Installation Art Meets Haute Couture In Akshay & Soumya's Stunning Photo Series

Installation Art Meets Haute Couture In Akshay & Soumya's Stunning Photo Series
Every once in a while, we find ourselves teetering between two cliffs, and their very sharp edges. In the case of this most recent fashion shoot from India we happened to chance upon, choosing to jump somewhere in-between would mean we're standing in that unsure gap between technological industrialization bordering on haute couture. Akshay and Soumya, an enormously talented and young photography duo based in Bombay made up of Akshay Tambe and Soumya Iyer, touched upon exactly this space, and it's had us captivated ever since.
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Homegrown Loves:

Artist Speak:

Akshay Tambe:
“Our collaboration with Tyrell came about while Tyrell was doing the Nike installation and I was working for Nike too. I saw some metal pieces at his workshop and had mentioned to him that we would shoot together sometime. However, by the time we got back to him, he had already sold the pieces. So he made a new set of metal corsets for the shoot.
We called a lot of people but everything kept getting postponed. Initially Fox Travels was supposed to be covering this shoot. But just two days, before the shoot, they said it’s cancelled. So we weren’t even able to get the designers that we had formerly decided on. Then again the date for the shoot got postponed and finally, one day before the shoot, everything was ready.
This was the most difficult shoot of my life. Never before have had I dealt with anything like this especially since I was producing it all by myself while simultaneously getting everyone together.
The location of the shoot was an abandoned BMW Workshop in New Bombay. It was a friend’s property, so there was no trouble entering it. But on the day of the shoot, we reached and found there was no electricity. So at that point getting a generator and generally getting everything in place got to me.
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Soumya Iyer:
“Honestly, in our hearts we had been considering metal fashion since a while, but it was on seeing Tyrell’s pieces that the fact that we would actually be shooting with metal hit us.”
“It worked very well. They all were very cooperative. As far as the model is concerned, initially we did have a little problem with the dates, but then we found Laura and we were really happy with her. She is really good.”
Tyrell Valladares:
“Overall I think it was an amazing shoot. We did rush things a bit but ended up getting everything we wanted out of it. When we started things, not knowing what’s going to happen, there were times when it seemed like everything had begun working against us and that things were just not going to work out any more. But the way Akshay and Saumya pulled off this shoot was just brilliant. I’m glad they let me help them. They made sure they asked for my thoughts regarding the shots and whether I wanted a different look or angle. The number of photographers was limited and thus, they ensured my involvement in the photo shoot, which I thought was very sweet. They made me feel like a part of their team.
When it came to creating the corsets, it actually took a lot of time because I did not get a chance to meet the model and figure out her size as well as what would look good on her. So I basically just went with what I thought would look good. I wanted to make all the pieces completely different from each order to show people that all of this is actually possible with metal. I used nuts, metal washers, metal coins and metal flowers I wanted a few of the corsets to look more natural yet elegant. And as far as the painted ones are concerned, they just brought out my love for pop art as I painted them with florescent colours.
My inspiration stems from everyday things or things that I have seen previously and that have captured me in a particular way. I try to make things that people would appreciate and that would leave them wonder-struck.”
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EltonJFernandez:
“Akshay and Saumya’s vision is what got me interested in this collaboration while Tyrell’s work is what inspired me to do it. I was extremely thrilled because their goal was to be somewhat dark yet beautiful. It was not just some odd concept without purpose.
Laura moves well and there is something effortlessly candid about her beauty. So all I had to do was simplify her look so that it would not look too put together. Shrishti too had some incredible pieces brought in for a dramatic effect.
I am so thankful that they let me wrap that bandage around Laura’s body and layer it with lots of paint so that it finally looked like she’d been going crazy in it.
My favourite part of my work on this shoot would have to be the hair - every strand is in a place we intended it to be in.”
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Scroll on to view more images from the series:

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Follow Akshay & Soumya's photography here. 

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