For the April issue of the Grapevine, we held a photo shoot with Mayor Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir. The shoot itself was a scramble, as we wanted a chance to show the mayor in the elements of Reykjavik, and we had limited time and budget. We scrapped our studio plans, and rushed our photographer Axel Sigurðarson and stylist Sigrún Ásta Jörgensen to city hall.
In an age of AI and photoshop, we thought it would be worthwhile to highlight the work of the stylist who allowed us to turn 20 minutes into a cover photo.
Grapevine: How long have you been working as a stylist and makeup artist?
Sigrún Ásta Jörgensen: I’ve been working for 11 years, but I started interning for three photographers in the beginning, where I got my first year of experience in the business which I’m always grateful for. It was a lot of work for barely any money, but I got to learn and make mistakes and learn a lot about the business in Reykjavík.
Now, 11 years later, I really love my job and feel very grateful for it.
GV: What is the difference between working with the Grapevine and your other clients?
Sigrún: Working with Grapevine is always such a pleasure. Usually more of a creative approach when you’re working with artists for cover shoots, and it’s usually a fast job. When I’m on other jobs there is more speculation into what we are doing, always meetings, and more planning. With the Grapevine there is more flow for creativity and trying out new things, which I love.
It comes very easy to me doing both, I can work really well under massive pressure and in calm creative scenes, so it’s always nice doing both.
GV: For our April cover feature, we had a very limited time to shoot, and we were using city hall. How did this compare to a typical photo shoot?
Sigrún: In the Grapevine shoot I only got 20 minutes for makeup and hair. Usually, you have more time to do the overall look which is the main difference with other shoots. You usually get around 50 minutes to an hour to do makeup and hair. We had very limited time to shoot so we used every minute.
Heiða Björg was also so lovely and so easy to work with, and a beautiful canvas to work on so this made everything just super smooth and nice.
GV: How does styling a mayor compare to your other subjects?
Sigrún: I feel like it’s just like any other job. But I do love meeting powerful women that are making important breakthroughs in our culture and are breaking the way for women in the next generations to come like Heiða Björg is doing.
GV: Do you have a favourite image from the shoot that you feel communicates the experience and the mayor’s personality?
Sigrún: Yes, I think she looks so beautiful and stunning in this one. I feel like it captured her perfectly and her kind aura.
Read the complete interview with Mayor Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir here.
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