“Pop Princess” starring Abigail Murray: How We Brought Iconic Y2K Stars to Life
The first CD I owned as a kid was Oops, I Did It Again by Britney Spears. Is anyone really all that surprised? She was an icon for so many young girls in my generation. I even remember the neighbor kids and I choreographing a dance routine to “Don’t Go Knockin’ On My Door” and “Stronger”. The fashion was ridiculous, the music was insanely catchy and dance-y— I was at such an impressionable age when she established her fame. And it wasn’t just Britney, but every popstar she paved the way for: from Avril, to Xtina, to Ke$ha before Kesha. Not just music, but movies and television! Who else remembers when the first episode of Hannah Montana premiered on Disney? Like many others my age, now it all lives in a loving nostalgic place in my memories (and, of course, on YouTube).
Thanks to our success with the “Boudoir Cabin” photoshoot — and the incredible endorsements by our empowering models — I received a few inquiries from potential subjects interested in doing a project with us. One such person was Abigail Murray. Abby and I have worked together for a short while, but we had not interacted much socially. However, if there was one thing I knew about her, it was that we definitely had one thing in common: our Y2K nostalgia. (Lately, it’s been an abundance of early SpongeBob SquarePants references!) When she expressed interest in working with us, I pitched the phrase “pop princess” over text on March 25th. No surprise to me, she was already on the same page. And thus began our creative process!
That same night, I asked her to send me her top 3 favorite music videos; something we could use to start brainstorming… instead she sent me thirteen! I made a YouTube playlist (click here to view!) which Adam and I watched together, meticulously making a list of iconic moments, looks, and potential concepts. It was already starting to be an interesting dynamic when on April 7th, the three of us met and began collaborating! We walked through each potential popstar, discussed their looks and possible locations, and props. We entertained all 13 ideas, even if it seemed impossible at first (example… where the hell are we going to find a flooded basement-style men’s bathroom for Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty”? Or a cotton-candy sky like in “California Gurls” by Katy Perry?). Just as importantly, the three of us became fast friends and had a great night hanging out and getting to know each other.
There were two wonderful things I learned about Abby after our meeting. The first is simply her positive and enthusiastic attitude in both social and work environments. The second, which I never would have seen if not for this project, is her attention to detail and acute precision when executing a vision. On April 15th, Abby sent us an email about which pop-icons excited her the most, which ones she wanted to eliminate, and what costume options and props she already owned. Not only that, but she took reference photos for us to see for ourselves. From there we discussed what worked, what didn’t, and what pieces we still needed to find or purchase. It was such a strong first draft. The project wouldn’t have the momentum that it did without her initial hard work.
For this shoot, we recognized pretty quickly that it would be too ambitious to do everything in one day. So, we decided to split it into two. I determined that there were three main categories to cross-reference in order for us to be most efficient in our execution: hair styles, location travel, and make-up looks. Here’s how we split the photoshoot:
May 17th:
-“Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani
-“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne
-“Hot n Cold” by Katy Perry
-“Hit Me Baby (One More Time)” by Britney Spears (sporty look)
May 23rd:
-“California Gurls” by Katy Perry
-“Hit Me Baby (One More Time)” by Britney Spears (school girl look)
-“Tik Tok” by Kesha
I’m very excited to share my behind-the-scenes photos and videos on my Instagram leading up to the premier of the gallery. To say we had a good time is an understatement. I hope you all will be able to see how much fun we had via my BTS content!
Guess how many times Abby said, “Oh my god!!!” when we had our viewing party of the photos yesterday?
30 times! (You’re damn right I took a tally!)
This may sound facetious, but we genuinely couldn’t have asked for a higher compliment. And I would hope anyone who knows Abby would understand the sentiment… the trigintuple-sentiment (yeah, I Googled it, and now you learned something…!).
Sure, at the end of the day, we got the clothes, the location, the props… but what truly sells these photos is the attitude. Emulating the look is one thing, but the essence would not have been achievable if not for the dynamic relationship between Adam’s camera and Abby’s passionate execution. Adam and I have often observed that so much of the success of our photoshoots come from the inherit passion of the subjects we work with. Their integrity is indeed the beating heart and we are merely there to facilitate the logistics to make it come to life. Abby was no exception to this theme, so much so, that I am very excited to work with her again on future projects!
You can view the “Pop Princess” gallery on June 20th! Only available to subscribers at patreon.com/adamafurious.
Thank you to everyone who has read my blog posts so far! And all of those who are active Patreon subscribers. Social media followers, please keep doing what you do! Liking, commenting and sharing our posts help us reach a wider audience and grow our community to collaborate with more artists. You can now view our photography’s portfolio and archive on IG: @rockdaddydesign. And don’t forget to follow both Adam and I as well to stay up to date with announcements and BTS content (@adamafurious & @summit.j.starr).
If you enjoyed reading this and have feedback or questions, feel free to email me at summitjstarr@gmail.com
