Dianna Prince Recreation Project / Shoot for Black Pin Up Models Magazine! ( Dorothy Dandridge )

This such and major project for me! It means so much! I have done so much research on Dorothy Dandridge and its been awesome learning! For this recreation shoot I want to capture the essence of her! I will apply what I learned about her life during the whole process especially when I pose! Her life was so interesting from start to finish! I love how she over came so much! I also love the history of how in this country when she was a major star and had alot of money, she still wasn't able to use whites only elevators and restrooms even in Vegas! Its amazing! So many have said she was the biggest star and could have been the biggest ever if she wasn't black. White America was not ready! I say some blacks weren't ready as well! Its sad but she was always her self, always bright. always performed like she was a star and adore her fans! Her personal and family life from a young age until death had so many ups and downs and its saddens me she overdosed on purpose and her death note was sad! She was and is such and inspiration! To women of any race or color, to black women, men and children! She s an icon to me and its a true honor to recreate her look and capture her beauty, class and essence! I can't at all sing and dance! But I have studied her poses on stage, in film and posing for photographers in grave detail!

I am so excited to do this shoot which has been more like a project in planning! The owner of Black Pin Up Models Magazine came to me with this idea! I adore this new fabo magazine and the unique and filled with beautiful, classic pin up model of today! Love the full looks and poses! This shoot will possibly be for the COVER! But def a full feature! I have been planning this about a month now an its finally time! Photographer Mike Grissom, whom I have shot with before, and I plan to create magic! I plan to do about 8 poses or so of hers and copy exact facial expression and pose! A wonderful photographer I work with often showed his amazing support for this project after I told him how much this means to me! He provided me with budget for my wardrobe! AWESOME! Thank you Robert Bennett! I will have my lovely assistant Adriana Perez helping me prepare my full look and help with wardrobe and hair during shoot! The photographer shooting me will have a lighting assistant! I plan to film on cam the hair process as well as stills and the whole day of getting dolled up then shooting! Tons of behind the scenes videos and images will be taken! The final edited fabo images will be 100% exclusive to Black Pin Up Models Magazine ONLY! I hope that the owner 

Candace Michelle lovesssssssssssss the final product and is pleased with all the planning and work this project shoot took

Now I want to talk about what I learned about her looks! She had 3 beautiful moles, 2 on right side and 1 on left side! In some images she has non showing. i am unclear on weather they were remove with editing or makeup. But in some images one is showing, some 2 and others all 3! I realize depending on how she posed u would see 2 and not all 3 or 1 and not all 3 etc! For my recreation shoot I will have all 3 moles added to my face. And in the final stages after choosing the ones that have the perfect facial expression and pose, Ill have Mike edit the moles to copy ec images I want to recreate! With earrings and nails painted. I noticed she has some earrings on in some pics but not others. Also same with nails, sometimes painted, sometimes not! Necklaces the same. i also noticed this by studying other singers, entertainers of her same era! Nails were not always painted. Not always earrings etc! Again for the poses I will recreate in detail I will get as close as I can with facial expressions, poses and details like earrings, nails etc.

Now on to focus on her many classy and classic facial expressions! She was so full of life! I can only imagine being at a club and hearing her sing live! And dance omg she was awesome! She had many sultry classy smiles and eyes. She also had many sultry " come heather " looks! Always regal and full of classy seduction! Innocent a bit but all woman and sexy class! Her lips and eyes and cheek bones were so beautiful and I have practiced many facial expressions of hers! Her smile was so beautiful and perfect! I don not have a perfect smile! To really smile like her I must trust in my photographer to edit my smile. This is something he and I have discussed and I have also practiced with him so he has an idea before we shoot! I want ec image to be as flawless and imitating her images as closely as we can! Here are a series of close up images that I love! Her expressions, her pose, the angles and lighting!

She even had a mole the right side of her neck! Beautiful! 

Now on to her Hair! She wore many styles! Fabo styles! I decided on the image bellow this part! My hair is long, super curly and thick! I do not have a relaxer or chemicals in my hair! This will take a long time to do not style. So with all the prep this is a major part!

