Tapping into Personal Interests; Zach Anderson, Tate McRae and Maybelline

Zach Anderson draws inspiration from film, music and pop culture. Subtle nods to his favorite directors can be seen in a lot of his work. With dreams of one day directing his own feature film, he approaches each shoot with extreme attention to detail in order to shape a narrative. 

In his element at a record store, his recent shoot with Maybelline allowed Zach to tap into his interests in order to deliver stills that exactly fit the creative direction. Beyond that, the only talent on set was singer-songwriter Tate McRae. Though Tate is only 19, it’s likely you would recognize one of her songs as they are permeating current pop culture and social media. The combination of a music themed shoot with a singer songwriter had Zach charged with inspiration. Ever the director, with High Fidelity in the back of his mind, the final images ooze with a youthful promise of consciousness, ushering in a new era of makeup branding and marketing. Wanting to know more, we sat down with Zach about his experience, so put a vinyl on and read on to learn more.

What was a memorable moment from this shoot?

Working with celebrities can be a challenge, however Tate was incredibly humble and appreciative of our work. She has been open about her struggles with the unrealistic beauty standards for women in her industry, as well as the toxicity that can come out of social media. She was pretty overcome with emotion when she say the first few shots. She felt like I captured her vibe. That really meant a lot to me because as a photographer, you want people to feel seen through your work so to get that feedback was powerful. 

What did you learn from this project? 

I pride myself in my ability to be patient, but this shoot underscored the importance of patience. This was a whirlwind of a shoot, with only 8 hours to shoot 4 different looks, I needed to be calm and efficient. However, each look required 45 minutes for hair and make up, with two hours of hair and make up at the beginning of the day. It would have been easy to get really worked up and stressed during that down time, but I used it as an opportunity to review the frames I had already taken and tweak anything for the next look. Remaining calm and using each free moment to my advantage was critical for the shoot’s success. We got it all done, and Tate, Maybelline and the agency all loved the end result.

What is something you want people to take away about you and your work after seeing this?

How I can adapt to any situation and create a successful library of images no matter the constraints. This was a fast and furious shoot with little time to plan. The shoot was two days with my still shoot on the second day. I flew into LA a day early so I could be on set for the motion and take in the vibe and creative direction so I didn’t waste any time trying to match that in my work.