LUKURË is an Italian fashion brand that showcases the finest in shoes, bags and accessories for men and women.

Founded in 2012 by Arianit Bërdufi and Esther Chunn, the LUKURË collection is personally overseen by this hands-on team, from the design concept to customer service to marketing and sales, an anomaly in today’s retail environment.

The initial plan was to photograph the interior of the brand’s flagship boutique located on Madison Avenue, but Arianit decided to go for a new look for the store, and he asked me if I would photograph the new collection in the interim.

After some brainstorming, we concluded that the best approach would be to create a unique set on which to present these beautiful shoes and accessories, and considering that all of the items are handmade, incorporating a symbol of “the hand” into the shoot was a natural conclusion. I tried to make a hand myself from plaster, and when that proved difficult to say the least, I was fortunate to find one at Sculpture House Casting in Long Island City – the owner Michael Perrotta knew exactly what I was looking for. I also designed and arranged for two other custom props to be built by Marc Piacenti of Highland Organization, a premier millwork company from Long Island. Being an architectural photographer, and considering that we live in a city of high-rises, I designed the props with architectural symbolism, one as a top of a high-rise as the foundation for the hand holding the right shoe, and the other on which the left shoe would lean on.

We did the shoot at the LUKURË boutique; we used the Venetian plaster wall as a backdrop, and soft but contrast lighting. By using my medium format Fujifilm GFX100S, we achieved a fantastic dynamic range with smooth shadow-highlight transitions and stunning resolution, essential in product photography.

It was a great collaboration between Esther and Arianit and me - we created a very distinctive composition in our photographs, a true conversation piece to which no other fashion brand can lay claim. Stay tuned for the photos of the new interior being designed by Mars Podvorica, the supremely creative architect and founder of MAP’D Studio in Manhattan.