Jessicah Regnerus Madonna shoot

Madonna Shoot

Madonna had known that when she was a rising star, scandals always equals attention. When I first saw her perform “Like A Virgin” on the MTV awards in a white wedding gown with that “boy toy” belt and doing some interesting…dances, for some reason I just found her alluring. And it had shown from her history as a performer that she didn’t care what negative reviews she received. She was gaining attention and money, and that was what made her career.

And considering the era she was from at that time, I would say that the 80’s was definitely one of my favorite eras of the 20^th Century. The hairstyle, the clothes and the music are probably one of the few things that I can account for the reasons about why it was my favorite era

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However, if you’ve studied the era, it is noticeable how quirky the 80’s fashion was. And if you ask me, Madonna was definitely a huge influence to the fashion. The flashy jewelry, unique gloves, fishnet stockings, head bands – basically anything that screamed “vintage” or “editorial”.

That was when I decided to talk with one of my favorite photographers, Krystle Ann, since her work definitely would benefit the shoot. I had called her up and she was more than willing to do the shoot.

She understood the concept I wanted to do: I wanted to do a Madonna themed fashion shoot, emulating the 80’s.

I had to gather many materials for the shoot, including fishnet gloves, black stockings, cross necklaces, earrings and some spiffy high heels. Krystle provided the outfit, so that made it easier for me.

While we were preparing for the photo shoot, Krystle Ann and her boyfriend Rich Harris, who was basically raised to be a hair stylist, were doing my make-up and doing whatever was necessary to make this photo shoot awesome. The difficult part was when we decided to have my hair in a side ponytail all fluffed and teased. It didn’t hurt having my hair done, although it was difficult to get it the way we wanted it to be since my hair is very thick.

Most of the pictures portrayed from this shoot are inspired by Madonna's songs, such as “Like A Prayer”, “Material Girl” – basically whatever is left to your own imagination when it comes to her songs. Her songs were what inspired me for this shoot because her work shows that she was proud to be a woman. 

 When I see these pictures now, I see me portraying vulnerability, gracefulness, soft emotion, a strong personality and conceitedness. All in all, I see everything that makes a woman.

Undiscovered Model; Xander Grimm Interview

Megann Lee- What inspired you to become a model?

Xander Grimm - A while back I wrote a short, vampire themed story that I had been kicking around in my head for quite some time.  A fetish model friend of mine runs a horror themed site and I asked if she could put it up.  I also took a couple of black and white photos of myself to kind of fit with the theme of the site, and got a very positive response back from her, and she encouraged me to create a profile on model mayhem and try to break into the modeling industry.

Megann Lee - How did you get started modeling?

Xander Grimm - A mutual photographer friend of both the model and myself saw our conversation on twitter and took a look at the pictures I had taken for the site and had a very positive response to them as well, and it wasn't long before we were collaborating on my first shoot, which had a "savage vampire" theme to it.

Megann Lee - How long have you been modeling for?

 Xander Grimm - I've only been modeling for a month or so, so I've only had a couple shoots so far, but I'm really enjoying myself.

Megann Lee - What type of modeling do you prefer?

Xander Grimm - I really like alt-modeling just because I always have this sort of nice guy air about me so it's really fun to bring out the darker aspects of my looks and personality

Megann Lee - What are you views of TF work in the modeling world?

Xander Grimm - Being someone that is super new to the modeling world I have no problems with TF work at all, because it's really all I afford or get hired for at the moment.  For people that are using modeling as a career I can understand why they aren't fond of TF, but for someone like me, it's perfect.

Megann Lee - Is there anything you are opposed to when in comes to modeling?

Xander Grimm- The only thing I'm really opposed to is stuff that would depict me involved in graphic sexual relations(implied or otherwise) with other people, simply out of respect for my fiancee.

Megann Lee - Is modeling a hobby? Or a full time job?

Xander Grimm - For me, it's simply a hobby, but I wouldn't mind using it to earn some extra cash on the side, and who knows? Maybe one day it will evolve into a full time job. Only time will tell....


Megann Lee - Who are some of your favorite models and photographers?

 Xander Grimm - I try not to pick favorites on things like this because everyone has their own unique styles and views on things. I might like someone's stuff more than someone else's, but I don't think I'd ever be able to pick favorites.

Megann Lee - If the opportunity ever came about would you do a runway show?

Xander Grimm - I would love the opportunity to do a runway show some day, I think it would be really neat to show off a wide range of styles within a short amount of time.


Photography © Bernard Lebel

Xanders's Modeling Portfolio