Sugar Solid Styling - Eckart Wessels

On the 8^th of May, Eckart Wessels, Gillian Chambers and I decided to make magic.  Eckart is a 20 year old model from Richards Bay who’s decided to use his looks to make enough money to travel the world.  Modelling wasn’t his dream job but he’s using it to make his real dream come true, I think that’s a great idea.

He approached Gillian and me a few weeks ago and both of us jumped at the chance to showcase his gorgeous ginger hair (I have a thing for ginger hair).  As a newish model, he worked beautifully, smoothly transitioning into each new look or mood and we captured some great shots for his book.

 

Here are three of my favourites from the day’s work:

The important thing for Eckart's book was to get in a few sultry, fashion looks to illustrate his ability to showcase fashion items.  Dying ivy growing on a wall in Gillian's courtyard worked perfectly with his warm colouring.  The dying leaves had gone orange, perfect for his hair, while the surviving few emphasised the green in his eyes.  The final look came out very Ralph Lauren with an "American boy next door" feel.

I wanted to show a manlier side to Eckart's look by channeling Grant Wood's American Gothic.  I've always been a fan of the painting for many reasons (from growing up on a farm to watching too much Courage The Cowardly Dog) and thought we could modernise (modelise?) it.  It's probably my favourite shot.

A little bit of eccentric exploring of Annie's Wardrobe produced the final look of the shoot.  This gorgeous shirt brought an ethereal feel to Eckart's look with the angelic light surrounding him perfectly.

You can find more images from this shoot on Gillian Does… and Eckart’s full portfolio here.