This shoot was fun. I titled this gallery at first as "Henry as my Muse", but Henry is always my muse.
At the time of this shoot, Henry and I had been dating for 4 months. We've known each other since I was in seventh grade and he was in sixth grade. My friends and I only ever spoke of him as "Hot Henry".
Years passed, and Henry became irrelevant to my circle. Until my senior year of high school. It was the second semester, and Henry and I had every single class together. We like to believe this was divinely guided.
Blah Blah Blah, we fell in love and now we're best friends. But what makes Henry so special and so perfect for me is his pride. Henry is sure of himself. In such a classic American way. Henry wants to get far, so he knows he will. He is smart, brave, witty, kind, and dashing. When I talk about my ambitions and my passions, Henry is my biggest cheerleader. And I believe this
will be a key to his success. My drive doesn't threaten his.
I realized all of these things early on in our relationship, and I see him grow more into them every day.
As an aesthetically driven person, I become inspired and set on fire by everything I ever find beautiful.
Being able to photograph the person who I am most attracted to is such a gift.
When I see Henry, I think Ralph Lauren. I think classic American boy, hard working and deeply hard loving.
That is what I wanted this shoot to feel like.
Although these were meant
T
to be traditional senior photos, I couldn't let someone so charming go to waste.
It was a wednesday afternoon and I instructed Henry to pack a suitcase that would match the classic Tom Ford vibe. Which
of course, he understood what that meant.
He swooped me in his dad's white pickup truck, which we would later use as a part of the shoot, and we made way towards Red Feather, the deep ranch lands of Northern Colorado.
Henry was a natural, and our chemistry was vibrant. Photographing Henry in itself was a love story.
The lighting turned to dusk, the breeze was warm, and it was just us in the middle of nowhere. We hopped wired fences and ran away from herds of cows. We rolled in the grass and kissed in between my camera's flash.
I've spoken of this before, but I truly believe that the layout of a gallery of images can make or break every single photograph. Layout is a chance to write a visual story.
The layout of these images to me feels much like a memory. A memory of a deep love story. With flashes of joy and deep connection.
A reminiscence of what once was but still is -- a nostalgia of our our golden hour of love.
It has now been almost a full year since this shoot. I do not have much else to say about it except that when I look through these images, I feel so in love and so thankful.
I hope you enjoy.
These images were taken in Red Feather, Colorado, in September of 2024 as senior photos for Henry Peterson. Modeled by Henry Peterson. Styled, photographed, imagined, edited, and written by me.
By Lucy Hart Hannah