Alan Walker

We all begin as metaphorical “ugly ducklings” and perhaps blossom into swans with the perception of being perfect, in control and the best at what we do, but in reality we are constantly trying, making many mistakes, having set backs and fighting to overcome obstacles from the past and present, just like the silent battle of the black swan where people fail to see the bigger picture and true reality of what success takes and actually looks like.

From being vulnerable, gentle, feminine and light for the earlier part of this shoot I wanted to build up to something dramatic, thought-provoking and powerful by showing the struggle, strife and ultimate resistance and defiance that ignites a fighter and survivor from within and is very much a part of a strong mindset and balanced outlook in life. Life isn’t always hearts and flowers and you’ve certainly got to take the rough with the smooth – this was my personification of that and I love how it turned out! Sassy, dark, emotionally charged and yet still femininely humble; the darkness to the light and sacrifices of success. I hope that this message comes across in the final pictures once they are released.

I absolutely love the looks that we created here and hope that you have enjoyed this behind the scenes peek at how it was all made. I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings about this shoot as well as suggestion for what style to try next. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the final shots on my social media which I will be releasing over the coming weeks!

A Peek At The Final Edits From Alan Walker

Alan Walker says: “I am a local photographer to Tracy and we have shot together over the years, the best thing about shooting with Miss Kiss is you know you always get great energy and lots of input and ideas.  There is always something in the case for most occasions and this week there was more than normal. We always work with a MUA so this time we got Carly Samantha, whom I have worked with in the past and have known a long time.”

He continues: “The first look was a softer side of Tracy and I helped with the styling and had some soft light to compliment the look we were going for. I thought this would be good as a more grown up side of Tracy, as most of her friends would see her grown up and sensible approach side of her.  Although she is always fun and has great comebacks, there is a softer caring side as you have when having children. The second look was a business side of Tracy, which she has educated her self and has lots of degrees to back this, so we had half business and half lingerie to bring out some of her personality. We styled it on monochromatic and went for shades of blue. Hoping to bring out the blue eyes and our lighting was more dramatic. Something Tracy had not tried before in styling.”

Alan concludes: “Our 3rd look was a take on St. Trinion’s theme as Tracy is a book worm and wanted to make it playful.  We used a lighting that was a studio light that created a window light effect, to simulate the school window. The fourth set was a take on the black swan in a cheeky fashion. we used the reflections of the outfit to stand out from the black backdrop. It was another take on the monochromatic approach. I am moving to the Nottinghamshire area on the borders of Derbyshire, so hoping Tracy and I can still work together in the future.”

Contact My Photographer Alan Walker Here:
Instagram: @awimagez

Contact My Makeup Artist Carly Samantha Here:
Instagram: @carlysamanthamua
www.maidamoneyagency.com/carly

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Tracy Kiss

Social influencer, Bodybuilder, Mother, Vegan
London, UK

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