Stick ‘em up: a fashion editorial for Solstice Magazine

Western fashion inspiration: a modern take on the gunslinger heroine

I’ve long admired Alejandro Jodorowsky’s cult Western El Topo — a surreal tale of a gunslinger who channels Old-Testament wrath and mysticism. That film became the unlikely starting point for “Stick ’em up,” my Western-inspired fashion editorial published in Solstice Magazine. Shot in a Vienna studio with a talented team of collaborators, the project reimagines the classic cowgirl aesthetic through a cinematic, high-fashion lens. As a Belgian fashion photographer drawn to archetypes, shadowplay, and narrative styling, I took this opportunity to create my own “spiritual warrior” — a heroine who’s part gunslinger, part angel.

Cinematic lighting and narrative photography

The wonderful Theresa from Reload Models brought exactly the blend of strength and softness I was looking for — the perfect cowgirl heroine for this editorial. Her ability to channel both darkness and light allowed us to push beyond the trope of a pretty girl in Western clothing. With dramatic lighting, shadowplay, and subtle motion blur, we infused the shoot with a cosmic, cinematic tension. One look was painted entirely with light in the background — a nod to Lucky Luke, the comic book cowboy from my childhood who could shoot faster than his own shadow.

That our protagonist wasn't a man, but a fierce amazon girl, really delighted me, and while I don’t think I managed to convince anyone in my team to indulge in Jodorowsky’s esoteric epic, I still see my own sense of story and narration reflected in these fashion images, and I am thankful I got to experience my own photographic journey surrounded by my talented stylist, makeup artist, and model on a nice afternoon in my favorite Vienna-based studio: marrying darkness and light.

Want to collaborate on a fashion editorial or commission a cinematic lookbook shoot? I work with models, stylists, and designers across Europe. Contact me here or visit my editorial work.