Gorman x Salvation Mountain
SALVATION MOUNTAIN. Is there a more strange and delightful and colorful monument in the Mojave? Not that I’ve found. It’s a surreal place to finally visit in person after watching it in Into The Wild. The Gorman campaign was another opportunity that came about through Vacation Theory. Jesse Chamberlin Marble was shooting and Bri Emery (Designlovefest) was Creative Directing. I think Jesse wanted movement in the shots, and of course with Vacation Theory producing it - I fortunately had my in. Like the T.K Maxx job, I I was on in both a talent and production capacity. Though this time, not accidentally. I recall having to email one of my agents over at Wilhelmina from my production email (which doesn’t contain my surname), asking about my own availability to which we all found wildly entertaining in the production office. I wasn’t particularly close with my bookers at Wilhelmina LA so they never put two and two together that it was the same Nicola on both ends. I got a kick out of working in both capacities. Being valued for a skill set, coupled with the dumb luck of modeling. Modeling was a fortunate position to find oneself in. Not entirely without skill by any stretch, but certainly a hollowness to it, for me anyway. Being able to incorporate movement into modeling on a broader scale however removed some of that vacuousness. It felt like a fortuitous arranged marriage between camera, movement, subject and setting, and heightened every aspect at play in a shot. Dance removed some of that contrivance that was often inherent in modeling. Of course coupling a camera and dancer was nothing new. But to me, it was. It was a combination of two things that I never realized to combine. Yet now that I was doing it, how did this not occur to me earlier?! At this point, the modeling industry was changing for the better too. It was shifting its focus from just looks to looks plus a skill. Athleticism, artistry, just something more than having the luck of being born with a nice face. The industry was also shedding its non-negotiable obsession with being 5’8”-or-over-or-forget-about-it. These changes benefited me massively. At 5’6” I have always added an inch claiming I was 5’7” to sweeten the deal. It generally worked and if your proportions could deliver the white lie, then you might just get away with it. I should express now that modeling was never something I saw as a career. But it was something I had sought out. I thought I could take a crack at it so why not make some money? I’ve always felt beyond fortunate to make money this way. It just wasn’t something that made the soul sing. It does when you’re in it and doing it, but when the day’s over and the makeup is rinsed off that quickly fades and you realize you’re someone else’s canvas, and you haven’t been painting your own. In any case, it was something I was willing to accept and compartmentalize because it was worthwhile to do. Feeling guilt guiltily about this was to realize I knew it was futile to feel guilty. Guilt is such a useless emotion but it doesn’t make me feel any less like I was a devout Catholic in another life and being haunted by that ghost. I figured I might as well ride the wagon while I was still on it. And count my blessings while I was at it. Drink in the wonderful people I met, the remarkable places it took me and all that went in between.
Jesse is an extraordinarily special photographer and person. She was a real kindness to her. And her work is more like a painting than a photo. Colorful always. Her work encapsulates dream-scapes that are utterly and obviously a testament to her own imagination. She brings such magic into the world with her photos,and her soul alike.
Photos Jesse Chamberlin Marble Creative Director Bri Emery
