i-D contributor and photography’s rising star Olivia Rose is a busy girl. When she’s not photographing 2016’s best new musicians or grime’s hottest talent, the 29-year-old North Londoner lays low in Bermuda. “My granny is Bermudian and lives there. I have a lot of family on the rock — aunts, uncles, cousins, the lot” she explains, “so I’ve been traveling there every few years since I was a kid. In 2013, I went across for three months to shoot a series on boys involved in gang crime on the island and since then, I’ve been back about four times a year. My bank balance hates me, but I swear Bermuda just has magic powers that keep drawing you back. The Bermuda triangle is a real thing.”
In love with its “people, views and beaches” amongst other things, Olivia decided to arm herself with the latest Holiday 2015 collection from Billionaire Boys Club and deck out the beautiful boys of Bermuda. “For this project, I strapped a duffle bag of BBC pieces to the back of my moped and just drove across the island stopping guys that caught my eye. I actually almost crashed into a bush after double-taking a regiment boy in his camouflage at a bus stop.” Follow her lens and peep the boys that caught her eye and how she spotted them!
T’Nuri and T’Rundae
“I had originally cast T’Rundae via Instagram (which is actually a really good model hunting app in a foreign country — as is Tinder) and when I scrolled through, I noticed his kid in double denim looking like a G and knew I had to shoot them together.”
Jordan
“I wanted to shoot Jordan in the bakatown (the closest Bermuda has to a ‘ghetto’) so we wandered into what looked like an abandoned pink building. I’d barely started shooting when a lady leaned out of an upstairs window and started screaming at us to get off her property.”
Koeshun
“Koeshun makes music with a group called Dem Biez and I spotted his immense locks on a YouTube video. He also happened to be wearing Billionaire Boys Club in it, so I knew I had to track him down. He actually stood me up the first time I tried to shoot him and I ended up making friends with his local rastaman, House of Demus.”
Ryan
“I met Ryan (who has been voted Bermuda’s best bartender like four years in a row) through a friend and was inspired by hearing about his training for the paralympics, so we headed down to the track, chucked him some BBC shorts and got this amazing shot.”
Paco
“Of all the pieces I had with me, this was the one that every guy wanted to model in, but there’s this one car per family rule in Bermuda, so almost everyone rides a moped — especially the guys. You see a lot of crazy stuff: people riding one-handed carrying a pizza, or with ridiculous things like furniture strapped to the back, or riding from their yard to our shoot location, with no helmet, carrying all of my equipment. Cathy is his mom, if you were wondering.”
Kofi
“Guitar player, music lover and fan of all things Hendrix, Kofi is in ‘Bermuda’s Boastiest Band’ D.I.A. He had that lethal combination of humble and handsome, but I eventually managed to lure him in front of the lens.”
Ezekial
“I heard Ezekial’s bike coming before I even met him, and when I finally managed to grab him for a picture he was on the way to collect his kids from school. I said I would wait—he said he’d be back in ten—and had just about given up hope after 45 minutes when he came roaring back up the hill with two kids in tow.”
Kashi
“Kashi was a strong silent type who insisted on wearing his own hat. He barely said three words to me when we were shooting, but what he lacks in conversation, he made up for with brooding.”
Kashi, Paco, Koeshun
“The three amigos.”
Matthew
“All round cheeky chappy, at 17, Matthew was the baby of the group. He was really into the styling element of the project, trying his t-shirt over his shirt as well as on its own to find the best look. Serious heartbreaker in the making.”
Regiment Boy (name unknown)
“This is the guy from the bike crash incident. Regiment is still mandatory in Bermuda. I managed to get two shots (but not his name) before his bus arrived and he left me forever!”
Haz The Hvman
“Haz is one of the most talented MCs on the island. I met him up by Fort Scaur and made him rap to me whilst I took his picture. For some reason he reminded me of the cute spaceman on the BBC logo.”
Kalaeb
“Kalaeb is a poet that I met a few times hanging at an open mic bar in town called Chewstick. I obsessed over his eyes for about 6 months before finally asking if I could shoot him for this project.”
Beakz
“I’ve shot Leniko (Beakz) before for another editorial, so I knew he and I could make some really cool pictures. When I got into his car he was playing Skepta (he promised it wasn’t just to impress me). Grime has made its way to Bermuda!”
Credits
Text Lynette Nylander
Photography Olivia Rose