The Vigilettes
I first saw the Vigilettes play at The Heavy Anchor at a benefit show for The International Institute. I had just started the planning process for this series, and I hadn't considered working with an entire band—I had planned to focus on individual musicians. But who could you choose to single out in a kick-ass, all-girl group like the Vigilettes? I met with them the next week before a show they were playing at Foam, and we hashed out a plan for a shoot with the entire group. We worked on a group concept rather than a personal one, because obviously four individuals are working on and thinking about four different sets of problems and emotions in their music.
The Vigilettes are not only amazing musicians (check out their debut album 4,3,2,1! on Bandcamp) but they also work to support many causes that are dear to my heart. They've planned and played benefit shows in the area, for Planned Parenthood, Doctors Without Borders, Women's Safe House, and Artists First.
If there's anything I love more than rocking ladies, it's rocking activist ladies, so I decided to portray them all in white on a white backdrop, as a tribute to classic suffragette garb. If you've ever seen The Vigilettes play live, you know it's a vibrant experience. Their bright hair colors inspired me to add extremely colorful makeup to reflect their dynamic and colorful personalities both on and off stage. I knew the contrast of white on white with crazy color would be striking, and I really love the way these images turned out. Big shout out to the hair and makeup artists on this shoot, Melanie Michell and Carly Leibach. This was a complicated set of looks and they did an amazing job. Check out more of their work at the links below.
Models: The Vigilettes - Jesse Hallbower, Sara Lapusan, Cat O'Toole and Melanie Meyer
Costume: Models' own
Hair and Makeup: Melanie K Michell (Cat/Melanie) Carly Leibach (Sara/Jesse)
Here are a few extra images from our session, and below that a short behind-the-scenes video of the shoot.