Recently we took a trip to Brighton, to shoot a short story about loss.
One thing that I wanted to do for a long time is to match some images with the meaning of the song The XX - Tides:
You leave with the tide
And I can't stop you leaving
I can see it in your eyes
Some things have lost their meaning
The song is about loss and the helplessness of it, which frequently ties in with troubled relationship and that kind of stuff. The XX sing a lot about that. Now what's interesting about this, is that everybody reacts to unhappiness in a different way. There was a quote from Anna Karenina (as far as I remember) saying that 'all happy families are happy in the same way, but all unhappy families are unhappy in their own, particular way'. Studying that is a far more interesting concept, I think anyway. I have a background in Social Sciences, which makes me extensively interested in societal topics.
The coast has a specific significance in visual imagery. The coast is often used to produce an effect of solitude, because even though often packed, kids from coastal towns grow up in tiny groups, or are isolated, as typically seaside towns are quite small. And this breeds further need for differentiation, that's why frequently this transpires in clothing, styling, make-up, etc.
If you look at the lyrics, they used the alegory of the tide, because it's something that simply happens, we have no effect on it. And similarly, coastal lines are shaped by water, they simply must be. They have been carved by millions of years and we cannot change them. Did you ever notice, that seaside towns have often a very laid back, chilled, yet kind of nostalgic atmosphere to them?
Photography: Przemek Czaicki
Model: AndrEea N Choco
MUA: Stella Shim
