SOPHY HOLLAND: VARIETY’S POWER OF WOMEN
Photographer & Director Sophy Holland was commissioned by Variety to shoot their annual Power of Women issue, celebrating women in entertainment who are making a difference. This year their highlighting 6 leading ladies in comedy, all shot in New York, Los Angeles and Ghana.
Check out Variety’s interview with Sophy below on how this all came together:
What drew you to this project?
I love shooting for Variety and am so grateful that this is my second time being asked to work on the Power of Women portfolio. I spent my entire career in photography celebrating strong women, so this was a natural fit for me. Portraiture in my opinion should honor the character as well as the physical beauty of the subject, and these six comediennes have both, in spades, which made my job even easier.
I love shooting for Variety and am so grateful that this is my second time being asked to work on the Power of Women portfolio. I spent my entire career in photography celebrating strong women, so this was a natural fit for me. Portraiture in my opinion should honor the character as well as the physical beauty of the subject, and these six comediennes have both, in spades, which made my job even easier.
Any standout moments?
There were definite challenges on this portfolio – the main one being that we had women all around the world, from Los Angeles to New York to Ghana and I had to shoot this during COVID times, and therefore there was a lot of prepping for the technical and logistical issues I needed to solve. Some of the shoots I shot in person and some were done ‘remotely’ with a newly developed technique and a very strong support crew. I think it worked out but that was definitely memorable. The time change in Ghana was also fun – my first time shooting a daylight shoot at 3am. haha.
There were definite challenges on this portfolio – the main one being that we had women all around the world, from Los Angeles to New York to Ghana and I had to shoot this during COVID times, and therefore there was a lot of prepping for the technical and logistical issues I needed to solve. Some of the shoots I shot in person and some were done ‘remotely’ with a newly developed technique and a very strong support crew. I think it worked out but that was definitely memorable. The time change in Ghana was also fun – my first time shooting a daylight shoot at 3am. haha.
Inspiration for the look and feel of the shoots?
When deciding on creative direction for the project, one thing that was important to me was celebrating the fact that we as a world were transitioning through (hopefully) the tail end of a crazy winter with COVID-19 and lockdown. There was a new vaccine out, and there was new hope, and Spring was on the way. Therefore, the only thing I kept coming back to was Nature. I wanted to take all the shoots authentically outdoors, wherever each actress was in the world, and show them in a Spring/Summer explosion of color and life. Thats what we ended up doing and I am so happy we went with this direction.
When deciding on creative direction for the project, one thing that was important to me was celebrating the fact that we as a world were transitioning through (hopefully) the tail end of a crazy winter with COVID-19 and lockdown. There was a new vaccine out, and there was new hope, and Spring was on the way. Therefore, the only thing I kept coming back to was Nature. I wanted to take all the shoots authentically outdoors, wherever each actress was in the world, and show them in a Spring/Summer explosion of color and life. Thats what we ended up doing and I am so happy we went with this direction.
All 6 women will be honored as part of “Lifetime Presents Variety’s Power Of Women The Comedians” special, premiering May 10th at 8pm on Lifetime.
You can see more of Sophy Holland's work here
