Fashion Photography in Manchester: La Vie en Clothes

What do you get when you combine 3 makeup artists, 3 hairdressers, 4 organizers, 19 models, 2 photographers, 5 pizzas, 12 yards of black background paper, 7 hats, 40 bottles of water, 10 yards of duct tape, an undisclosed amount of foundation and eyeliner, 32 pairs of shoes, and 2 parking tickets? A fashion show, of course! In this case, La Vie en Clothes, a Parisian-style fashion show to benefit the Franco-American Centre in Manchester, NH.

The Franco-American Centre seeks preserve the rich heritage of New Hampshire’s French communities by celebrating their historical contributions and cultural and artistic expressions. They put on a wide variety of events, including French language classes, a lecture series on French history and culture, and Prêt-à-Parler, a French conversation group that meets monthly and is free and open to the public. All proceeds from La Vie en Clothes, held on October 4th, went to support the Franco-American Centre in its mission. The show drew huge support from the community – local boutiques provided runway fashions, some of which were available for auction at the show. Local hair and makeup artists worked their magic on our lovely volunteer models. We took some stunning photos, and had a ball doing it.

We try to stay involved in the community. As we try to convey through every aspect of what we do, business is all about relationships. We believe good relationships help a community thrive, and a thriving community is a wonderful place to live and work and connect. So, when we get a chance for community outreach, we take it. Usually this is through programs like Leadership Greater Manchester or organizations like Rotary International. These are wonderful opportunities, but don’t challenge us in the realm of photography. La Vie en Clothes was a match made in heaven. We loved doing it. And our background studying fashion photography put us in the unique position of being able to immortalize the event with an appropriate Parisian flair. After all, if any one place can be called the cradle of haute couture, it’s Paris.

What made La Vie en Clothes so remarkable was the teamwork it took to pull it off. Tireless volunteers coordinated every detail from hair to makeup to clothes. The hair and makeup artists themselves donated their time to glam our models up to the max. And about those models – they were all volunteers, too, most of whom had never modeled before. They really stepped out of their comfort zone to showcase the fashions donated by several local boutiques. That took bravoure. It took trust in us, too. Even in fashion photography, where you might think the clothes are the most important thing, it’s really the model’s ability and willingness to connect with the photographer that matters. What  fashion photography has to capture is how the model feels in that sumptuous dress or stylish suit. And our models entered that realm with us, with great results.

How awesome is it when you get to use your professional skills to support a great organization, and have fun doing it? It’s really awesome, and we thank the Franco-American Centre for including us.

Walter Schnecker, CPP, CPC

Walter Schnecker is the owner of C1M Photography, LLC in Amherst, NH. He loves slinging lenses and wrangling light to create fashion photography with impact.