MANDY
MANDY
Last year, I got to shoot the inspirational and lovely Mandy Kota who runs Flourish Girl - an organisation to 'empower teenage girls to become unstoppable women'. I want my daughter to grow up believing she can do anything in this world, so initiatives like this are really important.
Mandy’s enthusiasm and energy was incredible to work with — it’s easy to see how she has become a successful model working for Bella Management, whilst continuing to run her business. An unstoppable woman.
Model: Mandy Kota
Cars: Fraser Stark
CARS
I am a big fan of vintage cars and every day on my commute I would see 2 vintage Rovers parked on the road. One day I decided to go and take a closer look and snapped a couple of shots for my Instagram feed. My dad used to own a beige Rover 2000 in the 1980’s and I bought myself a blue one when I was 29 — so it was nice to see a pair of them in the same colour scheme.
Later that day I posted it on Instagram, using lots of hastags — and the owner spotted it and left me a message. I quickly replied and asked if it would be possible to use them for a shoot — and a week later we had the keys! Thanks Fraser, I still owe you a whiskey.
POLAROIDS
I took my Polaroid 240 Land Camera along with me, loaded with Fujifilm FP3000-b peel apart instant film. The film has been discontinued now for a while, and remains my favourite film of all time - so using it is even more precious and special. I love the results.
I also filmed Mandy’s reaction to peeling them apart — I think she loved the results too.
FILM
I also shot my Canon AV-1 film camera, with colour and black & white film, and brought along some cameras as props. It wouldn’t be a vintage shoot without some of my collection.
THANKS
A huge thank you to Mandy for being a delight on the day (and waiting so long for the edits) and Fraser for going out of the way to loan us his amazing cars. Bonus thanks to my wife Rishma, for the loan of her hats.
Model: Mandy Kota
Cars: Fraser Stark
