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Trash the dress! Margo interviews John Michael Cooper 2949 views
Background
Every now and then, a phenomenon occurs in the wedding world which sets everything [ahem] alight. Once it was online wedding planning, recently it was Free Wedding Websites, but the thing that everyone's talking about right now is the "Trash the Dress" concept which has been hitting headlines worldwide.
Universally acknowledged as the Godfather of this movement, Las Vegas citizen John Michael Cooper from ALTF studios talks to our very own Margo T-Monkey. You'll be glad to know that there were no horses heads in sight, however Margo's background research looks like it's brought out her amorous side!
Interview with Margo
Margo> Hi John, and welcome to WeddingPath! How are you feeling today? [Margo pours John a large drink]
John Michael Cooper> UH, GREAT!
Margo> As I understand it, "Trash the dress" embodies the spirit of fidelity - you're not going to get married again, and who wants the dress to stay in mothballs for the next 30 years, so why not do something different? But what I really want to know is, do you have a girlfriend because I'm available?
JMC> Thanks for the offer but I am more than happily married with my “partner in crime”.
[John is referring here to the wonderful Dalisa, whom Margo has previously been insisting must be John's sister...she's not, Margo - she's his wife... we have to give Margo another bottle of cider to calm her down]
Margo> What inspires you - do you come up with the concepts, or is it the brides?
JMC>I’m very concept driven – but sometimes I do get feedback from the brides. I’m very conceptual by nature and most of my “more familiar” shots such as my “Joan or Arc” and my “Ophelia” shots were sketched out on paper years ago and it took quite a bit of time to find the right subject, location and timing to execute the shoot.
Margo> As a resident of Las Vegas, you are probably asked this all the time, but have you ever met CSI Gill Grisham because I think his beard's sexy!
JMC> No...although I prefer him “clean shaven” myself...that’s how I fantasize about him.
[What followed next was a 35 minute conversation about beards..., clean shaven men..., whether Victor Kiam really liked his shaver so much that he bought the Remington company..., Pierce Brosnan's role as Remington Steele, opinions on Daniel Craig as James Bond...and much other stuff. We're not sure it's in the readers interest to reproduce the whole thing here but at least we had the chance to hear John sing those Ukranian folk songs].
Margo> Perhaps your most iconic photograph is the one of the bride on fire - the juxtaposition of entering into a lifelong commitment (marriage), contrasting with the liberating experience of the vivid flames burning away the dress. I tried this myself, and here are the results (see below) - where am I going wrong?
JMC> The, ah, key ingredient of the success of my “Joan or Arc” was the proper ratio of oil and gasoline in conjunction with the air escape of the blow up doll...now my secret is out.
Margo> So for you, what's the next step?
JMC> Um...a Monkey on fire.:) Sorry, just joking – I am done with fire and will move onto something else. I am preparing to apply this conceptual work to portraits outside of my wedding work.
[It may well be a combination of being freaked out and drunk on cider, but that was some weird monkey shriek that we just heard]
Margo> We're getting plenty of requests from WeddingPath's male readers to "Trash the mother-in-law" - any tips on this one?
JMC> Yes, just have the mother hold the lighter as you direct her to stand next to the gas can – they always want to help, don’t they? That is, after her check has cleared for the final payment on her daughters wedding.
Margo> The UK band The Charlatans had a huge hit with their first single. They spent the next few years that followed, getting very frustrated as the crowds at their gigs were only ever interested in hearing "The Only One I Know". Do you think dress trashing will ever become a de-facto standard at weddings - y'know, the final group photos are done, with the tossing-the-bouquet snap being pricelessly captured...that's when the bride's father magically produces a small can of kerosine, hands you his Havana cigar lighter, and "gives you the nod"?
[WPEditor - we had to stop the interview at this point because Margo was starting to be a little too over the top. John wasn't really listening anyway as he'd suddenly remembered "just one last" Ukranian folk song that needed singing!]
Thank you John and Dalisa, we are huuuuge fans of your work!
Love from Margo and the WP crew!
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