Only You

“When the night is young but it makes you feel much older
And 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.

Wonderful Life

“On a bridge across the Severn on a Saturday night
Susie meets the man of her dreams.
He says that he got in trouble and, if she doesn’t mind,
He doesn’t want the company.
But there’s something in the air, they share a look in silence
And everything is understood,
And Susie grabs her man and puts a grip on his hand
As the rain puts a tear in his eye.

She says,
“Don’t let go.
Never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.
Don’t let go.
Never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.”

Driving through the city to the Temple station
He cries into the leather seat,
And Susie knows her baby was a family man
But the world has got him down on his knees.
So she throws him at the wall, her kisses burn like fire
And suddenly he starts to believe,
And he takes her in his arms and he doesn’t know why,
But he thinks that he begins to see.

She says,
“Don’t let go.
Never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.
Don’t let go.
Never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.
Don’t let go.
Never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.
Don’t let go.
Never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.””

[ Wonderful Life – Hurts ]

When you talk about Hurts, Wonderful Life is probably the first thing that comes to mind: it’s been their breakthrough single, as well as their first video (which they then re-shoot more professionally), it’s legitimately a classic in their repertoir, an incredibly good soong by its own merits… it’s really Classic Hurts, if you will.

Indeed, when I first started listening to Hurts and tackling visual renditions of their music, I sort of had a go at Wonderful Life. Not in a deliberate, planned way like I did Silver Lining, but while I was dressed and dolled up for that one, I took a few more photos on the same location, as an afterthought, and one of them could retroactively fit loosely the song, what with the bridge, the industrial aesthetics that recalled the single cover, the gloomy weather and so on.

Keep in mind that at this point the Inspiration Hurts project as such wasn’t a thing yet: I only had plans for Evelyn besides Silver Lining, so I kept an “anything goes” approach to the rest of Hurts’ music, and this Wonderful Life photo just happened along the way. When ideas for visual renditions started piling up and I found mysel with a coherent project in my hands, things got a bit more difficult: at first I kept the photo and it even made it onto the photobook I gifted to the band (because I didn’t have that much material), but the song could give so much more visually.

See, while I plan the Inspiration Hurts photos meticulously, fine-tune the symbolism to best represent the songs and so on, I’m still open to exceptions and sudden gusts of inspiration; so when pictures like Locked Out Of Heaven, The Crow or Kaleidoscope happened, I happily kept them as part of the project even though I had other ideas about those songs (or none at all by that point). The thing is, those I consider good photos, which Wonderful Life 1.0… eh, just wasn’t. The light is dull, I look weird, the image isn’t overall particularly striking… I realised Wonderful Life deserved better the moment I decided this would be a long-running project, so I demoted that to one of “companion pictures” and came up with a specific concept. Which is the one you can see here, and we’re talking, like, 2011.

I mean, beside being one of the “hurtsest” songs of all, the lyrics describe very precisely the scene, so it’s quite easy to visualise it. It has got to be posh, melancholic, monochrome, with Susie holding the man of her dreams from jumping off the bridge: the photo basically shoots itself. And yet, eight years and three Hurts albums later, I still hadn’t shot it, what gives?

The thing is, I’m an idealist and I value friendship a lot. Of course, in this project I really care about, I wanted people who are special to me, not just random pretty nobodies. How cool would a photo like Wonderful Life be with two people who genuinely love each other, however platonically, and who’ve been there for each other time and time again? And that’s basically what’s been keeping not only this photo, but the whole Inspiration Hurts project on hold forever.

Because, I mean, when you’ve basically got three options for cities with either a river or artificial canals to pick from, it can’t be that difficult to find a goddamn bridge to put two people on and get it over with, can it? You can’t just spare one free afternoon in years for that, can you? Like, okay, at some point early on I spoke about one specific bridge in a specific city (which was within public transport reach, anyway), but I’ve just read my notes and they just say, “find a bridge”, so at some point I adapted my plans to any place that would suit. Just… let’s get it over with, shall we, it only takes one afternoon to hop on some public transport, get on location and shoot, goddamnit.
But no, of course not.

Anyway, some things happened that made me realise I need a big change in perspective. Yes, it’s cool for photos to double as big tokens of affections for my friends, but at some point I have to start prioritising my artistic expression. So now I just jumped at the first occasion to take this photo with a very beautiful friend who was in town and was actually enthusiastic about it all – imagine that. I can’t keep waiting forever.
Said friend, Jelena, I met through Giulia, who had already assisted me with I’m A Ruin and woken me up early in the morning to shoot Frozen last month. She’s my photographic guardian angel. So Jelena was in town, we discussed styling, agreed on a place and time, met up and took the photo. Easy peasy, really. I set up the tripod and framing, Giulia groomed Jelena, assisted me again by adjusting our pose (and making sure the passers by wouldn’t knock off the tripod and camera into the canal), and there it is, at long last, Wonderful Life.
And I’m truly grateful to both of them, because they hadn’t seen each other in a long time and could have just spent the afternoon on their own being the adorable best friends they are, yet chose to meet with me and take photos instead. Not that we didn’t have fun, what with Giulia’s theory that if I jumped from there I wouldn’t die, but surely would mutate and grow a few additional limbs.
See, it can be fun. All we have to do is will it and get it done.

Shade aside, the photo came out more dynamic than I could have hoped for. This is the moment when the male character is about to jump and Susie stops him, gives him some unexpected comfort and changes his mind. Putting one foot on the railing was a last-minute decision that drove it home, and Jelena totally nailed her pose too. I wanted the picture to look like it was shot on a gloomy, cloudy day, so I chose an hour when the sun was up but already behind the surrounding buildings to have neutral light, and did some trick with the hint of the sky to make it look darker, but there’s still a glimpse of light on us that gives more contrast, which I love.
I was scared that, after marinating for so long in my mind, the final photo wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but it’s the precise image I pictured, even better.
And I really should thank all of you who believe in me. After all this time, this photo really means to me what the songs says, and I want to say it to you too: never give up, it’s such a wonderful life.