Facing the Unusual.

Casting portraits without the controversy, 2016.

Nathan Brussels, 2016. Sony A7R II · 85mm Zeiss · ISO 64 · f/7.1 · 1/125 sec

We started Unusual Casting in 2016.
Before identity politics and DEI became the dominant language.

Back then, the problem felt simpler.
Fashion photography had become narrow, self-referential, and dull.

Meanwhile, extraordinary faces were everywhere.
Different. Unusual. Unmistakably human.

What was missing wasn’t diversity.
It was the desire to do things differently.

There was very little interest in seeing these faces without explanation attached.
Without a framework.
Without a cause.

Unusual Casting wasn’t a political project.
It was a casting one.

So we made portraits.
Not statements.
Not campaigns.

Just work.

The project didn’t last.
The conversation shifted from curiosity to grievance.
From looking to explaining.

Fashion, meanwhile, returned to its comfort zone.

This is one of my portraits from that period.

I still think it was a good idea.

Diversity shouldn’t be about politics. But rather about seeing and celebrating each other’s common humanity.