Fearful Symmetry

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

(from The Tyger by William Blake)

Photo; Marco Jacob
Marco's shadow, while taking a picture of Miguel shooting Chloe. I love the mise-en-abyme.

As you know, I recently married Marco Jacob. The Jacob Brothers or the Jacob Four have an incredibly powerful drive and creative force. Miguel is a photographer, his twin brother Marco is an architect-designer, Luis, is a noted Canadian artist, and Giancarlo is a teacher with a sharp eye for photography too. You can bet family dinners never get boring...But let's have a closer look at Miguel's work today.
Over the last 2 years, I have had several great opportunities to grasp the essentials of his passion for photography, as well as his quest in art. As a Toronto-based fashion photographer, Miguel Jacob regularly shoots covers, editorials and advertising for Fashion magazine and Chatelaine, to quote but a few.

Photographer Miguel Jacob on a shoot for FASHION magazine, September 2008.

But as an artist, a fashion photographer like Miguel, also needs to expand the territories of his creative freedom by shooting what is called in the profession, a creative, i.e a personal piece that has not been ordered by a client. But over to you, Miguel!

"The idea of the shoot came from a photo exhibit at the store called Carte Blanche showcasing the new Pink Cobra pieces through stylists' interpretations. Dwayne called me and asked me if I was interested and I said "Yes". Given the dark nature of the pieces (Pink Cobra, Prada, Gareth Pugh, etc.), I suggested that we use a very electric colour palette for the model's makeup. Geometry played a big role in selecting the location and mirrors also played a big role. The use of an extreme wide angle lens (16-35 mm) added to the warped feeling that I was after."

Believe me, I was really impatient to see Miguel on a creative. At long last, it happened. Last Saturday, Marco and I assisted him on a creative that he directed, in collaboration with Dwayne Kennedy (Stylist), Robert Weir (Make-up artist) and Chloe (Model). So today's topic is the behind-the-scenes of this photo shoot directed by Miguel Jacob. Watch out, he is going to perform his photographic magic right in front of your eyes.
Here are a few notes and photos taken behind the scenes of that memorable photo shoot.

Miguel Jacob, Dwayne Kennedy and Robert Weir designing plans for the day.

Saturday October 10th: It all started at noon chez nous. We had agreed on having our place turned into headquarters for the think-tank crew that day. After 3 hours consisting of fittings, make-up and hairstyle, we were ready to set off. So we got going with our gear, and model Chloe wearing 1980s sculptural make-up and structural jumpsuit. As you can see, we didn't go unnoticed on the streets of Toronto...

Photos by Christine Rochet-Jacob

Once we got off the taxi- we understood that Miguel's destination of choice was ideal: Front Street and its alignment of mirrored buildings. Great idea! The crew stayed on location, in front of this dramatic facade, for nearly two hours, with Miguel shooting under all possible angles (see photos!). It is only when the sun started to set behind the CN Tower that the RBC security guard kindly asked us if we could leave the premises. He had been notified of the photo shoot and had consented to ignore it for... quite a while. Thank you, sir. It takes a lot of people's good energy to make the world go round, the same for a creative to happen!

Photos by Christine Rochet-Jacob

Miguel and Chloe taming each other, like the cobra and the mangoose, or the crouching tiger... Both were ready to do all they could to reveal the underlying magic of geometrical patterns and their symmetry in vertiginous mirroring effects.

Photo by Marco Jacob. Chloe in the hood; the urban tale of a tall, lean black Cobra! Enigmatic and sexy.

Chloe at rest, smoking a cigarette to unwind, and perhaps also to derive a bit of warmth from the cigarette. You have to know that, on that day, the weather was a bit of a gamble, with equal chances of being brightly sunny or grimly overcast; we had a bit of both, in turns...We made do with the whimsical temper of the sky and tried to enjoy the sun when it dared to come out from behind the clouds and stopped playing hide-and-seek with the CN Tower.

And then we moved froward to other locations. On our way, we stopped at the Eaton Centre to warm up a bit and grab some hot coffee. Starbucks's customers could not believe their eyes when they saw Chloe in this amazing Prada dress! She looked surreal, out of context...

But I could not conclude on this creative without showing you the outcome of the day. Here is a short selection of the inspiring photos taken by Miguel Jacob. I think that, through his transcending vision, he did manage to frame that fearful symmetry, don't you think?

Copyrights Miguel Jacob