“In all aspects of my life, I like to own every step, do it all, and it took me a long time to learn how to delegate, rely on other people, ask for help,” says photographer Desiree De Sade to the Phoblographer in an interview. “The process and the learnings that come from it are just as rewarding as the final product, and it definitely makes me protective about my work because genuine passion went into it. Like I can’t imagine outsourcing editing no matter how much time it would save me. I’d feel it wasn’t my work anymore.” Desiree is a photographer that’s been shooting with Sony cameras since they were Minolta. Knowing how they were, we were curious to know how she made these photos without Photoshop.
All images by Desiree De Sade. Used with permission. For more, please visit her website and Instagram @desiree.de.sade.photography.
“It’s very disheartening to see a page with nothing but overly saturated landscapes that all look the same have ten thousand followers and tons of engagement but then see artists trying to make meaningful and unique work getting their pages deleted without warning because the powers that be have decided the work is too controversial to be art. “
Desiree De Sade
Desiree has been shooting since she was 5 years old. It’s something she and her dad did together since it was his hobby. Now in her 30s, she shoots with Sony cameras. On the side, she also does burlesque and shoots several of her other fellow performers. Lots of her work is via word of mouth; and she says that she’s not good at playing the social media content game. “In the same way that I don’t create burlesque acts I’m not invested in just because they’re mainstream and bookable, I don’t phone it in with photography for the sake of a gig or for something to put online,” she tells us. “Even something dry like a corporate conference has fun people moments that can make for engaging images, or if a client commissions me for a portrait concept that isn’t really my vibe, I’ll find a common ground between us and make it memorable. I’ve been accused many times of ‘caring too much’ when it comes to like everything…” Desiree does everything with her heart in it, and so when her friend Farah contacted her to work together, she wanted to get experimental.
Farah Rose, the hero of Desiree’s photos, is a writer based in Astoria. She reached out to Desiree because she likes the aesthetic in her images. But for this shoot, Farah wanted to get weird. “She’s an imaginative person seeking to reconnect with different aspects of her creativity and wants to create art that makes all aspects of her personality feel empowered,” Desiree tells us. “She came up with the styling- a witchy, goddess-like figure that is certainly a familiar feminine archetype, but one that is unsettling, slightly unhinged, messy, and at times outright unattractive through expressions, poses, and of course, camera effects. These traits are ones for which women are often vilified as we navigate the unattainable standards we’re meant to maintain at all times.” This is the kind of stuff Desiree loves to photograph.
To shoot these images, Desiree used a Sony a7 III. She shoots with a Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 and a Sony 85mm 2.8. “I have a little collection of filters like Black Pro Mist, hyperstar, and multi-image to get fun effects practically,” she tells us. “As far as studio lighting is concerned, I don’t have fancy strobes. I have a 400Ws monolight and 2 200Ws monolights from Neewer.” She typically shoots using base bulbs but also sometimes uses modifiers.
To do these photos, Farah purchased a magic mirror from Spektrem Effects for the shoot. Desiree ended up buying one because it reflects the surroundings and creates different color effects on the subject. “For many of the shots, I combined that with a multi-image filter on the lens to create the kaleidoscope effect,” she tells us. “A lot of apps will add this effect to your existing photo, but I’ve been using the physical filter to create interesting portraits for the last 5 years or so after reading about them in a book from the 70s. For a few of the shots, I actually added a third technique that most photographers play around with periodically- long exposure with a rear-curtain flash.” This layering technique worked in conjunction with Farah’s body movements.
After a few Lightroom edits, the images were ready.
What’s so powerful here is that these kinds of images can’t be made or easily mimicked by an AI image maker. In fact, we’re not sure what you’d tell it to make imagery like this. Desiree thinks that AI is moving so insanely fast and feels that it’s infuriating that so many people are being pushed out of work in favor of using AI.
“But that being said, I can’t help but think about how painters hated photography when it was the new art form, how photographers railed against digital when it came out, and so on,” she tells us. “I personally have a lot of feelings about photographers who heavily manipulate images with Photoshop or who rely completely on fixing things in post rather than getting it right in-camera. Where’s the line between photography and graphic design?” Overall, she thinks that it’s very human to look for authenticity in things.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.