Gelatin Silver
Inspired by the timeless beauty of silver gelatin printing, Gelatin Silver reimagines darkroom chemistry through saturated colour, sculptural silhouettes and reflective surfaces. Metallic fabrics shimmer like liquid silver against electric magentas, cobalt blues and radiant golds. Conceived by photographer Nick Berardi and creative director and wardrobe stylist Lina O’Connor, the editorial merges analogue references with a bold, modern visual language.
Photographer Nick Berardi
Creative Director & Wardrobe Stylist Lina O’Connor
Hair Stylist Anthony Montoya
Makeup Artists Muyvette Beauty and Renata Rensky
Model Marianne Schmidt from Storm Management Los Angeles
Studio Jude Studio
Words Priscila Vieira
Editor Andrea Probosch
For more than a century, silver gelatin defined the look of black-and-white photography. Gelatin Silver translates its visual language into digital photography, using light, reflection, saturated colour and tonal contrast as the foundation.
Photographed at The Reserve, Nick Berardi’s studio in Downtown Los Angeles, the editorial unfolds inside the city’s historic Federal Reserve Building, now reimagined as a creative hub for photography, film and the arts. Berardi, whose career began under the mentorship of Vidal Sassoon before moving behind the camera, collaborates with creative director and stylist Lina O’Connor, a longtime friend of ZOOT and former ZOOT cover model now building her career in Los Angeles. In front of the lens is Marianne Schmidt, a German-Eritrean model and actress based in Los Angeles and a new face at Storm Management LA, whose natural confidence and expressive presence bring the story to life.
Introduced in the 1870s, the silver gelatin process became the defining black-and-white printing method of the twentieth century, prized for its rich tonal range, luminous highlights and exceptional detail. Gelatin Silver borrows the essence of the process to create a contemporary fashion story using the language of silver gelatin—reimagined through colour, reflection and movement.
THE REFERENCE IS ANALOGUE.
THE RESULT ISN’T.
Before digital photography transformed the way images were made and shared, silver gelatin printing shaped the visual language of photography for more than a century.
Developed in the 1870s, the process uses light-sensitive silver salts suspended in gelatin to create the deep blacks, subtle greys and luminous highlights that defined generations of black-and-white photography.
From fashion editorials and portraiture to documentary photography, silver gelatin became the medium through which photographers explored texture and atmosphere.
Its beauty lies in its physicality: the grain, the depth of the blacks, the feeling of holding an image rather than simply viewing one.
Nick developed a concept inspired more by the title Gelatin Silver than by the technical printing process itself.
— Lina O’Connor
The story takes the idea of the darkroom into the photo studio; translating the smooth, layered quality of gelatin into colour, surface and movement.
For the “silver” element, Nick and Lina worked with Mylar, strobe lighting and coloured gels to create reflective surfaces and unexpected bursts of colour.
The materials become a contemporary interpretation of silver, where reflections and light become part of the image-making process.
To represent the ‘gelatin’ aspect, we displayed our images on brightly coloured backgrounds and incorporated vinyl to create a contemporary interpretation of the smooth, layered quality associated with gelatin.
— Lina O’Connor & Nick Beradi
The result is not about recreating the past, but exploring texture, surface and the tactile quality of an image.
For the ‘silver’ element, we used Mylar, strobe lighting, and coloured gels to create reflective surfaces and dynamic bursts of colour. Rather than recreating the traditional gelatin silver process, our project reinterprets its essence through contemporary materials, vibrant colour and experimental lighting.
— Nick Berardi
Silver gelatin photography has always been about the relationship between light and matter—the moment when chemistry transforms a captured image into a physical object.
To boot…
LINA O’CONNOR, Creative Director and Wardrobe Stylist
NICK BERARDI, Photographer
www.nickberardiphotography.com | @nickberardi
FASHION REFERENCES
MAISON PRIVÉE @maisonpriveepr_la
For
ASTRID & AGNES @astridoagnes
ARABESQUE BOUDOIR @arabesqueboudoirmaison
GHOSTLINE DESIGNS @ghostline_designs
HANES @hanes
JULIE COLQUITT @juliecolquittart
KAFTAN STUDIO @kaftanstudio
LINE DESIGNS
MISTER TRIPLE X
QOFFAN
SAMUEL GARTNER @samuelgaertner
ULUWATU LACE STORE @uluwatulace
VALERIAN HUGHES PARIS @valerianhughesparis
LOCATION
409 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015
