…i never had the opportunity to photograph David Lynch. the closest i came was photographing Nicole Laliberte, who a decade after this photograph, became an actor best known for her role as Darya in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.
this photograph was from a fashion editorial i photographed with Nicole. my friend Pete, who was the stylist, grew up with her. at the time, she was featured in fashion campaigns shot by Ellen Von Unwerth. this was my only chance to work with Nicole because her career was taking off.
we photographed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which was still mostly abandoned industrial storage. Pete knew a security guard who we gave $20 to allow us to pass through the gates and photograph in the blighted factory spaces.
Nicole was one the best i photographed. before we took the first photograph, she said to me, “Don’t tell me what to do, just follow me.” it was easy, and i never felt lost or at a dead-end like i often did when i photographed fashion. it was exhausting because she was constantly in motion. we were working with strobe lights that were powered by a heavy generator, and Pete had to keep moving the lights because we would run out of the frame.
the photographs are more cinematic than fashion oriented, which became the case with all of my fashion editorials. Nicole was a perfect person to photograph because she was authentic.