THE ART OF PIN-UP

CONTESSA GALLERY

The The Art of Pin-Up Art of Pin-Up

“THIS MODEL IS A BURLESQUE DANCER IN THE VANCOUVER AREA. HER NAME IS LITTLE MISS RISK. SHE’S LIKE OUR OWN DITA VON TEESE.

Jimmy Lapointe speaks about his labour of love— styling burlesque-inspired hair

IEdited by Morella Aguirre wanted my Contessa 17 Session Hairstylist collection to have an almost surreal quality. And I wanted it to be about the full package, which is why all the photos are full body shots, not just shots of hair and shoulders. Aside from doing the hair, I took on the role of art director—meaning I sourced and decided on the placement of elements like the gun and the guitar (in the photo of the redhead). Then I supervised the makeup and wardrobe and made sure the models were getting the right poses during the shoot. So in other words, I really did my own thing.

The hair needed to be perfect and extremely clean, not messy and over-texturized. I did not colour over the models’ natural hair, but I was conscious of choosing a brunette, a blonde and a redhead—the three classic pin-up girl hair colours. I trimmed and shaped each model’s hair, not taking off more than about an inch from their base line. Most of my time went towards brushing, blow-drying and styling. In total, each girl took about four hours to prepare and photograph—one hour for hair, one for makeup and wardrobe and two for shooting.

HAIR: JIMMY LAPOINTE OF PIN-UP HAIR, NOW BASED OUT OF AXIS HAIR SALON, VANCOUVER MAKEUP/WARDROBE: TANYA FOURNIER WARDROBE: CARA LONG DIGITAL ARTIST: KEVIN GENVEL PHOTOS: JONATHAN CRUZ

“I FIND A LOT OF INSPIRATION “I FIND A LOT OF INSPIRATION WHEN WORKING WITH GIRLS FROM THE BURLESQUE DANCE FROM THE BURLESQUE DANCE SCENE. THEY’RE VERY CREATIVE, SCENE. THEY’RE VERY CREATIVE, INTELLIGENT PEOPLE. ASIDE FROM PERFORMING, THEY WORK IN FIELDS THAT RANGE WORK IN FIELDS THAT RANGE FROM FASHION DESIGN TO SOUND ENGINEERING.

“IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FIND A RED-HEADED MODEL. SINCE SHE HAD SHORTER HAIR THAN THE OTHER GIRLS, I WORKED IN MORE TEXTURE.

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