Blog #150   4/8/16

I embarked on a fashion editorial using twins. Despite a rise in the birth of twins in the U.S. over the past couple decades, when we called all the major modeling agencies in New York asking them to send us their twins models for casting, there were none available to cast. Big problem.

Herein is my “slight-of-hand” (or eye) solution.

Susan van Tassel and her sister Susan

Ursa Philbin and her sister Ursa

Casting the four best non-twin models, I had them stand in for each other in each image as what movie makers call body doubles. I wanted two models in the photos (rather than simply digitally inserting the same model twice) in order to retain the accurate shadows that occur when two people are near each other.

Danielle Farrell and her sister Danielle

I photographed each model on the right and then had her change places with the body double for the left position for the eventual image. I then simply substituted out the body double model for her virtual twin.

Annie Henley and her sister Annie

Here’s how I did it:

In the 1st image (left) Susan, the “twin” subject of this image, is on the left, Danielle, on the right, her left.
In the 2nd image, (center), they are switched.
In the 3rd image (cut outs placed side by side) Danielle has been removed and Susan is placed next to Susan.

I and my assistants conceived and created the “sets.”

Stylist: Nikko Kefalas
Hair: Pierra Lortie
Makeup: Matin

Models
Ursa Philbin (ID Models)
Annie Henley (New York Model Management)
Susan Van Tassel (Elite Model Management)
Danielle Farrell (Elite Model Management)

I am teaching a 4-day workshop the Palm Springs Photo Festival this Spring (end of April). The workshop is called: “THE INSPIRED EYE: Experimentation, Exploration & Discovery: A Search for the Unexpected.”
http://2016.palmspringsphotofestival.com/project/howard-schatz/  

To view more of my work, visit my website.