Spotlight: Dan Howell for Moevir

BY 7 August 2024

Kerhonkson, New York-based photographer Dan Howell recently teamed up with creative director Susan Candia and fashion stylist Sabina Kahn for a project focused on upcycling and sustainable fashion. Their Sustainable Chic collaboration was published by Moevir, a fashion and art magazine based in Paris, as part of its February Spring/Summer 2024 print issue.

Tearsheet depicting model in green upcycled jacket and black mesh skirt, by Kerhonkson, New York-based photographer Dan Howell.

Background

While Dan is currently based in the small Catskills town of Kerhonkson, he has spent much of his career in the New York City area working on fashion and portraiture projects.

My career in photography has grown more like a family tree than a straight line. It reflects my education and background earning a degree in journalism at the University of Missouri while simultaneously shooting fashion ads for local clothing stores and salons. I relocated to New York City after a brief stop for a valuable photographic internship at the National Geographic Society. After spending a couple of years assisting on catalog and editorial shoots for other photographers, my career began with simple headshots for actors and performers and environmental portraits of business leaders for industry magazines.

My client base has primarily grown from one connection or recommendation to another. For instance, a maternity leave exposed me to a new art director who went forward to a bridal magazine, where my work was exposed to their advertising sales department who recommended me to individual designers and so on. The longer I have been in the creative circles of New York City, the more I am amused by the frequent overlap of contact and association.

One of Dan’s long-term collaborators has been Susan Candia, which began when she was working as senior art director for Simplicity Pattern Company.

Now an independent creative director, Susan has been passionate about fashion projects emphasizing environmentally focused and sustainable fashion. In the past, she and I had collaborated on a fall editorial fashion layout set in my own scenic natural surroundings in the Hudson Valley, which was also published in Moevir magazine.

The Project

For the Sustainable Chic project, Susan challenged fashion stylist Sabina Kahn to create six outfits using upcycled and repurposed materials. The location for the photoshoot was Stuyvesant Cove Park in NYC, between the FDR Drive and the East River.

We were able to use the mix of urban textures as both harmonious and contrasting backgrounds for the individual fashion looks. My experience across all shoots leans slightly toward studio production, but new projects and clients can easily shift toward location production from one shoot to the next.

This photoshoot was an entirely natural light shoot on a somewhat mild winter day. The moderate overcast conditions provided soft natural lighting and allowed me the freedom to stage each shot using the shapes and patterns we found and respond quickly to the dynamic opportunities for backgrounds and contrast in the urban environment that millions of New Yorkers pass by on a daily basis without a thought.

Here are a few of Dan’s memories from the shoot.

I felt strongly that a rainbow knit dress from designer Versa was natural to pair with the bold green industrial steel construction container temporarily parked nearby.

Model in a rainbow knit dress from designer Versa in front of bold green industrial steel construction container, by Kerhonkson, New York-based photographer Dan Howell.

One of the novel items was a pair of bell-bottom jeans by Y-Y Official made from pieced denim from older jeans with the bell of the jeans shaped from the waistband of other pairs, essentially upside down jeans on each leg. That was paired with a jacket by Casa Grace constructed from a patch-work of faded and printed denim pieces.

Model in a pair of bell-bottom jeans by Y-Y Official made from pieced denim from older jeans with the bell of the jeans shaped from the waistbands, by Kerhonkson, New York-based photographer Dan Howell.

A serendipitous pairing of multi-colored slacks and jacket look from equalshuman brand was an uncanny match to existing graffiti underneath the FDR Drive. The graffiti-style embellishment of the jacket paired with the actual found graffiti. The multicolored print of the slacks was at home with colorful accents in the urban art.

And I enjoyed playing with stark contrast between the bold red and white dress from Elmadawy NY and the grey plastic wrapping the construction which was tagged in black by a street artist.

Model in bold red and white dress from Elmadawy NY and the grey plastic wrapping the construction which was tagged in black by a street artist, by Kerhonkson, New York-based photographer Dan Howell.

Overall the project was one of both planning and improvisation that a long-lasting collaboration allows. We returned to Moevir magazine with this Sustainable Chic editorial which they published in a 10-page layout.