0:00
/
0:00
Transcript

Beyond The Grid, Vol. 03 - Boarding Pass to Backstage

For a few years, I had a job that doesn’t really fit into a neat sentence. I followed models and designers from their homes to fashion weeks all over the world...

London, Paris, Sydney, New York, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi—I documented their journeys for Etihad Airways, the global sponsor of major fashion weeks at the time.

The project was called Runway to Runway—airport runway to fashion runway—and it was exactly that.
Planes, backstage chaos, early mornings, fittings, hotel lobbies, and long haul flights all through my lens.

People used to ask what it was like traveling with models, hanging out for probably more hours than you should with someone you just met. But honestly, I loved it.
Getting to know the person behind the face you’ve seen in global campaigns or walking the world’s biggest runways—it reminded me that behind all the glamor, there’s just a person with nerdy hobbies and mostly the same aspirations as me or anyone else.

I never shared much from that time, but I shot a lot.
Here’s a look back.

Chanel Iman - Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi
Chanel Iman - Etihad International Airport
Nick Bateman - Mumbai
Nick Bateman - Mumbai
Xiao Wen Ju - Abu Dhabi Sand Dunes
Xiao Wen Ju - Louvre Abu Dhabi & The Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi
Eric Rutherford - Saadiyat Island Abu Dhabi
Joan Smalls - Abu Dhabi Sand Dunes
Joan Smalls - On board the Etihad Airways A380 & eating out in Abu Dhabi
Martha Hunt - London telephone booth
Shanina Shaik - On board the Etihad A380 and in front of the Paris Louvre
Montana Cox boarding the Etihad Airways A380 in Abu Dhabi
Georgia Fowler - Sydney Opera House
Anna Plunkett & Luke Sales of ‘Romance Was Born’ - Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi & Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Some of these moments were chaotic, others were surprisingly calm—but they all happened in the in-between.
Not on the runway, not in the campaign. Just before. Just after.

It feels good to finally share them.

Benny

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Discussion about this video

User's avatar