Beauty-Full Boy by Nicole Wilson

Native New Yorker, award-winning and internationally published fashion and portrait photographer, and creative director currently based in New York City Nicole Wilson @NicoleWilsonPhoto presents this beautiful fashion editorial exclusively created for Vanity Teen online with the rising young talent Jeremie Leger @Jeremie.Leger represented by Crawford Models @Crawfordmodel, mother agency Unsigned Models @UnsignedModels.

“Principally, I wanted to do an editorial which was about all about self-love,” says the photographer. “Something we all struggle with at times including myself, and self-expression, and as the famous Billy Idol song goes “Dancing with Myself”. I wanted to create an intimate narrative of a boy embracing himself as he truly is.”

Nicole Wilson wanted to do a shoot that redefined masculinity by being able to be comfortable in your own skin and expressing yourself as you truly are. “Whether, for a man or a boy, that means wearing a skirt or a beautiful strand of pearls.”

This editorial was about owning what makes you feel beautiful and most like yourself.

Nicole Wilson

In addition to this main idea, Wilson also wanted to capture the feeling of those last free and playful summers of youth before entering into adulthood, a stage of our lives when are forced to define who we are for the rest of the world.

I wanted the shoot to feel fun, youthful, but also nostalgic. Almost like the viewer is looking back on this moment of time before they became grew up.

Nicole Wilson

“Jeremie was the perfect model for my concept as he is a teen model with a background as a professional dancer who not only beautifully expresses himself and ideas as a dancer and model, but who also owns and thoroughly enjoys who he is. In addition, Jeremie is still very much a boy coming into his own and is himself experiencing the last of his boyhood summers before heading off into adulthood and the rest of the world.”

The equipment used for this shoot was a Canon R5 and RF 28-70mm lenses, and it was shot at a local public recreational park in New York City, located near Chelsea, Manhattan.

“When there’s no one else in sight in the crowded lonely night, well I wait so long for my love vibration and I’m dancing with myself.”

Billy Idol’s song “Dancing with Myself”

Jeremie Leger is wearing a combination of brands: Zara Men, Comme Des Garcons, BDG, Converse amongst others.

Regarding the model’s attitude during the shoot, the photographer says: “Jeremie did such a beautiful job of working with me. Because of Jeremie’s willingness to experiment and play in front of the camera, I think we came up with a truly beautiful editorial. Jeremie being a dancer has no trouble with movement, an area that young models often struggle with finding confidence in. Instead, he was quite liberated with movement and took my direction extraordinarily well. I’m also very in awe of Jeremie’s ability to embrace himself and to express himself through movement. I know in my bones he’ll have a bright future as both a model and a dancer!”

Model Jeremie Leger @Jeremie.Leger represented by Crawford Models @Crawfordmodel, mother agency Unsigned Models @UnsignedModels photography and creative direction by Nicole Wilson @NicoleWilsonPhoto in New York City, exclusive for Vanity Teen online!