Photo Series: November Rain — The Lexington Line

It’s 9:00 a.m, and I am bounding through Grand Central Station to get to my next destination. Since I’ve always had a flair for the dramatics, I shove my AirPods into my ears and instantly scroll to find a song that matches my energy. Ironically, “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses comes on when I hit shuffle; which I felt was pretty fitting considering I was plowing my way through New York City.

Things took a turn when the next song that came on was “November Rain,” also by Guns N’ Roses. This near nine-minute tune shifted my mood from “Let’s take on the world” to “I want to curl up with my significant other.” “November Rain” is all about deciding to take the plunge and fall in love. The lyrics “So if you want to love me then darling don’t refrain, or I’ll just end up walking in the cold November rain” reveal that life would be cold and meaningless without their lover, so they should just face their fears and be together. Guns N’ Roses always has iconic music videos, but I realized I had never seen the “November Rain” one; instantaneously, I opened up YouTube and watched.

After further research, I found that the music video was inspired by the short story “Without You” by Del James. However, what intrigued me the most was not the story behind the music video but the aesthetics of the production itself. The first detail that caught my eye was the suit that keyboardist Dizzy Reed was wearing at the beginning of the video. Throughout the video, the crew is wearing suits and blazer tops that struck my fancy. To add, the beige color palette of the video interested me as well. Throughout the video, browns, cream, red, and black colors appear on the screen which taps into the “November” aspect of the song. Lastly, the architecture of the church stood out to me as well. The different arches and small details in the structure caught my attention.

After watching the video, I was immediately inspired to do a photo series inspired by the music video's details. All of the models are seen wearing suits that emulate the dress of the band members; the color palette coordinates with the brown and other autumnal colors featured in the video. I also chose churches and brownstones as the locations to reflect the structures shown in the video.

Enjoy November Rain, the photoshoot.