Let me share something more personal: my first “serious” photoshoot for my teen daughter and her best friend since early childhood.
Two months ago, I did a photo session for my daughter Evelyn (right) and her best friend whom my friends could often see on my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts from our regular weekend activities since their early childhood. Sneaking into an abandoned jail, sailing, skiing, visiting dance school, clubbing, seeing ballet and classical music performances, burring chin-deep into sand, getting lost in a corn maze at night, hiking, being hit by a torrential rain when camping, getting scars and losing toenails, visiting lots of art and science museums, medieval faires, and Amish country, shopping, learning to drive… cannot remember them all now (I embedded some of Instagram posts at the end). These two shared a trunkload of adventures, enough for the BFF’s father to jokingly honor me with a title of “second father”.
Requested by their moms, this shoot could be categorized as my first beauty session for them, when they were treated and directed as models. It was my first attempt to look at them professionally, giving them a sense of being and looking like grownup models. I tried to address both artistic and fun sides of theirs but unlike their visual potential, almost-14-year-olds’ patience quickly grew thin, postponing many of my ideas for another shoot. I may have made a mistake of giving them a break to take the bubbles out of the studio and things went loose and disorganized since then, ending the shoot early on a hysterical and uncooperative note. 🙂
A little behind-the-scene footage to show how it started and prematurely ended:
Not to steal the spotlight from them… shooting models of this age isn’t new to me. I have done projects for commercial and fashion clients, as well as private gigs for Mitzvah teens, older kids for Sweet 16, and high school seniors. Check out some samples below. As with adults, I hope to bring creativity, fine art, drama, or thrill factor to an otherwise traditional and straightforward way of photographing people.
Let me get back to these two, with a bit of our history if you don’t mind. I’m adding a few of my favorite Instagrams from my daughter and her BFF’s adventures that we shared. I wasn’t even on Instagram when we started them so the earliest one only dates back to November 2012, less than four years ago. Looking back, I easily assert that I’ve been blessed with a true joy of parenting and fatherhood. It was tempting to outweigh fun times with a need to make money or do something more personal, urgent, interesting, or important. Prioritizing parenting became the state of mind and easy to advocate, including an atypical for a photography studio policy of not working on Sundays, for example. It is worth it.
From ski slopes to pole rescue, from in-car karaoke to photography critique, from palm face to sandwich face, it was an exhaustinhgly fun (second) day. #PhotographerAtRest #TimeOut #TimeOff #resting #parenting #JoyOfParenting #JoysOfChildhood #childhood #ChildhoodMemories #FathersAndDaughters #instalike #instagood #picoftheday #ZorzStudios #zorz #HunterMountain #skiing #PalmFace #TheYellowDeli #fun A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PDT
Made it through a two-mile long car line to the last day of #NewYork #Renaissance #Faire. #medieval #RenaissanceFaire #parasole #archery #JoyOfParenting #parenting #childhood #ChildhoodMemories #adventures #children #FathersAndDaughters #instalike #instagood #picoftheday #PhotographerAtRest #ZorzStudios A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
today and drive the girls to #LancasterCounty. Three days #adventuring here, back to work on weekend. #PhotographerAtRest #nature
#tranquility #tent #sky #campfire #skylight #woods #trees #hiking #parenting #JoyOfParenting #JoysOfChildhood #childhood
#ChildhoodMemories #FathersAndDaughters #instalike #instagood #picoftheday #ZorzStudios
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A nice #sail after a long stroll around and across #Brooklyn Bridge (and not photographing clients for a change). #sailing #ship #SailAway #TallShip #ClipperCity #NYHarbor #MemorialDay #NYPhotographer #PhotographerAtRest #dayoff #parenting #JoysOfChildhood #JoyOfParenting #sky #sunlight #wind #waves #adventures #instalike #instagood #fun #ZorzStudios A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PDT
Petersburg’s (Russia) Mikhailovsky Ballet, “Don Quixote”. Wonderful for tweens! #DonQuixote #ballet #PhotographerAtRest
PST
A sweet break on a busy agenda. #PhotographerAtRest A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
Making through the 5-acre corn maze with 2.5 miles of paths with flashlight at night. Fun and scary for the crickets. #PhotographerAtRest A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PDT
Let the fun begin! #PhotographerAtRest #RenaissanceFaire #medieval A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
Ballantine’s House of the Newark Museum dragged two imaginative girls into two hours of make-believe plays, changing rooms and scenarios. Highly recommend. #NewarkMuseum #BallantineHouse #PhotographerAtRest
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Two and a half kids gone camping. Back by Wednesday. #PhotographerAtRest A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
The punishment was more for me, as my bleeding fingers would attest. Think sandpaper. #PhotographerAtRest A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PDT
And the grand finale, New York City Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”. Packed day… Love to see some people dress up. A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
Give me a triangle! A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PDT
And we just saw a deer! Exciting, considering we are technically in NYC. 🙂 A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
made it and were about the only ones to play on the rainy beach.
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Childhood… sticking it in their heads. 🙂 Fun continues. A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
15th Annual Irish Fair. A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PDT
American Girls paradise… Second hour and counting. 🙂 A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
hours of #science and fun. In addition to the regular exhibits, don’t miss The #Avatar, currently running and featuring movie props, cool on-the-set experience, and a chance to film yourself in a simulated reality clip to keep!
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Let’s do the #skyscrapers! A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
Cheerleading for their leaves sailing across the puddle. A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on PST
Recommended for those with kids, a MoMA exhibit “Century of the Child”. Don’t miss a Monster by the entrance! Elsewhere, the original E. Munch’s “The Scream” on display. A photo posted by Ed Zorz Hafizov (@zorzstudios) on
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[…] Lillian (see photo on the left). They were 14 back then and came to my Manhattan studio for a just-for-fun photoshoot. She turns 18 this very October day and the turbulent year 2020 transformed what was supposed to be […]