Tom Ma’s photography caught my eye when I saw a fashion shoot he did that incorporated haute couture in distressed ghetto environments. I loved the contrast of the two extremes.
I invited Tom to be part of ‘The Photographer’s Series’ because I was so curious to experience one of his photoshoots. I wanted to experience the contrast of delicate beauty with rough chaos.
I had no idea our photoshoot would end up being dangerous and illegal!
This is what we created during our adventurous shoot…
Photo by Tom Ma. Hair/ makeup Maggie Ng. Costume and model Laura Hollick
Our photoshoot started out fairly tame and then escalated from there. He arranged for Maggie Ng to do my hair and makeup in my studio, we bonded instantly and enjoyed giggles and girl talk for about an hour before Tom arrived. I created an elaborate costume for this shoot. Since I often create costumes for my own photoshoots it was a joy to create something with Tom’s style in mind.
Once Tom arrived it was time to head out and look for the perfect location for our shoot. We drove around Hamilton until we eventually found the ideal spot.
We found an abandoned factory that was in rough shape, the walls were gapping with rusted holes, the ceiling was sagging and the windows were mostly non-existent. Oh, and did I mention we had to break into the building. Yes, it was illegal, there were signs everywhere warning that this was a NO TRESPASSING zone. It felt like the building could collapse at any moment!
There was an element of danger involved in order to accomplish Tom Ma’s vision.
When we finally made our way inside the abandoned factory, we could see that part of the ceiling had caved in and snow was coming through the hole, we did this shoot during the Canadian winter. There was a poetic beauty to this decaying mess. It appeared as if the history of the building was shedding its skin.
I started to see why Tom was drawn to these kinds of locations and I could see similarities between high end fashion and decaying places. They both have layers of intricate stories that bring forth a poetic quality. Both ask that you discover beauty in a new way.
The thing I remember most about being part of Tom’s creative photoshoot is the way it just unfolded magically. We didn’t have a plan other than to find a factory, once we accomplished that task we let the situation determine how the picture would look.
Photographer Tom Ma
To listen to the interview with Tom Ma CLICK HERE
To learn more about Tom Ma www.tomma.ca
To learn more about Maggie Ng www.maggieng.com