Courtney Dailey is based in LA where she does double duty as a fashion photographer and a professional make-up artist. We met on Model Mayhem, or Myspace, can’t remember… I pride myself having become the green conscience of Model Mayhem, tracking new talent to see who the next green stars are going to be. Courtney and I shared a singularity of vision. She joined GreenMUA, a project we started to assist professional make-up artists to green-up their kits. I asked her to be my first interview victim on the Greenloop.

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Hi Courtney, where are you from originally, what brought you to LA? Couldn’t have been clean air!

Ha, Yes, it was most definitely not the air quality! I was born and raised in Detroit. I made the “big move” in November ‘07. In recent years, Detroit’s economy had been in a serious and vicious decline. Despite my love for the Motor City, I needed to find an outlet for my creativity, where I could still survive as an artist. I thought about New York, but my prerogative is, if one is going to pick up their lives; pack their cats and rabbit for a road trip, the destination should be somewhere warm.

Is it true what the mayor says, Los Angeles is fast becoming the capital of green fashion? There’s such a buzz with Hollywood celebrities going green, how does it affect professionals in your industry? What changes does it bring?

There is a lot of Buzz about the green movement, and it’s refreshing. I think LA has long been ahead of the game. Coming from the Midwest where post consumer recycling isn’t a cost efficient option, Los Angeleno’s recycle everyday. However, my concern is that Recycling and Green is just the “hot thing” right now. The minute a celebrity adds his or her name to a Green project the PR is fabulous. Are celebs going green to help our survival or just because it’s the in thing to do?

Within my industry, the green movement is slowly trickling. Most Makeup Artists have kits in which they have spent years building. Asking a MUA to go green is like telling your child to stop eating candy. It’s a matter of many products that look amazing in person don’t always photograph the same way. If more Green cosmetic companies sampled products to MUA’s or offered artist discounts to simply get the product into their hands, I think a lot of MUA’s would begin to start thinking differently!

Are the cosmetic companies addressing the concerns of actors and models by developing organic make-up lines suitable for professionals? Can you recommend any?

I recently tried Josie Maran Cosmetics and it was fabulous, and many of the products look great on film. Suki Cheek Creams are to die for and Alima eyeshadows are pigmented well and blend nicely. I recommend checking out Future Natural, as they are a great one stop shop for green products. All the products are green, from the product itself to the packaging it is placed in.

You recently joined forces with Anna Griffin at Ecorazzi and covered the launch party for the Planet Green channel. How did it feel hanging around green royalty?

It was a fantastic experience! Anna was dressed in a stunning gown made from all recycled materials and wearing all green makeup, that wore beautifully all night long. My highlight of the evening was meeting Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. Not only was he a pleasure to meet but he wore an amazing coat, which was also all recycled materials.

In the 60’s and 70’s editorial fashion photography mirrored the politics of the day. We’re seeing the same thing happening with sustainable fashion designers using the symbols of green consumer culture to sell their message. What are the people behind the lens, the photographers, the make-up artists, doing to green the industry? Are fashion professionals in LA, other than just the designers, taking green seriously?

Right now, going green isn’t something our industry puts much thought to. I stopped shooting film simply because the chemicals used to develop and process the images, were so poisonous to our environment. Not to mention the waste of emulsion covered papers when in the darkroom! Most photographers have gone digital simply because the ease of a digital workflow and the money that is saved. Either way, this equals less waste and usage. I have seen some MUA’s who are using cotton rags for their kits and washable sponges to help stop the waste.

Your dad is an engineer recently retired from the Ford Motor Company. He’s building you a set of studio lights. What’s going to be so special about them?

My dad is a very handy guy. We are in development in several sets of professional Light Emitting Diodes (LED) photo/film lights. What makes these lights different than most in the industry is we are developing the lights to be completely housed in post-consumer recycled plastics. This will keep the lights lightweight and also less cumbersome! In addition, we are developing a portable battery pack that will run these lights with ease. Most importantly, I feel that most Green products from clothes to cars are priced so far out of the average Americans reach! We’re keeping everything we develop with an affordable price point, so both high ends photographers to college students can afford to use them.

Do you want your studio to be labeled a “green” studio, or would you rather that be left to the imagination, with clients understanding that because it’s your business, it’s going to be as green as it can be?

I would love sometime down the road, to have a completely green studio, with solar power and other goodies, but right now I can only make small baby steps. I think this is where most go wrong. Many people want to go green, but the number of changes involved can be so overwhelming that most get discouraged and stop. I’m trying to work on one project at a time. I do everything I can do right now to do my part. I even cut my huge background paper into little bits so I can easily recycle it! A girl can dream, right?

You test for NEXT, one of the top modeling agencies in the world. Do you think there’s enough green models in LA for someone to open up a green modeling division? A division that would work exclusively with green companies?

Right now, there are only a few “green” models. Most modeling agencies have models categorized by many variables, like “won’t work with fur” for example. Perhaps they will make “green” a category also!

There seems to be a total news black out when it comes to Model Mayhem in the fashion press, as if editors ignore MM to be such a source of new talent. What impact do you feel peer to peer networks like MySpace and especially Model Mayhem has had on our business?

To be honest, every aspect of my industry has been changed since the rise of the internet. Sites like MM and MySpace allow to put ourselves out there, while it also allows the creepies in also. It’s difficult to determine who’s real and who’s not. Not many agency models are on MySpace and Model Mayhem, while every so often you find a gem in the rough.

Where do you see all this going? Will you be attending Portland Fashion Week in October?

Eventually, every aspect of our lives will be green. We have been so wasteful and careless for so many years and now we are seeing the error of our ways. The fashion and beauty industries exist because of trend. It’s up to all of us, what remains “trendy” and “desirable”. Supply and demand is still the way of the world. Currently, I think we need to start showing the masses that green fashion doesn’t only mean hemp ponchos! Now you can find super chic designs and hemp ponchos!

As far as Fashion Week in Portland, I keep thinking about attending! How amazing an all green fashion week! If only more designer actually took one green step forward!

Any last word for the Greenloop?

How sad is it that I can fly anywhere in the US (Detroit, Philadelphia, NY) and breathe easily, but here in LA the air often has a brown haze. I look forward to that day! Someday the air in LA, will not be visible. Continue to support your green artists, green programming and green products!

Courtney Dailey

www.courtneydailey.com
Beauty/Fashion Photographer & Makeup Artist
Los Angeles California
248-701-4176

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