Washington DC male model Donte Newman.
Donte Newman is a hard-working DC model. He was born and raised in Washington and is a proud graduate of Ballou High School.
This was the third time Donte and I worked together. The previous two shoots were studio shoots done totally with strobe lights. I wanted something different and decided to move away from flash and work with natural lighting.
The shirt that Donte is wearing is a black and white knit one that I have had in my closet for about 20 years. I like the shirt but I had never won it because after buying it I never thought it looked right on me. I had even suggested it to a few models before but they just were not feeling it. The shirt has to be at least 2 decades old as I purchased it from Woodward & Lothrop – a Washington, DC department store that closed in 1995. Donte liked the shirt and decided to wear it with some jeans. It was a good look.
When reviewing the pictures it seemed that they called for Black and White versus color. This is one of the occasions where I thought color would definitely get in the way.
I think Donte rocked the shirt. Maybe one day I might even wear it myself.
Washington DC Male Model Donte Newman
Lonnie Dawkins is a Washington, DC based portrait photographer
One thought on “Portraits: Donte Newman and the Vintage Shirt”