Seeing the world with fresh eyes is the gift of children and the masterful skill of photographer Kevin Thom. He approaches each shoot like a spontaneous interlude with the heightened experience of the present moment.

With his eyes wide open he allows himself to be available for the magical occurrences of reality. Then he applies his technical savvy to capture that moment.

I have personally worked with Kevin for many years. We recently published a book of our work called ‘live your spirit’.

I asked Kevin to be part of ‘The Photographer’s Series’ because I respect his work so deeply and I was curious what he would do for his photo.

Usually when we work together I bring a million ideas to the table. I come up with the concept, costume, set and team required to make a vision happen. For this shoot we worked very differently….

Kevin was solely responsible for the concept and vision of the shoot, and my role was to be a model and support his vision as best I could.

His concept for ‘The Photographer’s Series’ shoot was inspired by a musical track called ‘String of Pearls’. Kevin wanted to create something visual to express the idea of a string of pearls.

To create the pearl look he had me wearing a white wig, a silk wrap and a string of pearls. Everything in the composition was selected to add to the pearly feel.

We created two versions of the ‘String of Pearls’. Both have a dreamlike quality, but one focuses on white, while the other uses blue in the background and captures more of a funky atmosphere.

I guess a string of pearls can really work with many different modes and flavors.

Which one do you feel best communicates the concept of a ‘String of pearls’?

To get the inside scoop on Kevin’s creative process, you can listen in on our conversation in ‘The Photographer’s Series’ interview.

To listen to the interview with Kevin Thom click here

To learn more about Kevin visit his website at www.kevinthom.com