Fun While it Lasted was a Summer editorial concept Nate Hoe and I developed for Blue Owl. 

We were tasked with creating a campaign that featured a wide range of items from Blue Owl’s summer inventory. At the time, the clothing assortment was heavy on bold color Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses, which immediately reminded us of scenes from the cult-classic film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. We landed on the idea of creating a narrative-driven campaign that followed a group of friends on a once-in-a-lifetime weekend bender.

I knew I wanted this shoot to take on a sleazy and campy vibe a la some of the images I came across of old Las Vegas. We came up with the idea to shoot the entirety of the editorial on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue North — an infamous stretch of two miles that has been home to cheap motels, casinos, and illicit activities since as long as I can remember. We sourced a 1985 Mercedes-Benz SL380 for the day, and booked a room at the Marco Polo Motel after being turned away by three other locations. Turns out, most of the motels on the street want absolutely zero business with anyone holding a DSLR camera.

To get the photos of the car sequence, we had a separate car drive alongside the Mercedes-Benz with Ryan shooting the majority of the images from outside the car’s sunroof. Ryan put together the layout with scanned receipts and papers collected from each location, which really helped drive-home the aesthetic we were going for.

Truly, creating this campaign was “fun while it lasted.”