Grounded

Rowan Hamilton found Effy and Iona on Instagram and reached out about a shoot in Portland. They said yes, no complicated back-and-forth. That’s what it looks like when people recognize something real in each other’s work.

The photographs are good because they’re at ease. They styled themselves, made the choices, which means intention lives in every detail. Rowan described it as one of the chillest shoots he’s done. You can feel that in the images—the comfort between them, the absence of self-consciousness. No strain.

Most people freeze when you ask them to take their clothes off in front of a camera. But if you actually understand image and light and your own body, if you’ve paid attention, it becomes work instead of exposure. That’s what I’m looking at here.