Model Subjects

“Seu has an amazing ability to improvise and he has swagger through the roof,” director Kahlil Joseph says of musician Seu Jorge. “All those things make for pretty pictures.” Melodie McDaniel’s behind-the-scenes images of Joseph’s short film The Model (a selection of which we feature here exclusively on NOWNESS) are pretty to say the least, comprising both up-close portraiture of her subjects in familial repose, and atmospheric, low-lit shots of the set. The filmmaker and photographer (another Directors Bureau member) comes to the project with a portfolio containing arresting portraits of everyone from Spike Jonze to Pharrell Williams, fashion spreads for the likes of Vogue and Interview, creative work for clients including Nike and Levi’s, and music videos (Patti Smith’s “Don’t Smoke in Bed” and Madonna’s “Secret” among them).