From Aaron's first appearance on Ben Trovato.

When we interviewed Aaron K back in March, he ended the session saying he would like to do more conceptual work in the future. Now the future is here, and Aaron kept his word. His first exclusive fashion editorial for Ben Trovato might be amusing to look through, but the concept is based on a more serious message. “The aim for this shoot was to draw attention to the fact that young high-school age girls are regularly portrayed as more mature, sexually assertive women by the fashion industry. I find this kind of deception both intriguing and, in some cases, quite disturbing (particularly when models under the age of 16 are involved),” Aaron explains before adding “I love editorials and campaigns that try to do more than just show pretty people wearing nice clothes.

Photographers like Nick Knight and Steven Meisel are still leading the way in this regard. Their work often examines our cultural and social conventions in a way that is both revealing and entertaining.”

Model Student / Student Model was a big production, with six models, and a team of seven including Aaron. He says “it was actually a really fun day. I have worked with Emma and Matt before, but this was my first shoot with Rebecca and Shontal. I think they all did an amazing job. The whole shoot ran smoothly from start (8am) to finish (9:30pm) and I’m really looking forward to working with this team again.” And how was it working with six models at the same time? “It was no problem at all. Because the models were all shot individually we staggered their arrival times throughout the day. Capturing the school portraits was a very quick and easy process (10 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to shoot, no retouching). The fashion shots took a lot longer to create as we wanted to give each model a dramatic transformation.”

Stylist Rebecca Flavell did an incredible job transforming the models style-wise, using fashion from Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Jeffery Campbell and Ralph Lauren among others.

Credits
Photography – Aaron K (portfolio | facebook) @ Splinter
Styling – Rebecca Flavell
Makeup – Emma Peters @ Splinter
Hair – Shontal Healey & Matt Benns @ Stephen Marr
Photography Assistant – Kirsty Norton
Styling Assistant – Elisha Stewart
Models – Hannah Morgan @ 62, Emily Smith @ Clyne, Victoria Cooper-Smith @ Clyne, Anastazia Bobis @ 62, Sakura Matches @ 62, Anmari Botha @ Red 11