So there is a remarkable new talent.
Her name is Kayla Ursula, and I had the pleasure of doing the photography on her first album. I did the album cover, plus any and all professional images you’ll be seeing of her. It was a long, arduous, painstaking labor, but it was well worth it, and by the looks of it, very well received.
So the other members “Team Kayla” or the “K-Team” as we later came to be called, contacted me because they were getting ready to put together their debut album, and they absolutely wanted an artistic eye, and wanted to make it something special.
So there we sat; Manager, Kayla, her Mother and Event Organizer.
They explain a little bit about themselves and then they ask me to listen to some of Kayla’s music.
After carefully listening to the hit single, I ask Kayla to explain the lyrics to me, and to go over some of the themes she was touching and playing with on the album. As soon as she explained I knew what this needed to be, aesthetically. Coincidentally, by the time I was explaining my vision, the remaining members of the K-Team, nodded along and added to my vision. Ultimately it appears we were all on the same page from the get go, and we were pretty much on the right path. 
The music was simple. It took me back to when I was a kid. Growing up in Aruba, but being from Curacao, I had plenty of family in Curacao, and mostly spent my summer vacations in Curacao. When I was a kid my aunt would come visit, and take me on rides in School Buses and buy me soft ice cream. It took me back then. When the people here were all care free and beautiful. When the expressions were not of envy or anger but of humility and camaraderie was a priority for our people.
This is what the sound beckoned for. I didn’t have to search long, it was all there in front of me. The sound came with it’s own image, I just had to do some interpreting and do my best so that too much wouldn’t get lost in translation, which some did, but considering the circumstances, we did alright.
So that is what I wanted to portray. A time, post slavery, when things were peaceful and right, before all the noise and violence. To do so we would have to tread carefully, because a project like this can go wrong real fast unless you’re careful.
Keep this in mind, add a blackberry smartphone to any picture pre-1960’s and you kill it, if authenticity is what you’re going for. Everything in that frame has to be authentic.E double AA battery can make Joan of Ark look like Lady Ga Ga. Think about it.
So we had homework to do, and museums to visit, and people to talk to. Old people, wise people, beautiful people.
I have learned much about our culture and our history working on this project. And it’s pretty damn interesting when you’re actually in the middle of all of it. When you see all of these old artifacts, and you have some old school islanders explaining all of it to you.
Come shoot day, the weather was not in our favor. We ended up shooting for ten straight hours. In the middle of heavy rain, thunder and lightning. Breaking damn and flash floods. I shot, until I couldn’t anymore. 
The deadline was the following day, so I got home from that long shoot, ate some Chinese food, and did some post production until the wee hours of the morning.
But, as always, I was done on time. I made my deadline.
Everyone was more than pleased with my work, and it was well received..until printing time.
When it came time to print my work onto the album, some unmentionable fuck-o-sapien informed me that this would not be possible due to my colors. They told me my colors would not work, that they are unacceptable. They print ugly is what was said.
This is the first time anyone told me this. My work has been printed in numerous countries across the world, and this is the first time someone told me “Your work prints ugly”, which in turn made the K-Team nervous, which in turn almost cost me all my hard work.
Needless to say I was less than pleased, but assured the K-Team that my colors are fine, and that they should go ahead with the print, because I know what I am talking about, and Mr. Sapien does not.
Subsequently my work was printed per my instructions, and they came out, pardon my Italian, “Pico Bello” !
Faith was restored in the world, my work was loved, and another notch on my belt.
Needless to say, I will never work on a project where Mr.Sapien is involved again.
But, in closing, the project was a success. It knocked the wind out of me for a bit, but it was great. Can’t wait for the next album! So without further a do, here are some of the pictures from that project, and also in my next few posts, some of her music. Enjoy!
If you like what you hear, you can purchase her album “Amor di Nort Ost” at pretty much anywhere music is sold on the island.
1 note