STBARTHS BAND OF GYPSIES

Fashion shooting a band of gypsies in StBarths

Hi Folks!

STORY IN YOUR EYES Ltd is back from ten days spent in StBarths, the smallest French island in the Caribbean.

We’ve brought back in our luggage a series of photographs from a special project:  StBarths Band of Gypsies, which I had in mind for some time.  Actually, the suitcase arrived a week after me – that’s a lesson:  never let your photo memory cards in the suitcase!

The project is about capturing a certain atmosphere typical of StBarths’ lifestyle and fashion.  Pitch of the story:  cool and fashionable lifestyle.

Let’s set the scene:  the island is very a-typical compared to others in the Caribbean.  The reason is quite straightforward:  there never were any slaves imported, simply because there was nothing hard labour-intensive to grow on this rugged and then inhospitable land.

Instead, there were just a bunch of Normands and Bretons who migrated there a few centuries ago, hoping to find a better life.  For the sun, yes, for the rest, no.  They were barely surviving thanks to fishing, not terribly well adapted with their white skin to the solar deluge.  Weaving large straw hats is one of the oldest local traditions.

However, they still constitute a part of the population (called “the locals”, with a slight connotation of “hicks”);  nowadays, they essentially benefit from their rent situation, considering the skyrocketing land price.

For the rest, low profile:  you won’t see much of them, but if interested stroll along Gustavia’s dock in the evening and you might find a few of them smoking cigarettes and chatting in their obscure “patois”, totally incomprehensible for anyone else.  Maybe better like that.

Geographically, StBarths is a tiny island (24 square kilometres), a pack of burned rock without any river;  the good news is the fringe of pristine beaches in some spots along the coastline.

But the real character stems out of the special vibrance which exists there, a unique mix of cool lifestyle, soft glamour and French chic, adapted of course to the North American taste and dollar.

The environment is rough:  parts of the island are still really wild and difficult to access, and hurricanes strike severely from time to time;  recently, Irma has left the island totally knocked out for a few weeks but people rolled up their sleeves and managed within a year to bring things back to normal, i.e. appealing to high-end tourism.

This roughness forces a certain simplicity  in the way of life:  it would be totally pointless to have a Ferrari there.

But sophistication finds its way with some very nice villas and boutique hotels, luxury and fashion shops, and excellent food.

Cherry on the pie:  StBarths was a Swedish-governed territory for almost a century;  Gustav III, the Swedish King, had been kind enough to exempt the inhabitants from paying taxes.  The privilege still applies.

And then, there is the light.  This one at least is typical of the region (tropical sunlight conditions), so soft at dusk and so hard at midday, changing every ten seconds depending on the parade of cumulus in the sky.  Photographers will appreciate the challenge.

A small sample of photos is presented below, a broader collection is on display in the Portfolio section of this website, and a number of posters are available in our Shop.

Models:  Sara De Ricco (dark hair), Romane Vallant (blond hair)

Enjoy the Band of Gypsies!