Hello Killer Heels Photography. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
Q. Can you let our readers know who you are and what you do?
Hi, my name is Andrew Macdonald, and I am the principle behind Killer Heels Photography. So what does that mean? Well apart from making use of the camera for photoshoots, I am also responsible for the planning and execution of the shoot. Kicking off the ideas/concepts, through to outfit and styling, set and set up and finally the editing.
It is a bit of a one-man band at the core, but I then surround myself, as much as possible, with creative and talented people in the various fields of design, hair, make-up and such like.
Q. What type of people do you work with on your shoots?
A. Anyone and everyone is the simple answer. Looking back, there have certainly been a very good number of ‘first-timers’ in many different creative disciplines in the studio. In front and behind the camera.
There is a great deal of satisfaction in giving someone the opportunity, and even more so when they flourish with the right direction and encouragement. And this could be the beauty team, they may have an apprentice, but they get their shot. Assistants – with permission – get to take some frames of the models.
Model chaperones become assistants in the studio for the day.
In terms of models, adult actresses are frequent visitors, professional dominatrix’s too. The at the other end of the spectrum, the curious first timers and the housewives treating their other halves to a thrill.
Q. Your photos are very stylish and sexy. How do you come with the different concepts to make sure each shoot is different from the last?
A. That is the challenge. I have said previously: Having an original idea is the hardest part of any shoot. After that it is just logistics.
My creative process is: Idea, outfit, model. Generally in that order. Though there might be the odd occasion there is someone in particular you’d really like to work with, and that process becomes reversed.
And you are looking to try and do something a little different each time. I think that is important in order to satisfy your own creative need. Doing the same thing over and over would get a little boring, and I feel I had gotten to that point with high key shots of black latex a while back.
People still want to shoot that. I will still shoot that. Maybe it just became a little too ‘easy’ and ‘straight forward.’ But it works.
Q. You work as a very fetish look. What make you chose fetish in particular to use as a concept with your photography?
A. Back in the mid/late 1980’s I bought a book: The Dark Summer by Bob Carlos Clarke, and that changed pretty much immediately what I wanted to photograph.
Movies with a hero generally have the ‘usual’ doing the ‘unusual.’ I like to flip that around a little. You can still do everyday things in the fetish world, but you just look so damn provocative doing them. It is nice to provoke a response, one way or another.
Q. What made you decide to use latex in your shoots and what would you say that material offers that other materials do not when it comes to shooting?
A. Simply, I love how latex looks on a person/model. Turing the everyday into a nightmare/fantasy/hero/villain. It can be very stylised, but the various outfits can be as much revealing or completely covered as you wish.
It fits like a second skin, enhancing natural physical attributes: a corset and Wonderbra all in one! Many models – and certainly a lot of first-time wearers of latex – find it rather liberating too, in terms of posing for the camera. Once you get them to stop rubbing their hands all over it!
For example, in a catsuit zipped up to the neck, you can be as extreme and extravagant in your posing as you dare, safe in the knowledge there is not going to be an accidental flash of flesh.
Some people get confused between latex and PVC, but they are very different. PVC has sewn seams for a start, and there is no ‘perfect fit’, it will crinkle. Latex will take some effort to dress – certainly items with limbs – but the rewards in the aesthetic are so very worthwhile. Oh, and the darker pigments light beautifully.
Q. What would you say has been some of the challenges when shooting with latex and how do you get around that?
A. There is a fair amount of prep work in getting garments ready for shooting. Cleaning, polishing, more polishing… it takes time. Then dressing the model, with catsuit being the most ‘fun’ to dress in. But over the years I have become a dab hand with gloves and stockings, and I sure know how to lace up a corset!
During the shoot itself, you have to keep an eye out for bits of fluff, or stray hairs sticking to the latex outfits. Better to take a few minutes to inspect the dressed model and sort then, than have to photoshop them out in several images.
We also have a few seamless paper rolls in the studio that when rolled out reveal a few ass prints where a latex clad model has sat down!
Q. Can you let our readers know what you have coming up in 2024?
A. More of the same! I am sorry, with regards to future plans, I like to keep my cards close to my chest, let the reveal speak for themselves, but there may be some character / cosplay in there too…
To learn more about Killer Heels Photography make sure to check out their website www.killerheelsphotography.org