The Black Bandit
Another shoot under the Creole Model belt buckle…It’s never as easy, to get “the shot”, as one may think. Every model knows there’s one shot that’ll produce the reaction you’re looking for. However, some aren’t as patient as I am…..so they jump the gun and lose shock value. The Great Train Robbery was the reactionary shot I was waiting for! Take a look below, and I’m sure you can understand why. Furthermore, I’ll tell you how this shoot came to be, and what it took to execute The Black Bandit!
One day I’m scrolling through the streets of Instagram, and I receive a DM from a photographer whose work I’ve followed for a few years now…Hassan Studio. He was organizing a shoot, and invited me to model. I love his work, so it was a no-brainer! Great opportunity to get some great shots from someone I know can produce a bad ass image. Eventually, he revealed the theme was Cowgirl Bandits, and that’s when I started my research to pinpoint who I was channeling.
At first, my mind went to an old 2003 BET flick starring black women celebrities Lisa Raye, Mya, and Lil Kim called Gang of Roses. It’s the only movie reference I had growing up for a black cowgirl/bandit. Just finished up Westworld, but still no black cowgirl. The second thing that came to mind was my real life experience. Once I moved to Mobile, AL, I was able to see black cowgirls in real life at Mardi Gras parades & trail rides quite often. My mom was apart of a riding club, and eventually acquired 8 horses. Then you had my cousin Susan who kept horses frequently. Whenever I felt like it, I was able to ride a horse wherever.
Tilda Foster aka My Mother
Unfortunately, this shoot wasn’t going to have horses so that experience was useless. By the process of elimination of my procrastination, I finally did the research and turns out the black cowgirls weren’t really into being bandits at all. Have you ever heard of Stagecoach Mary? Well if you haven’t that’s the “no games” face I was channeling. No one could rob her, and she was slinging 2 guns just in case you wanted to try. How about Cathay Williams? She disguised herself as a man in the army (quite similar to Disney’s Mulan). She was never discovered by the army.
Stage Coach Mary
Cathay Williams
So here we have 2 fierce black women of the Wild West. They were listed among notorious names like Annie Oakley, but actually served the country that never served them. You can always bet on black….thus, my outfit was going to be black on black on blackity black black. Even though I didn’t have a black cowgirl reference, I did have a black cowboy named Jim West (played by Will Smith) from Wild Wild West.
I already had a black fringe dress in my closet from Girlcode Boutique I’d been holding back for a Houston rodeo outfit. All I needed to do was build a look around it. Where does one go to get western items during a pandemic? Amazon of course! The budget was $100….initially lol Just remembered I had a budget. Let’s itemize these outfit enhancers right quick.
Black Western Boots $39.99
Black Western Hat $14.99
Steampunk Gun/Knife $32.99
According to this tally, I came in $31.96 over budget. Yikes! At least I know l’ll be using everything one more time for the one time in other shoots. That’s not even considering my hair & makeup by Jazznea Smith (who is worth every penny). I expect anyone I work with to understand I’m not just investing time… there’s money involved even when the shoot is TFP. As a photographer, I know we also invest in props, researching locations, organizing models, and not even counting the time spent editing. Everyone has to bring their A-game in order for the photos to reach their full potential.
For this shoot, I decided to book Jazznea for hair & makeup. I told her I needed my hair to be in a low ponytail, and as tame as possible. She assured me she was going to mold my hair down…..When I tell you that train was speeding by and not a hair on my head moved while I was pretending to play a violin….I was SHOCKED! My hat was definitely a non-factor compared to whatever magic Jazznea put on my head. On to the make-up, I wanted a smokey villainous eye with a dramatic cat eyeliner. What’s a bandit without a banging cat eye? Nothing…nada….she doesn’t exist. Every villain female or male has eyeliner. She signed, sealed, and delivered on everything I wanted! Below are images right after she finished.
Sidenote: On shoot days I wear comfy (kind of sexy) dresses like this from The House of Couture Houston It’s just so easy to maneuver in on shoot days. Grab one for yourself and use code CREOLE20 at checkout to save some money.
After makeup, I had my outfit ready to go! I know the women I want to portray, and the imaginary mission I’m on to rob a train. The shoot is during a hot summer evening in Texas lol It was 6:00PM yet somehow still felt like a broiler was beaming in the sky. We started off at this cool scrap yard, which in a proper story line would be the gang’s hideout. Hassan pulled out some quality props like a saddle, holsters, and a shovel. Once our imaginary meet-up was over, we galloped over to the railroad location . Creole Model is not a cat, therefore, she does not have 9 lives. I prefer to shoot on railways that no longer operate, but I trusted the photographer enough to keep a safe distance from oncoming trains. Okay… I’m lying I trust no one when it comes to trains lol, and I was ready to tuck & roll at any moment. Here is where he brought out this rustic lantern, and a violin case. Moving along, we ended the shoot at a historical train location. Now the big gun comes out, and it stood just as tall as me! All these props, combined with what I already had, helped bring another dimension to the shoot. As a result of everyone giving their best, these are the photos from the Black Bandit shoot. Some photos can only be seen exclusively on this blog. Let me know what you think in the comments, and what other types of shoots you’d like to see me try :)
