Mary Jean Murphy Mary Jean Murphy

Mourning Glory/ Beauty Editorial / New Orleans

This blog post is dedicated to the seven beautiful and talented women (and Corey) from Urban Elements Salon  in Petaluma CA. who went to New Orleans for this haunting beauty editorial photoshoot!

You may have seen a few of these images on Urban Elements billboard on Washington Street!

My adventure started with having to get on a 737 Max 8 just before they were grounded. I wasn’t terribly worried after we reached altitude. The previous Max 8 crashes happened shortly after take off.
When I arrived Rachel and Corey picked about 10 pounds of Crawfish. I couldn’t stomach them (because of the flight) but it was entertaining to watch the girls bite the heads off and suck out the juice!
Shortly after arrival Rachel, Dylanne and I went to a home called “Covenstead” for a photoshoot. It’s an experience I will NEVER forget! But that’s a story for another time.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
The next day was the “Mourning Glory” beauty editorial photoshoot in New Orlean’s iconic Lafayette No. 1 Cemetery. I had heard about the cemeteries in New Orleans…. they aren’t like a regular cemetery. Because New Orleans is below sea level, people can’t be buried in the ground. They are all crypts.
( New Orleans is situated slightly below sea level. Because of this, the water table is quite high. When early European settlers put coffins under six feet of earth, they found that the water level would often rise above them, especially during the city’s frequent floods. Since the coffins were filled with air, the water sometimes pushed them up through the earth, causing both a gruesome sight and a health hazard. To keep the coffins underground, holes were drilled in the lid to let air escape, and the coffins were weighted down with rocks and sand. But this was only partially successful, and in any case the saturated corpses did not decompose properly, leading to unsanitary conditions. The only solution was to bury the dead above ground.)
After we were done at the cemetery there was a quick change then off to the main event….. Raw Artists-New Orleans https://www.rawartists.org/neworleans The 3 models CeCe, Lindsey and Dylanne strutted their stuff on the catwalk and on pedestals. They looked Fabulous and rocked their roles as 2 brides and a groom. Photos from the RAW show below….
We stopped for some delicious beignets after the show, then home to SF next day.
Creative Direction- Rachel Nixon & ALi Sutter
Lead Hairstylist – Rachel Nixon  https://www.facebook.com/rachel.nixon.10
Makeup – ALi Sutter  https://www.facebook.com/aliena1
Hairstylist – Lindsey Neuerburg https://www.facebook.com/lindsey.neuerburg
Nails- Jessica Scott https://www.facebook.com/jess.scott.designs
Salon- Urban Elements Salon https://www.facebook.com/urbanelementssalon/
Models – Dylanne, Lindsey and Cece
And a Great BIG Thank You to Corey for making sure I never had to go without Starbucks!

 RAW Artists show  New Orleans               2019

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