Concrete Connection

A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Katharina Schäffer. The model is Black Peppa. Brands used are Studio Obectra, Lu La Loop, Be Nice To Freaks and Sequin Show Stoppers. „I was visiting London in 2018 for the first time as a photography student and I was looking for models via Facebook. I then received a message from Peppa (Akeem at the time) asking to do some photos.”

“So we decided to meet at Barbican London as I was a big fan of brutalist architecture and this beautiful scenery would be perfect for the shoot. We were both really when we initially met. The second we started to shoot it felt like magic almost. The costumes were elaborate and worked perfectly with the concrete jungle surrounding. And we got some killer photos; one of which I have hung up in my office today.

Fast forward to 2023, Akeem is now a drag queen – Black Peppa – of which I have been following their life and success and they reached out to me to say that they would be visiting Berlin and would love to shoot again. I was quite excited when they reached out as in my kind they had amassed such a big following and still thought about our shoot that we did in 2018. For me, in western Germany, we don’t have as many opportunities compared to Berlin.

At this moment I felt honoured and we started planning towards the shoot. Everything needed to be perfect so I made a mood board of a time schedule correlating outfits and specific locations around Berlin. Because we had to shoot all of this in a day we planned the time allocated for each location and and calculated the amount of time it took between each location.

Black Peppa planned it in such a way that they had outfits ready in Berlin for the shoot. One of the designers was Lu La Loop who made a Burberry and Richard Quinn-inspired look and Blaz from Studio Obectra. I picked up Peppa early in the morning and we collected pieces from studio Obectra and then we started to shoot the first location in the first look. This looks like Peppa carried themselves. The boots were initially red and they sprayed them lavender to match the ruffled coat. Just like the first time I shot Peppa everything felt natural and we got the shot within minutes.
Then we headed to our second location which was Bierpinsel and decided to stop for some food. During this time Lula was rushed and made her way through hectic Berlin traffic to bring the Burberry outfit. It was so worth the wait as this outfit was perfect and once again very much worked with the surroundings. It was very windy and we used this to our advantage to capture dynamic shots.
During this time the electric car that I rented needed charging and we were in desperate need of a charging point. This was crucial as we needed to drive to the last location. After driving in circles around town for ages we eventually found one and the panic was over.

I then ran to a store and bought some black tights for Peppa’s final two looks which were studio Obectra at the ICC. We did a quick wig change and ran to the location. At this point, we were all quite exhausted and decided this would be our final spot to shoot. We shot the last two looks and each came out perfect with the ICC industrial vibe. It was a wrap and we were so happy with the outcome.

Upon reflecting on the shoot and looking through the images we felt this story and these photos needed to be shared on a big scale. It was indeed magical and I felt really proud overall of what we accomplished. We had pushed through the day regardless of the obstacles and made it work.
Needless to say, this will be my 2023 series. With Peppa’s strong imagination paired with my strong aesthetic, we were able to achieve the perfect symbiosis.“