We were approached by Cosmopolitan recently to provide an image accompanying a feature in one of their issues. Based on a stock photograph that they'd identified, they hired us to customise it to better suit their requirements and the message that they wished to communicate.

 

As you can see, the image features a man in the centre of a sofa with his girlfriend on one side and his mother on the other, apparently sharing an evening together. The magazine article discusses the prevalence nowadays of men whose mothers feature heavily in their lives and relationships. Whether the men still live at home, or still deliver their washing to their parents each week, or even whether they invite their mother on romantic trips abroad, there are many men who still choose to keep their mothers heavily involved in their lives - even, in some cases, at the expense of their relationships.

 

Conveying the message of this feature in a single photograph was a good challenge for us. We excluded the heads of our subjects to focus attention on their body language. The male in the centre of the image appears very awkward, keeping a distance between himself and his girlfriend, while the mother on the left of the image is leaning away, keeping very much to her side of the sofa. Clearly, too, there are two very different evenings taking place in the same room - the mother in her dressing gown with a hot drink, while the  girlfriend is wearing a red dress with a glass of wine beside her on the floor. The image is about the tension between the two women. A simple concept, brought to life with aplomb.