EDITOR’S PICK
Spirited Astray
By Libby Peterson
There’s nothing like happy photo accidents
to make you take pause. This portrait Quinn
Collective in London is a shining example.
The Chicago-based photographer and
choreographer went across the Atlantic on a
separate assignment for Dance Magazine when
he linked up with L.I.F.E editor-in-chief Jesse
Stokkel and found himself doing another shoot,
in the streets of Shoreditch with Millington
(who’s often credited for having started the
“beard trend” within the modeling world).
Beginning the shoot in the “darkest, lowest”
place he could find, Wharton spotted “this little
gem of an alleyway,” he explains. “Chris has a
real intense look, and I wanted to reinforce that
with the setting.” It was (unsurprisingly) raining
that day—Wharton chose to incorporate it. He let
the droplets settle on his lens and fired off his
Canon 580EX II flash from his left hip. “I prefer to
throw as many elements into the image as I can,”
he says. “Usually my mistakes make for the most
interesting images. The ones you plan feel fake
and forced, but throwing in enough chaos and
‘wrong’ to me creates truth and a spontaneous
moment.” A normal enough portrait became
accidentally otherworldly—it’s as if Millington is
exhaling his own spirit.
+ www.quinnwharton.com PH
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