I had the pleasure of collaborating with reporter Noor Tagouri on promo images for her new documentary series Sold In America. Noor and I met when I photographed her for Playboy Magazine; she was the first hijabi woman to be featured in its pages (she was clothed). The piece went viral and we became fast friends. When she reached out to collaborate for her project digging deep into the American sex trade, I jumped at the chance. We share a passion for telling women's stories; Noor wanted to work with a female photographer and crew in keeping with the values of the heavily woman-centric project.
We started with the concept of the shoot; she asked for portraits to be made to promote the show for web, social media, and small OOH in select markets. I suggested shooting on location around DC, highlighting spaces with atmospheric available light to create a mood and tone fitting with that depicted in the show. I location scouted and suggested several spots, and we spent a long afternoon and night circling the city with photo assistant Mariah Miranda to make the pictures.
You can watch the show at the link above, on Hulu, and elsewhere online. Many thanks to Noor for bringing me on to the project, Mariah for the assist, and Carl Ray for the flawless makeup.