Now on to Wardrobe! I selected a slinky crisp white with sliver sequin accents and designs. Its full length and gorgeous! I found t on ebay. When it arrived in the mail  felt this whole project shoots was official! The gown is just fabo! I feel I have a bit too much cleavage for my shots in this to look exactly like her since she was proportioned smaller than me! But it is what it is cant make them smaller in the dress! She was 5'5, I am 5'9. Bellow is my gown for this shoot! And images of a gown she wore similar!

Here are the earring and necklace! Again in some of her images she has no earrings on, but a necklace and some both!

I have a white fur wrap and some other stuff to wear during some images. But I am in the fence about the color of my nails. She took so many pics with no color on her nails! 

Location! I am so excited about shooting at Sunset Cliffs her in San Diego, CA! Its so breath taking! My photographer for this shoot has shot so many awesome images there and online they have so many! I plan to shoot a series of studio images, glam Old Hollywood style, alot of head shots and 3 quarter shots. But at Sunset Cliffs we plan to shoot some magical full length before and at sunset! There are many rocks and sand, so Ill be in sneakers and wear a bathing suit to get to spots we will shot and then change into the gown! After we get the shots we need for the mag and copy several images I plan to get the dress wet in water, burrrrrr,... and dirty a bit in sand! Dry clean later but will def use this amazing location and this gown to the fullest! I feel concentrating  on me and the gown, Mike will be able to have the back ground fade out a bit! I dont want just studio shots! The sky, the water, the cove, the rocks and sand and esp that gorgeous water I def want in so many images!

Studio Shots and lighting! Mike and I have gone over what we want in the studio shots we do! Old Hollywood with shadows etc is key. The poses bellow are examples of the angles, lighting, and poses Id' like to create.

As you can see this project shoot has meant alot to me and will be a major mark in my modeling career! When the issue is published it will be the issue I buy and give to our family, my husbands boss, my parents, sister and brothers! Its epic, special and major for me personally, creatively and career wise! Thank you Black Pin Up Models for the inspiration and opportunity to grace the cover and be featured!

Bellow are the top images we will do our best to recreate! 

About her! 

Date of Birth	9 November 1922 , Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Date of Death	8 September 1965 , West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (accidental barbiturate overdose)
Birth Name	Dorothy Jean Dandridge
Nicknames	Dottie Dottie Mae Miss D Bessie Mae
Height	5' 5" (1.65 m) In 1954, Dandridge signed a three-movie deal with 20th Century Fox and director and writer Otto Preminger soon cast her along with Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll, Madame Sul-Te-Wan (uncredited), Olga James, and Joe Adams in his all-black production of Carmen Jones[14]--with Dandridge's singing voice was dubbed by opera singer Marilyn Horne.   Determined to reinvent her career, Dorothy decided to wait for a good film role. In 1959, Columbia Pictures cast her in the female lead in Porgy and Bess. She was nominated again, this time for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost to Marilyn Monroe for Some Like It Hot. Despite positive reviews, Porgy and Bess was a box-office failure.[12] African-Americans described the film's characters as "stereotypical": Bess was a drug addict, Porgy a crippled drunk, Sportin' Life another drug addict, and Crown a rapist. The belief that these characters pandered to stereotypes about African-Americans added to its controversy.[12] The actor who was most blamed for the failure of Porgy and Bess was Dandridge. Before the film, many other African-American actresses and actors looked up to her as someone who had proved that an African-American woman could achieve what a white woman could. But many thought Dandridge "sold out" when she accepted the role of Bess. A few weeks later, Dandridge was released from her 20th Century Fox contract. Though she had been with Fox for about 5 1/2 years, she had only made 2 films for them: Carmen Jones (1954) and Island in the Sun (1957). Her contract committed her to making 3 pictures, but Fox failed to find another viable opportunity for her. She was the 1st black woman on the cover of LIFE! 1965!

Thank you to the icon Dorothy Dandridge for the lifetime of inspiration!