I was stuck in a creative rut. The winter had slowly worn down my artistic vision and I was bored of shooting in the studio, trying to create ideas on bare walls. I craved sunlight and playful narratives.

When I was contacted to do this shoot by The Observer I immediately said yes. It's a shoot scenario us photographers know all too well - an editorial on location with no set game plan - fun, but challenging. Running on only 2 hours sleep after a late night flight, knowing you've got a whole day ahead in the sweltering sun and nothing but a small van to race around downtown Los Angeles in. The crew were tired but surprisingly enthusiastic. We were all running on coffee fumes.

I remember coming into the shoot feeling a little nauseous, worrying that the uncertainty of the day and the difficult light would create quite a difficult setting to get what the team wanted.

This particular shot was photographed right at the end of the day after much driving around Los Angeles trying to locate a car that fits the era I had envisioned for the shoot. It felt like we were losing the opportunity to get the shot we all pictured to define the story. That's when we drove past an abandoned house and saw the perfect car outside. 20 shots later and we got THE shot. This shoot fueled my creative energy and gave me a new direction.

Lara Jade

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