An assassin for hire, Akira is loyal only to herself… and the highest bidder. As a woman in a man’s world she has no reservations with flaunting her charms–if only to get close enough to her mark.
“The better the assassin... the closer they can get to you before you know they're there.“
— Elektra
Character Inspirations
This being my first character, I wanted to start things off by blending together two of my favorite things: Anime and breaking gender norms. Akira was inspired by numerous “Femme Fatale” action flics, a childhood full of nerd culture, and a glowing admiration for elements of various Asian cultures.
Photography & Design
Heavy contrast, lots of shadows, vibrant color palettes… even film grain in some cases; I really wanted Akira to feel like she was right out of an action film. While Photoshop/CGI weren’t really an option, I did manage to make use of some crazy lighting techniques to get that “special effects look” I was after.
Seriously; Any smoke, streaks, blurs, etc. are the result of how the shot was taken. The only edits applied in post were minor tweaks like cropping, contrast, sharpening, etc.
The Outfit
Being a “proof of concept” shoot I kept the leatherworking I featured relatively simple; only my belt, choker, and matching garter were purpose made for this set. Now that I’ve gotten a better footing, however, I already some pretty wild ideas in mind going forward…
Photo Gallery
