This shoot began with a quiet intention. To let fashion, design, and place meet without forcing the moment. Elegance as an act of power.
This was my second photoshoot with Tina Lopez. Our first took place in a Parisian studio and was later featured in my photo book, Fashion and Editorial Photography: Sixteen Tales From Around the World. That initial collaboration created an unspoken trust. This shoot felt like a continuation of that dialogue, now unfolding outdoors, shaped by light, structure, and movement, and carrying an international spotlight that felt both natural and earned.
We met at the Pont de Bir Hakeim, where repeating steel columns stretch into the distance and the Seine moves calmly below. The bridge carries rhythm and weight, symmetry and pause. It invites presence. That balance became the foundation of the story.
Tina wore a dress by BRAXTON, a California based designer whose work carries a quiet confidence that translated effortlessly onto the streets of Paris. Seeing the design move through this setting felt special. A West Coast sensibility meeting European architecture. Fashion crossing borders without losing its identity. The sheer layers and embroidered details traced the body without overpowering it. Strength revealed through restraint. As Tina moved across the bridge, the dress responded naturally. Soft during motion. Defined in stillness.
Jewelry by Butones Jewelry added a refined sense of intention. Pearls caught the afternoon light and shifted gently with each gesture. Nothing felt excessive. Every piece felt deliberate. The jewelry followed Tina’s movement rather than directing it, creating a subtle rhythm that stayed in harmony with the environment.
The mood lived between elegance and presence. Tina leaned into the architecture, then pulled away. At times she stood centered beneath the columns, grounded and direct. At other moments she drifted toward the edges of the frame, letting space and shadow speak. Hands resting on stone. Eyes closing briefly. Then opening again.
What stood out most was how natural everything felt. There was no need to define the images too tightly. We let the walk across the bridge guide us. Each frame felt like a step forward. A continuation rather than a performance. The bridge became a runway in its own way, not through spectacle, but through confidence and control.
At its core, this shoot is about presence. How fashion becomes most powerful when it is allowed to exist honestly within its surroundings.
Photoshoot Credits
- Model: Tina Lopez
- Fashion Designer: BRAXTON
- Jewelry Designer: Butones Jewelry
- Photographer: Paul Tocatlian
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