Aleksandra Boyarskaya-Waitt for Grazia.it.
Alex had me with her E.T. necklace which she wore to London Fashion Week in September 2010. Any girl who wears an E.T. necklace, feather headband and a skirt printed with fairy tale images is a girl I definitely want to get to know. So when the opportunity came up with Grazia.it to take some portraits, I knew I wanted to photograph Alex. You can find the full interview and feature on Grazia here.
Alex is a journalist and personal assistant to brilliant Norwegian photographer,Sølve Sundsbø. She also has a blog where she combines beautiful photographs she has taken of things which inspire her (on one of her many film cameras-helllooooo I ♥ this girl even more!), with modern poetry. You can find her blog, Sashabo.tumblr.com, here. You must read the post (currently) at the top of the page as it is a little bit about our shoot but more importantly, it tells the extraordinary story of how Alex and her husband, Chris, met.
Yes. Alex had me at her E.T. necklace but when she told me the fascinating love story (when we were at Paris Fashion Week in March) between Chris and her, I was hooked. Chris, a film director and writer, was making a documentary called A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (which was selected for Sundance and the Sydney Film Festival) about, well, his sexual failures and disastrous relationships with girls. Basically Alex, who was visiting London from Moscow, randomly bumped into Chris while he was filming in London, becomes part of the movie (you have to watch it to find out more), and eventually they fall in love and get married in real life!I am not sure how much I am allowed to say, but filming is about to start for the Hollywood remake of the film! So excited for Alex and Chris.
Oh yeah, and apart from everything else Alex does, she cooks. Really, really well. The afternoon I was at her house, she whipped up a delicious plum cake for me. Actually the cream dress that Alex is wearing (from H&M) in the photos above is her baking dress! It wasn't one of the outfits she had planned to wear for our little shoot but I loved how pretty it was, and convinced her I needed to photograph her in it. Plus is reminds me of warm plum cake on a sunny London afternoon ;)
Alex's dress in the first photos is vintage Pleats Please Issey Miyake, her heels are Marc Jacobs and her cardi is from a charity shop. A lot of Alex's clothes are gifts from friends and family (even her granny and Chris's mum): pieces they no longer wear, that they have gifted her for modelling their collection for them. Because everyone's style is so different, Alex's style is prettily eclectic. But always she accessorises with a smile :)
Alex's beautiful head scarf is from Russian designer Denis Simachev, her t-shirt is from Hurwundeki and her pants are from Uniqlo.
We walked to the park for these shots (and ice-cream). Alex has just completed a marathon (walking) and man, she walks fast. In heels! I felt like a little hobbit, laden with cameras and bags, trying to keep up! Alex's dress is by Russian label Mrs Pomeranz and her heels are from Nine West.
p.s. You can click on the collages to make them bigger.