Asphalt and Attitude by Nicole Wilson

New York-based internationally published and award-winning fashion and portrait photographer and creative director Nicole Wilson @NicoleWilsonPhoto presents this fashion editorial exclusively created for Vanity Teen online with the handsome model Jace Thomas @JaceThomas777 represented by Marilyn Model Agency @MarilynAgencyNY.

“I wanted to create an editorial that captured the undeniable spirit of both adolescent youth and the freedom of those summers of our youth,” says the photographer. “Those summers of youth were full of adventure, attitude, and testing limits. I wanted to evoke for the viewer the feelings of angst of being young, full of attitude but still innocence, confidence and that first real taste of freedom.”

“Since I was first starting my adolescence in the 90’s I wanted to go back in time to the 90’s and capture the colors and feelings from my own childhood growing up in New York City and also cinematic references. When putting together my mood board for the shoot I found myself clipping and saving a bunch of images of young Leonardo Dicaprio from Basketball Diaries, which remains one of my favorite coming of age (in New York City) films.”

For this shoot, the photographer used a Canon R5 and the Canon RF 28-70 lens. “I love prime lenses, but to be honest, this zoom lens matches prime quality but allows me to be more improvisational and creative when shooting.” It was shot in the Meat Packing District along with a neighborhood outdoor basketball court. 

The model Jace Thomas was wearing a pretty eclectic wardrobe for this shoot to create all the imagery. ZARA was responsible for some of the photographer’s favorite pieces she used such as the geometric jacket from the basketball court shots.

“The model, Jace, and I had a terrific time shooting. Jace is a very expressive and intelligent model who brings a lot to the table, he brought a self-assuredness and an openness to experimentation. He’s among my favorite models I’ve worked with to date, and I’ve worked with many. The reason being, not only did we have that great and entirely elusive model and photographer synergy, he understood the collaborative aspect of our work. My favorite models are those that prepare for our shoots much like an actor, they bring the character and the expression of the character or mood to life. In the best shoots, we are collaborating and that’s what this shoot was like.”

Model Jace Thomas @JaceThomas777 represented by Marilyn Model Agency @MarilynAgencyNY photography and creative direction by Nicole Wilson @NicoleWilsonPhoto in New York City, exclusive for Vanity Teen online!