It’s certainly been a while since I’ve had anyone in front of my camera, and it’s been even longer since I worked in a studio setting. Before I left England almost 4 years ago, I had a modest studio set up in my tiny flat where I started experimenting with lighting, but then I up and moved to the southern hemisphere and it’s all been in storage since.

I’ve had a strange time settling and unsettling in Brighton since I got back from Australia in April last year and haven’t had much head space to organise any shoots, but turns out sometimes all you need is another like-minded soul to give you that spark of inspiration to create.

My good friend, stylist and illustrator Rebecca de Havas has a lovely flat filled with natural light that I thought would be perfect to set up my old studio and run a test shoot, so I dug everything out of storage and we created a little set filled with gorgeous props, such as Rebecca’s Grandmother’s easel and pot of paintbrushes, some antique tables and various house plants.

We had a range of looks from Rebecca’s own collection including pieces from TOAST and Wolf & Gypsy Vintage, as well as jewellery and artwork provided by local homeware stockist The Neutral Store. Rebecca’s younger sister Frances de Havas travelled to Brighton to model for us and did a stunning job following direction and portraying the look we were trying to achieve.

The cherry on top was being able to shoot this on 35mm film, which really enhanced the romantic aesthetic and has solidified my love for the medium with it’s texture and rawness. I’d love to know which shot is your favourite in the comments below!

All photos shot with a Canon AE-1 on Kodak Portra 400.