The photoshoot was completely surreal.
I’m not sure what I’m really supposed to say other than that, but I’ll try. The day started with us young feminists being shipped to our photo shoot location in Queens. I believe our age range was 27 to 17 – imagine doing this before your senior year of high school! At first we were a little confused when our van stopped in front of what looked to be a creepy abandoned warehouse. But man, it was awesome on the inside.
It was very rustic, with tons of odd antique props – suitcases, bird cages, old chairs, pillars, chandeliers, and tons of mirrors. It was a very artsy place. Later my sister-in-law informed me that that area of Queens is frequently used for photoshoots and movies – the more you know.
We had breakfast and chatted a bit before we’re sent off to get ready. My first destination was makeup. I was a little nervous when his first question was “Sooo, how do you usually do your makeup?” since my answer was “I don’t,” but it went fine. He kept it fairly natural looking, though it did look good. Still not good enough for me to go through that every morning, though – especially since it would take me ten times longer than him.
The makeup set up!
Then I had to get my wardrobe. I basically told the guy in charge to just pick stuff out he thought he’d look good on me, since I have absolutely no sense of fashion. Knowing me, I would have done best picking the opposite of what I originally wanted to pick. Throughout the course of the day I kept changing my outfit depending on what the photographer thought was best for the shot, and I actually ended up in something pretty tame. One of the coordinators even commented that she would have liked to see more skin on me – sorry guys. 
My hair also kept changing through the day. First it was down, then behind the ears, and then finally pulled back in a pony tail. Hearing all these fashion people say how I looked best with it back made me a bit annoyed with myself at having cut it short not long ago. Boo.
What it looked like from our point of view.
Some funny observations:
- A bunch of feminists wearing body shapers. That’s all I need to say.
- They didn’t have any shoes in my size that weren’t heels. Since I was too tall for the heels, they just ended up cutting off the back of my shoes for me to waddle around in. Fashion secret!
- Half of our jokes were about being crazy sex obsessed third wavers. Yay being around feminists who can poke fun at ourselves!
- Everyone was tweeting and fiddling with their smart phones the whole time. Oh bloggers. We joked the shoot should be of all of us tweeting, but we couldn’t convince the photographer.
It took about 6 hours for all 10 women to get “processed,” and the actual shoot took about a half hour. Oh fashion. I do have a better respect for it now. There were so many details that went into it that I never thought of, especially for a group shot. And everyone was super friendly to work with, which was especially nice since none of us had done this before. We weren’t exactly professional models, so guidance and patience was definitely appreciated. It was pretty awesome hanging out with fellow young feminists all day!
Some of the feminists. I ended up looking nothing like that by the end of the day.
I’m not sure exactly what else to say, but if you have any specific questions about the day, I’ll try to answer them in the comments. The interview and photo will be in the November issue of More Magazine, which comes out late October – I’ll be sure to remind all of you!
Yep, my life is official surreal.
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I’m going to be honest; there’s a little part of me that hates you right now for being so much more awesome than I am.A very little part, though.I can’t wait to pick up the issue! I’ve a secret love for print magazines, and I can point to you and say “She responds to the comments I make on her blog once in awhile!”Then people will be impressed.They’ll be impressed, right?
Gotta love that the first question on a feminist photo shoot was “how do you do your makeup.” That just makes me chuckle for some reason. Congratz, I’m sure it will come out brilliantly!
Is it odd that the part I got the biggest kick out of was the 3rd wave line?
Congrats Jen…sounds like you had a lot of fun and a new experience to boot.
… because feminists don’t wear make-up ?
Because it’s not the stereotype, and contradiction with expectation usually = a little bit of humor . . . but I think almost everything is funny, so don’t ask me.
I sure hope she responds… as I’ve only once been in a magazine spread and it was nowhere near as impressive a thing to point to as hers will be.It was a boutonniere spread people! 1/3 of my chest! I can’t believe you’d think that!
*responds*
Because that’s not usually the first thing one would ask a people labeled as a feminist.
I, too, was in a magazine once! There was an issue of Star Wars Insider from a decade or so ago where I corrected an inaccuracy in the Star Wars Encyclopedia.Yeah, I’m a huge fuckin’ nerd.
Yeah, people will be impressed with me. I can feel it!
Wow, that is just too cool. Which magazine was it for?
I guess I’m one of those old-fashioned feminists. I just can’t see the point of spending a lot of time getting dolled up, to create a superficially attractive look, and then using those looks to underline that I’m just as smart and just as savvy as anyone else.Call me old-school.