Loofah Sponges Serve As Creativity
I have a lot of stuff at my house. It might be a creator’s dream. At any moment I could turn a session into a styled look with all the random things that I have accumulated over the years. I have more wigs than I can count. My basement is full of vintage dresses from all over. I feel like I have half the stock of what Hobby Lobby carries. Who knew that loofah sponges were a part of that.

I Have Something For That
I bought dozens of loofah sponges years ago for a project and I held on to them, never knowing if I would use them again. For some reason it felt right to use them with the kitschy theme. Yes, it is tacky to have loofah sponges sewed on to a sweater (which was also in my basement from another shoot).

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Izzy!
Sarah’s Thoughts: Izzy had to come to the salon because my schedule was so busy that I couldn’t manage coming to Valerie’s studio. She was coming to the salon to get her hair done anyways, so we did hair and makeup at the salon for the shoot. Izzy gave off the impression of “What are you doing to me? And now I have to walk through the whole salon looking like this?”
She was not having it. She was scared and a little devastated. But I kept telling her “Trust the process! When you see the final image you will understand!” I am cool. Everybody in the salon thought she looked amazing and beautiful. Everyone thought it was cool. Izzy wasn’t sure and didn’t see it right away. I’m sure all Izzy could see what loofah sponges and an ugly old sweater. I have known Izzy for a long time and I kept telling her that she looked amazing. I loved this look. This was the only image that I didn’t see before today.

It Was A Challenge With Loofah Sponges, But She Did It!
Valerie’s Thoughts: This one was the most challenging one to pose because, you can’t tell it from this particular photo, but she has loofah sponges all over the entire sweater and in her hair. When I would ask her to pose, she would answer no because the loofah sponges are in the way. I can not move like that! It was funny to try to pose her. We had a small range of poses because of the sweater. It was terribly heavy. I did not anticipate that the sweater would end up being a 20 pound sweater. But she wore it really well! She was able to manipulate it and move it, even when it was a challenge. Again, she tried! She did a great job in following along and creating with us.
I feel like maybe I should start to do tutorials about how I change things, like loofah sponges, into props for sessions. Seems like people would enjoy that
For More
You can see the entire set of Giving Gala 2020 images here. If you are interested in doing your own styled session, please let me know by completing the inquire form here. You can see the first release of these images here.