Country Contrast - Participant Experience

I remember my scheduled shoot day like it was only yesterday. The weather was threatening and I should have been very happy that it looked like the chance of rain as it was April and our livelihoods rely on the elements but I had mixed emotions. I was excited but extremely nervous as I was not quite sure what to expect as I was one of the first few ladies to do a shoot. I’ve always admired the Sex in the City characters how they are portrayed as feminine, glamorous and sophisticated with access to fashion in one of the most stylish cities in the world.  This was my vision!!

 

I had enlisted the assistance of our local hair dresser, Mrs Karen Martin, to transform my normally straight hair to a mass of curls, which she managed with the help of a lot of product!! With my glamorous hair do and a car load of props I drove 50km to the Barnetsons’ farm which was to be the location of my photo shoot.

I had partnered up with Miriam Barnetson and this had worked in my favour as Mim’s hospitality is very welcoming and calming and this helped me relax as we were both heading into unknown territory. I had spent weeks sourcing props for this shoot and we had numerous large gum trees on Mim’s farm ear marked as potential locations for my shoot. My vision was to create a feminine, glamorous dressing room with the country side as the backdrop.

We spent some time transforming into our characters in the warmth of Mim’s house and enjoyed the laughter that came from Mim and I trying our hardest to apply enough make-up so that it would show-up in the photos as we both are not big make-up wearers normally.  The false eyelashes proved to be very tricky to apply for first timers!!

After braving the cold weather in my tulle skirt I had sewn and my singlet we set up a scene that resembled a dressing room.  We had to use some fencing wire to help hold the mirror to the tree as the wind was starting to pick up which also proved difficult to keep the gowns on their hangers.

With the scene set it was now up to me to get in front of the camera which all started very awkwardly. Poor Nat, the photographer had her work cut out with me. It was about now that I wished I had taken the opportunity in high school to do some drama classes as I was proving to be a terrible actor!!I had grown up on a farm spending majority of my time working hard and very little time was spent playing dress-ups like many little girls so all of this was very foreign to me. Nat was trying her best to get a shot that didn’t scream nerves. There was much laughter as I tried to do as Nat requested of me and this is how we ended up with my final shot. A very natural shot of myself having fun and enjoying a laugh!

The rain didn’t quite hold off and we had to make a dash to get all the props etc loaded back into the car before we headed back up to the house to warm up. That’s when the curiosity got the better of our husbands and they came to check out ‘what was going on’. With a little gentle persuasion we managed to convince them to get in front of the camera and they did not disappoint! They played up to the cameras nicely and seemed more at ease with this than we did!!

 

This whole experience has been an amazing opportunity. It has seen me step outside my comfort zone and challenge a side of myself and grow from the experience. I love my final shot but I have been more overwhelmed by the number and diversity of ladies that have chosen to participate in this project after just a hand full of us overcame our fears and they chose to take up the challenge also. I have one word to sum it up, MEMORABLE!!

By Sam Messina