I’m going to try my hardest to avoid Aaliyah’s 4 page letter here. Lol, take that as a warning that this may be a long post! For starters anyone who knows me knows my deeply rooted love for cars! More specifically, Older/Vintage rides, custom or heavily modified; Lowriders being at the very top of my list if not the top spot all together. I was 14 years old when one of my homeroom Classmates at Cardinal Spellman brought me a Lowrider Magazine to look at because of the way I was always pretending my desk was a lowrider. Lmao! In fact I’m sure I still have the issue stashed somewhere in my mothers house. It was that issue (Ironically with a dark colored Cadillac Brougham on the cover) that I laid eyes on quite possibly the most gorgeous car ever made! The 1964 Chevy Impala! (Chills!!) From that day on it would become my dream car. Fast forward to present day: For longer than I can remember I’ve been wanting to shoot with any lowrider and a girl in a dope wardrobe. But Lowriders are a little harder to come by on the east coast. However, I got lucky and found a 64 Impala, (same color and all as the one I fell in love with in the magazine all those years ago,) in Brooklyn while scrolling through Instagram some months ago. I reached out to the owner and he was willing to let me use the car, but when the moment came, the car had other plans. I couldn’t be mad at all. I mean its a 55 year old car, those things have a lot of emotions, and every car guy out there knows this! But it did leave me in somewhat of a tight spot. So I had to scramble to find a replacement. That’s where my boy Kris comes in! Kris is one of those guys in the car game that knows everybody! He’s also a fellow photographer. I told him I needed a lowrider, It needed to be in NYC or in Jersey where he’s from. In the matter of seconds he went through his mental roladex and gave me a name! It was Roc. Roc has a gorgeous 1983 Cadillac with the Big Gold grille! I didn’t waste any time reaching out to him to ask if he’d be willing to provide his car for the background of my shoot. He agreed and not only showed up, but brought his brother with him! I was geeked to say the least. The model who I was originally going to shoot ended up not being available for the weekend I secured the car. So yet another scramble for a new mode began! Lol. I reached out to a good friend, Celina. She told me that she was good on Sunday and with that confirmation, it was time to pack up the lighting equipment and the camera bag and head to Jersey for a shoot that I did in my head a whole decade ago!! And that’s how the shoot came together. I can’t thank Celina enough! On what felt like the hottest September day ever, she toughed it out in a full length fur coat that I borrowed from Che and black stockings. Super huge Shout Out to her. Also, huge shout out to Roc and his brother Mook from ‘The Crew’ Car Club for bringing out these gorgeous slabs! And last but most certainly not least, thanks to my main man! My brother Rudy, who not only played my assistant, but even went as far as wiping my sweat for me, lol. Had me feeling like Diddy out there! Lmao! Thank You to all of ya! I couldn’t have pulled it off without ya! I’m very proud with how this one turned out Muse: Celina (@Celina_V) 1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille: Mook (@TheCrewCarClub) 1983 Cadillac Coupe DeVille: Roc (@RocDeVille
Feels like I’m back!
