This image was photographed for “Cowgirl Magazine”, an American publication, inside an abandoned farm outside Milan, Italy called Acquabella Farm. My assistant spotted the building while we were driving toward Linate Airport, and the structure immediately stood out because of its dark textured feel mixed with old farm architecture. It had character without looking manufactured, which is something that is getting harder to find.
After asking around locally, we eventually connected with the niece of the late owner, Angelo Galbiati, who was born in 1906. She gave us permission to photograph there and explained that Angelo loved Americans and named the property “Acquabella Farm” as a tribute to them. That detail made the location even more interesting considering the western styling we were shooting for the magazine.
Visually, I wanted the image to not seem overly polished. The wardrobe already carried a strong western influence with the red fringe jacket, denim, turquoise jewelry, and cowboy boots, so the location needed to balance that without competing against it. The abandoned building gave us texture, depth, and mood immediately. Nothing had to be added to the scene.
The lighting was built around preserving the atmosphere inside the structure. There was already soft ambient light coming through large openings in the building, and I used that as the base layer for the image. From there I introduced strobe lighting, mostly adding a bit of light on the model’s face. So unlike the BTS photo, the head was elevated.
A lot of commercial fashion lighting today can feel overproduced, especially on location. For this shoot I wanted the lighting to stay believable. The strobe added very soft light, but I still wanted viewers to feel like the scene existed naturally before we arrived.
Composition was equally important. I intentionally left a large amount of negative space, mostly on the right, around the model to emphasize the size and darkness of the abandoned building. In editorial fashion photography, space can become part of the story. It allows the subject to feel isolated while giving the environment equal importance.
The contrast between the polished fashion styling and the worn environment gave me what I was looking for.
Editorial fashion photography is always stronger when the location contributes something real.
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No “Artificial Intelligence” was used creating this imagery. I haven’t run out of the original AI: Actual Intelligence.