A Futuristic Fantasy – Fashion Portrait Photoshoot At The Sydney Opera House

For years Kent kept away from the Sydney Opera House declaring it’s too touristy for fashion pictures. But then one day he changed his mind, saying ‘Why don’t we go to the Opera House and shoot it the way we do when we take pictures overseas?’ That’s right, if we love what we’ve created at Pont Alexandra III, Pizza San Marco, New York Public Library, Prague Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, and other touristy monuments around the world, why couldn’t we share the same vision back home?

Like most of the iconic landmarks in the world, we’ve learned that early morning is the secret to nail the shoot. In this case, not just to avoid the crowd, but also for the ideal lights. When Kent and I arrived, we were stunned by a spectacular classic view of the House – the white sails against the blue blue sky! Yes, it seems that no matter how many times we witness it, it still moves us. The storm on the night before did us a favour by washing away the dust on the tiles. And the autumn wind helped clear up the air… and it certainly helped my fluid skirt flow to create dramatic images. Chinese have a saying – 天公作美, meaning ‘blessed by the Weather God’, and that’s very much how I felt that morning!

Talking about my pleated skirt, my thought process of putting an ensemble together for this story was rather direct forward. I wanted to style a harmonious look to echo the Sydney Opera House. Simplicity, clean lines and parabolic curves in muted colours. This metallic skirt played a hero role with its full and supple volume, making a swaying movement, dancing in the wind…

Looking at these pictures I’ve selected for this post, the partial views of the House evoke some sort of spaceship in a science fiction film. The tiled shells resemble scaled alien eggs in my imagination. These elements coat a space-age touch to the high-rise buildings on the backdrop. A futuristic cityscape it appears to me. And the more I look at them, the more I’m immersed in my fantasy. Whereas for Kent, ‘a retro-futuristic city’ is the vibe he gets from this space… to be more precise, it reminds him of Metropolis, a 1927 German sci-fi movie about a stylized futuristic capital.

Back on the day of shooting, Kent’s biggest challenge was how to make a unique, fresh vision from a famous landmark that has been photographed by millions. We shall let the photography do the talking, and let you be the judge. This October, marking the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, I would like to dedicate this post, together with White Caviar Life’s last two posts (click here, and here to read more) to this Australian icon we adore so much.