Technically Possible:
Veilance Spring/Summer 2020

Constraints breed creativity. With present circumstances upending traditional techniques for image production, we’ve partnered with Veilance on an experiment in physically distanced photography. Photographer Norman Wong worked with the team at Neighbourhood Studios in Toronto to create a capture system capable of producing a fully-realized studio shoot without any in-person interaction. Over the course of a week, they designed a set-up based around a multi-camera rig, operated via remote viewing software that would allow a photographer to work from anywhere with an internet connection. They surrounded the set with a perimeter of additional cameras feeding footage into the same video call, allowing the team to observe and direct our model without being physically present. On shoot day, our model entered an empty, sanitized studio, worked through a series of looks, and left—zero contact necessary. The projections visible in these images are the same footage the team was using to direct our model—we wanted to make our process visible, and to repurpose this functional footage for aesthetic ends—but the same set of techniques could be used to execute countless different concepts. This was an exercise in rapid response to unforeseen challenges, and merely a starting point.

Photography: Norman Wong
Technical Direction: James Waring / Neighbourhod Studios
Digitech: Kevin Bryan
Model: Daniel Liu