Forty Ounces to Freedom

Wednesday August 10th, 2011

Recently, our photographer David Drake had the pleasure of photographing the summer look book and latest product shots for the London fashion label Forty Ounce Clothing. The Forty Ounce brand is a hipster paradise—their style, photos and branding demonstrate this well. They often work with artists and blogs to create their fashionable t-shirts while their site offers free “mix tapes” chocked full of indie music that you’ve probably never heard of (or at least I haven’t. Maybe I’m just not cool enough). If you’re an urban/bohemian/hipster Londoner, the Forty Ounce brand’s effortless style has probably caught your eye, much like it caught the eye of David Drake.

When David first moved to the UK from New York, he decided to move away from his photojournalism background and dive into more commercial and music work. Once in London, a friend showed him Forty Ounce’s website. David immediately knew he wanted to work with the brand and contacted them that same day to try set up a portfolio meeting. He was attracted to working with a clothing line that has, “created such a strong image and great online presence, and that works closely with some really talented musicians and popular blogs.”

After getting in touch with the right person, David was successful in setting up a review. The team liked his work and he soon snagged a job from it. Soon after his first meeting, David was commissioned to shoot the brand’s winter look book and has continued to work with them since, this time shooting their summer looks along with product shots for their site.

For the look book gigs, Forty Ounce pointed David towards some examples of work they liked and he ran with it, pegging their style as somewhat carefree reportage. He had almost complete creative control from there and “basically took the photos I wanted to take and edited them the way I wanted to edit them. They liked what I did. I always try to get a sense for the look a client wants, and then go with it. They gave me loads of elbow room to do my own thing though, which makes it all the more fun.”

Forty Ounce pointed David in the direction of shooting on the Norfolk coast at Holkham Beach, a popular location for films. He was happy to shoot there, believing it to be, “a great spot for a fashion look book…trees, dunes, ocean. Lots of variety.” The shoot itself was fast, loose, carefree. There were no stylists, just David shooting the models as they spent the day at the beach, drinking, smoking, relaxing. If it sounds like a great gig, that’s because it was. David’s biggest challenge of the day? “I had to take off my shoes a couple of times.”

This being a typical assignment for David, it’s pretty obvious why he loves being a photographer. However, I decided to go ahead and ask him why he went into photography anyway,

I love working with different people on different types of assignments. It makes for a nice change of pace. No two shoots are exactly the same, and no two clients are either. The freedom of working for myself is great too, and I can’t complain about the job description, which basically entails coming up with ideas and pressing a button. Pretty great.

- Maria