Old Lolita shoot

One summer not too long ago I was invited by my friend Aisha to go along with a group of Lolita's and take pictures of their day out in Manchester whilst dressed in their Lolita attire. For most of the images told them to pretend I wasn't their so I could capture images expressing their personalities, I wanted to show that even though they were all dressed differently to what most of us dress like that they are the same as us.

As well as taking photos of them when they weren't posing or aware, I also took some staged images to get a variety of outcomes. 

When asking each of them if I could take a full body outfit shot, I found it interesting how each of them chose to stand, some of the girls were confident and posing, some got into character and knew the best way to show off their outfit and some of them were quite shy and held back a bit. The girls who were shy interested me because I guess I thought if someone can dress in a way in which makes them stand out and draws attention then they must have confidence and not want to hide away.

The selection of images above are a few of my favourite ones because they're raw, natural and personal. I think the personalities shine through past the clothes, it shows they aren't all the same, they just like the same style of clothes just like everyone else.

Whilst following this group around Manchester center I did pick up on a lot of comments and stares being thrown their way, some good and some bad, I found it interesting how they dealt with the bad remarks, the group would laugh about it rather than let it bother them, I think this is because they know people won't always understand their fashion and lifestyle choice so comments and looks will always be there.

The image above is my favourite photo from the whole shoot, I love the framing, colour, tones and the pose of the little boy, he looks so happy. 

As well as this series I did, I also took some photos in college of my friend Aisha in the studio. This is where I first experimented with making her look 'doll-like'.