“When the night is young but it makes you feel much olderAnd you’re comatose each waking hour of life.
When the days go by but the darkness lingers longer
And before you know it life is one long night.
But when I close my eyes, I see you stand before me
And if you take my hand, I’ll leave it all behind.
Because only you can set me free,
So hold me close just like the first time.
Flashing lights illuminate your halo
And my pounding heartbeat thunders like a drum.
When we used to dance we’d never cast a shadow
‘Cause there was only you and me when we were young.
And in a sea of scars the first cut is the deepest.
No matter where you are, I’ll always think of you.
Because only you can set me free,
So hold me close just like the first time
And show me how it used to be,
Because only you can set me free.
Only you can set me free.”
[ Only You – Hurts ]
You know what they say, right? Make hay while the sun shines. So while I was at it, I brought home another Inspiration Hurts photo.
Fortunately, Only You doesn’t have as troubled a history as Wonderful Life: I listened to the song many times (it’s one of my favourites off Exile) so I came up with a concept quite early on; at about the same time, I came across this photo by Thomas Lavelle and decided to kinda sorta steal a page from it because that halo looked incredibly cool and something similar would fit the photo. And then I kind of left it at that for a while: I didn’t really have in mind any specific models for it, so I just waited around to get a girl, a boy and my camera in the same room. It just happened to be Jelena and me after we shot Wonderful Life.
Only You has a clubby feel to it, both in the music and lyrics, but I didn’t want to take that direction: I wanted to focus more on the emotional bond it describes, and represent it by playing up the sacred imagery evoked (because if I can put a halo in it, damn right I’m going to do that). So I pictured the boy character as some sort of atoner longing for the grace of this idealised, holy-like woman, not quite sure enough to be worthy of grasping it again. Jelena really looks the part of the angelic woman (besides being an incredibly nice person all around) so, besides a pragmatic casting choice, it was also a natural one. And I was available and already goomed to pose, so I went for it.
Visually, I played up the contrast betweem the two characters by juxtaposing a light outfit with a dark one. I also went for a strong colour wash to give the photo both a dreamlike and fashion-oriented look.
As I mentioned, I strongly took inspiration from an existing photo for the halo, but I hope I made mine different enough – I positioned differently and had the rays start directly from the head – for it to look like a hommage rather than a rip off.
So there it is, Only You. Lately I feel driven as hell, especially in regards to this project; let’s hope that I keep momentum, because I’m really, really tired of waiting around.
Fortunately, Only You doesn’t have as troubled a history as Wonderful Life: I listened to the song many times (it’s one of my favourites off Exile) so I came up with a concept quite early on; at about the same time, I came across this photo by Thomas Lavelle and decided to kinda sorta steal a page from it because that halo looked incredibly cool and something similar would fit the photo. And then I kind of left it at that for a while: I didn’t really have in mind any specific models for it, so I just waited around to get a girl, a boy and my camera in the same room. It just happened to be Jelena and me after we shot Wonderful Life.
Only You has a clubby feel to it, both in the music and lyrics, but I didn’t want to take that direction: I wanted to focus more on the emotional bond it describes, and represent it by playing up the sacred imagery evoked (because if I can put a halo in it, damn right I’m going to do that). So I pictured the boy character as some sort of atoner longing for the grace of this idealised, holy-like woman, not quite sure enough to be worthy of grasping it again. Jelena really looks the part of the angelic woman (besides being an incredibly nice person all around) so, besides a pragmatic casting choice, it was also a natural one. And I was available and already goomed to pose, so I went for it.
Visually, I played up the contrast betweem the two characters by juxtaposing a light outfit with a dark one. I also went for a strong colour wash to give the photo both a dreamlike and fashion-oriented look.
As I mentioned, I strongly took inspiration from an existing photo for the halo, but I hope I made mine different enough – I positioned differently and had the rays start directly from the head – for it to look like a hommage rather than a rip off.
So there it is, Only You. Lately I feel driven as hell, especially in regards to this project; let’s hope that I keep momentum, because I’m really, really tired of waiting around.
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