Build to Something
There has always been a desire within me to create things with my hands. My dad was very handy, not by trade, but by curiosity and at times necessity. He had the keen ability to read a manual on how to do something and then actually do that thing, competently might I add. Seeing and participating in those projects in my youth has only increased my desire to build things. After months of stepping out of my apartment and looking at my empty patio I decided that I wanted to build a set.
The ground was pebbles set in concrete, the walls were corrugated steel, my apartment window and air conditioning unit was on the left side and stairs to the second floor on the right. The space was about 10 feet long and nearly 6 feet wide. With those factors in figures in mind I went to the hardware store. The first thing I wanted to do was find something to make a vertical wall to cover the existing steel wall. The existing wall was only about 6 feet tall, which was not tall enough to block out what was behind it. My original thought was to buy dry wall. It comes in many sizes and thicknesses and it can be painted. However since the patio was outside it would be exposed to the elements and it would rain….eventually (even in Los Angeles), also it had to fit in my sedan. Yes an SUV or truck would have been ideal, but I only had my car with a back seat that folded down. Fortunately after a bit of wandering I stumbled upon concrete drywall that could stand up better against moisture. I grabbed three 5’x3’, 3/8” thick sheets of concrete dry wall hoping the would fit into my car. I knew that I wanted to piece them together so that it would be around 8 feet high and 6 feet wide, but I didn’t want to use any power tools in my small apartment complex. I grabbed a couple long 2”x4”s (and had them cut into 18” pieces), a caulk gun, and a cartridge of gorilla glue. I then headed to the other side of the store to find flooring. I was originally thinking about cheap wood flooring, but I stumbled upon a couple boxes of Travertine tile on clearance for $11. I bought everything and crossed my fingers that it would all fit into my car and with a healthy amount of finagling, it did.
Once home, I laid out the concrete sheets: two pieces vertical and then the third piece horizontal on top. I placed the 2”x4”s along the seems where the sheets met and along the bottom. The idea was to reinforce the sheets so it could stand upright as a wall. I glued the 2”x4”s down and let it cure for 24 hours.
Once I had the wall up and laid out the tile I was ready to style the space. I took some items from my apartment along with a table a friend was throwing away, an old speaker, and a chair I bought via Craigslist to start adding character. I used fabric to cover the left wall and to drape over the speaker. I brought my fiddle leaf fig and yucca plant out doors and bought a few other plants to give the set some depth. That’s all it took! I set up a team and we had a wonderful shoot. Angel modeled, Rachael styled, and Melanie did the makeup.
Film: Portra 800, Cinestill 50D
Camera: Pentax 67 II
