Pretty Woman

Pretty Woman
Brooklyn, New York – 2023

The Dumbo location in Brooklyn is well photographed and that is no surprise as it encapsulates so much of what makes New York the most vibrant and energising city on the planet. Those with a visual sensibility are drawn to the symmetry of the old warehouses, the industrial beauty of Manhattan Bridge and The Empire State Building peeking out in the background, as if to say “don’t you forget about me”. There is an aesthetic perfection and even when cars litter the street, the frame offers a celebration of urban beauty. To tell a story here, I played on the iconic Pretty Woman movie from 1990. Of course, we would be swapping New York for LA, but it is not as if the kind of exchange suggested in the photograph is alien to the Big Apple.

I knew Brooks Nader could play Vivian well; after all, she dressed the same way for her Halloween night last year. Better still, her husband Billy, who is in the car, accompanied her as Ed.

Brooks is theatrical and smart. She knew the look for this image and smashed it. But it was a team effort and in particular, we would like to thank the New York Police Department for their support early that morning in Brooklyn. They gave us the hour after sunrise with no parked cars and no traffic and that was more than enough time.


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