PaperCity Magazine

May 2018- Dallas

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40 I t's winter in Manhattan; New York Fashion Week is in full swing. The attention-grabbing style contingent of editors, models, bloggers, and general trendsetters is out in force, trailed by a mob of anxious photographers looking to snap street-style photos. Meanwhile, Dallas photographers Kristi and Scot Redman, along with their new business partner and designer Ben Haschke, are posted on a popular street corner alongside an unusual red contraption: Tall, slightly curved and elongated, with nine circular cutouts, it resembles a vintage speaker. The trio is waiting for the fashionable to come to them. And they do, to pose in front of what Haschke and the Redmans refer to as MotusRed, a newfangled camera of their own design, which they built in the Redmans' Dallas house. Fashion Week was MotusRed's first outing — and things haven't calmed down since. A model in thigh-high boots struts toward MotusRed for a few seconds. Her glamazon image is captured — but not in still-life form. The result is what Scot calls "a Boomerang-style video, with a 3-D parallax effect." This is no ordinary camera. In fact, it's nine cameras in one. "They fire at exactly the same time, creating a freeze-frame moment from multiple angles," Scot says. "Our computer then instantly stitches the frames together and animates the moment." The technique — formally referred to as photographing in "bullet time" — isn't new, dating back to the 19th century and famously employed in the 1999 hit film The Matrix. Says Scot: "We first came across a multi-camera unit at a fashion event in New York. We became fascinated … and set out to perfect the technique and utilize the booth in new and ambitious ways, including being mobile on the street." The Redmans have always been trailblazers. Long before fashion blogs were commonplace, the husband-wife team was snapping street photos and posting them to their own popular website, then called Hilltop Glossy. They were early adopters of making the shift from still photography to video. It wasn't long before Cheetos came calling, asking if they would create a commercial and ad campaign for the brand. The stylish reel was included in several award categories at Cannes Lions in 2007. They are our city's next-gen version of Bill Cunningham, with an effortless ability to capture candid images of people on the town in a striking, stylized manner. This has brought them regular work with Condé Nast, having shot on assignment for Allure, W, and teenVOGUE. The launch into new photo-booth technology comes as no surprise. In April, the Redmans were booked for a dozen events during Arts Month. Rumor has it the big brands, including a major luxury fashion conglomerate, are already calling, hoping to book MotusRed and expand on its homemade technology. (Per Scot, only a few MotusRed-type booths exist globally. This is the first in Texas, to his knowledge.) The transition from scrappy, self- funded design project to high-profile, in- demand entity was swift, and there's no telling where it may lead. "It's always been our goal to push the limits of photography and film," Scot says. "We want Dallas to experience the future." IN BULLET TIME BY CHRISTINA GEYER Jaap Van Zweden MotusRed on the street during New York Fashion Week Sketches for MotusRed's design MotusRed

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