Some places don’t just hold history. They breathe it. The USS Hornet is one of those places. An aircraft carrier of power and precision. Cold steel walls whispering memory. Shadows and rivets, stories etched in metal. It isn’t just a backdrop. It’s a character. So when Sarah Lauder stepped aboard, she didn’t just wear the story. She became part of it.
Two looks. Two moods. Two worlds.
Below Deck: Grace in Grit
The first, deep inside the ship. Pale green walls. Dim overhead lighting. Chains and bunks. It felt like time had stopped mid-breath. Sarah wore a fitted, shimmering white gown from the Kisau Clothing Collection. Her presence softened the industrial setting. Contrast by design. Elegance against grit. Her silver shoes echoed the metal underfoot. Her red lips carried the only fire in the cold space.
There was something cinematic about the silence between frames. She leaned against steel. Sat beneath exposed bulbs. Stood beside rusted lockers and empty bunks. Each pose was less about posture and more about pause. Like the ship was listening.
On Deck: Flight and Freedom
Then came the shift. We took it outside. Onto the flight deck. Open sky. Late sun. And the sharp geometry of fighter jets and propellers. The blue silk dress caught the wind. The planes, painted in bold reds and whites, matched her energy. It was no longer about containment. It was about motion.
Sarah posed against the polished body of an aircraft. Let the sun strike her face. Danced with the tail of a plane as if it were a stage prop. She stood beneath twin jet engines like a guardian of flight. Here, the steel was no longer a memory. It was alive. The dress shimmered like the sky. Her gaze matched the horizon.
Final Frame: A Whisper of Memory
The final shot landed somewhere between past and present. A vintage couch. A rotary phone. Yellow walls that looked almost too soft for a battleship. But it worked. That last image felt like a call to memory. A whisper. A woman waiting for a story to return home.
What I loved about this photoshoot collaboration, what I’ll carry forward, was the tension between grit and grace. The way Sarah held presence in both spaces. The way fashion didn’t just sit on her, it moved with the mood.
For anyone out there looking to tell a visual story that goes beyond the surface, I’d love to collaborate. Let’s find a location that speaks. Contact us and let’s create something bold, layered, and alive.
Photoshoot Credits
- Magazine: VANGUARD Magazine
- Model: Sarah Lauder
- Wardrobe: Kisau Clothing Collection
- Photographer: Paul Tocatlian
© Paul Tocatlian. All Rights Reserved.
Kisau Photography 