Gillean

is a new friend, we met at a party and I was struck by her listening skills. Most people talk, at least that’s true in my experience but GILLEAN asks questions. I appreciate that because I’m the same and she was kinda in my lane. After we met I discovered that she’s a thriving model, a career that began later in life. When this series took form I thought of her but talked myself out of asking because I felt she was too well known and would never say “Yes.” After a few unsent messages and some thriving negative self-talk I said “F..k it” and we were shooting a week later.

“Things really started to take off for me at sixty” she told me. That’s a sentence I rarely hear, if ever. I could have stopped the shoot there, I was done. These sessions are kind of like a Documentary interview, I ask a lot of questions, play some music and try to discover moments of who someone is or what they’re willing to show me. And I hope that the version I see and hopefully get in focus will resonate with them. It’s a high wire act for sure.

To me GILLEAN is pure Rock-n-Roll. She is who she is, no apologies and she wears her life on her face, in her hair, and it’s all wrapped with a striking poise. Her presence creates waves. Our radiance builds over time, reaches the Zenith of its expression and then reveals itself if we let it. That is what GILLEAN is too me and I’m blessed to have her in front of my lens and willing to create a #portraitofafriend

I think the photos capture what I feel about aging and the reverence this stage should be treated with.