Renaissance Meme Photoshoot
Bend, Oregon Boudoir Photography
“Now that I’ve lived through a Plague, I understand why so many Renaissance Paintings were of ladies laying around without a bra”
That was one of my favorite memes at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Not only was it hilarious, relatable, and cute, but it did a lot of work in tying our current struggles to those of the past. Oftentimes, we see ourselves as distinctly different from humans who came before us, when in reality, we all live through these nearly circular cycles of life. As the pandemic dragged on, I kept coming back to that meme, and then I had an idea. This would make a KILLER styled shoot. We could lean into the aesthetic of the renaissance, but paint it with modern colors. So I put together a TikTok proposing it, and people LOVED. IT.
@caleb.takes.photos Imma be a Renaissance Man... or go Baroque trying! 😜 ##bendphotographer ##styledshoot ##boudoir ##renaissance ##fyp
♬ The Riders Of Rohan - Lord Of The Rings Singers + Orchestra
So after months of planning, we finally did it on July 31st! It was almost cathartic to get this whole thing put together, and I’m really grateful for the ladies who came out and were a part of it. I wanted to really nail the renaissance look, and there was only one place in Bend that I knew we could accomplish it, and that was at White Aspen Creative, which is an absolutely gorgeous studio space here in Bend.
I wanted to keep everyone relatively uniform, so I had everyone bring a white gown or robe and a nude underwear set, and then I had everyone also bring their favorite earbuds or headset, as well as their laptop and some snacks! We even got door dash delivered to the studio, to really drive home that lockdown feeling.
We ended up having 5 ladies participate and they were all absolute superstars!
The Crew:
Carson Crawford
Carson flew in all the way from North Carolina to be a part of this shoot. Carson’s a Twitch Streamer, a YouTuber, a Content Creator, and can be found HERE.
Julia Rose
Julia is a self described: “Theater Geek 🎭 Dancer 🩰 Hobby Model” who can be found HERE.
Natasha
Tasha’s an absolutely brilliant model who is also currently studying at Bend’s beauty school. She can be found HERE.
Syndra Kaelene
I really love how Syndra describes herself on her Instagram:
Amateur Modeling
Alternative
Tattooed
Pierced
Empowered
You can find her HERE.
Amanda
Amanda is an online content creator in the tactical world.
So with this amazing group of ladies, we set off to create some truly memorable Pandemic Life content! Here’s a video I put together with a bunch of the behind the scenes, as well as a quick look at some of the photo results!
The Results of the Pandemic Meme shoot:
Here are a few of the results from the individual shots portion of the shoot! We wanted to have everyone’s shots be unique and distinct, and I think we accomplished that pretty well! Each set captures the vibes and look of each participant and are super quirky, fun, elegant, and relatable! To see more of these shots, be sure to follow me on Patreon HERE!
After we got everyone’s individual shots, we moved onto the group shots! We wanted everyone to have their moment in the sun, so each person got to take a turn as the central figure of the shoot!
Starring Carson Crawford in: What Hath DoorDash Wrought?
Starring Amanda in: The Last Temptation of the Panda Express.
Starring Julia Rose in: Instead of a Dark Lord you shall have a Queen.
Starring Tasha in: All Hail the Peach
Starring Syndra in: The Queen of Clean.
Remembering the Pandemic.
This was one of the most satisfying, fulfilling projects I’ve ever been a part of. And that being said, I can’t help but feel a little sadness. Most everyone wants to just move on from pandemic life. Most everyone wants to forget. Even though we’re completely through with the pandemic, the pandemic isn’t through with us. With the Delta Variant ravaging the nation and the globe, we’re not as far removed from the pandemic as we had once hoped. I think that’s where my sadness is coming from. This was supposed to be a whimsical celebration of the collective trauma we have endured, yet here we are with cases again spiking, with more and more people refusing vaccinations, and with dangerous conspiracy theories dominating the public discourse. Does any of that minimize the fun, whimsy, and quirkiness of this shoot? Nope. Not at all. I’m still really proud of it, the timing, and the content. However, does it make me think that these photos will be viewed as relics of a bygone era sooner rather than later? Yes. Much like we look at photos of pre-pandemic life in awe and wonder and remember just how many humans we used to interact with on a regular basis, I’m worried in a few months we’ll be looking back at these photos remembering fondly the times we could venture out into small groups and create fun, irreverent art. I guess what I’m saying is get vaccinated. And follow us all on our various platforms. And subscribe to my Patreon. And one day soon, we all might be able to be naked in a sheer sheet (like below) together again.
