Looking Back on the Foundational Force of Lazy Sunday, a photography book by Zachary Elliot

Looking Back on the Foundational Force of Lazy Sunday, a photography book by Zachary Elliot

Actress Allison Boyd in Lazy Sunday

Before Shore Thang there was the photography book ‘Lazy Sunday’. The artistic photography project conceived by Shore Thang creative director and photographer Zachary Elliot, captures the SoCal aesthetic. The unmistakable California vibe, coastal setting and relaxed intimacy of the models and their surroundings.

A lavishly illustrated collection of model portraits which draws inspiration from the beautiful Pacific Palisades and Venice Beach, ‘Lazy Sunday’ was photographed between 2015 and 2018 and is currently out of print.

‘Lazy Sunday’ is indeed a beautiful coffee table book, but there is so much more to it. It documents a collaborative and aesthetic process which eventually went on to define Shore Thang. The collection showcases the collabs, aesthetics, individual engagements and experiments that went into creating ‘Lazy Sunday,” which shaped the artistic identity which evolved into the Shore Thang that we know today. Demonstrating Elliot’s talent for creating compelling images among unguarded moments.

The Venice Beach setting with its street style, iconic canals and weed smell is part of the set-up. There are also more world cities paired with several of the models. Elements of nostalgia are preserved in these images. Capturing a fleeting moment, into something timeless and classic. The confidence and joy of the model’s bodily autonomy, intimate, relaxed, reimagined, reclaiming their bodies. The origin story to how Shore Thang came to be, deserves to be told in this context.

Published shortly before Shore Thang was established in 2018, ‘Lazy Sunday’ Is an elevated photography book. The collab between photographer Zachary Elliot and beautiful Alysha Grace Marko had inspired the book ‘Lazy Sunday’.

Alysha Grace Marko in Lazy Sunday, posing in Venice Beach

“Lazy Sunday’ compiles portraits of female models in relaxed settings, emphasizing comfort, form and natural light”. Reflecting the beauty of the moment, bathed in the Southern California sunlight, each an interplay of shadow, composition and light. Alysha’s portraiture is all about the relaxed glamour and intimacy which is “Lazy Sunday”. Photographer Zachary Elliot recounted how during the photoshoot, Alysha Grace, wearing only a men’s white dress shirt, came up with the idea of calling the book “Lazy Sunday”.

Alysha Grace a model, gallerist and artist in her own right, certainly understands composition. She also brings a knowledge of visual presentation. The reciprocal nature of this project is evident in the way the models are not just subjects of photography, but also actively participate in the creative process. Alysha Grace, who is described as a super beauty, with her brunette locks and voluptuous silhouette has notable collaborations with Zachary Elliot. She brings the art of relaxed and understated glamour.

Photographing “a medium-big list of like 40 LA-based models,” Alysha Grace Marko was one of the “super beauties”.

The first photoshoots were in a studio in Venice Beach, a block from the beach. The SoCal aesthetic which ‘Lazy Sunday’ draws upon is more than just beautiful scenery. The sunlit interiors, the ocean, the expansive landscapes and particular Southern California style, where fashion and every day life are in the same frame. Elliot approach to photography developed in a particular era of California photography, encompassing the artistic choices and collaborations. Documenting the creative world from which Shore Thang emerged.

Alysha Grace, known by her nickname “F-cup” inspires with her “provocative and alluring” photos. In a highlight from the book, Alysha Grace in repose, wearing a grey lace balconette bra and panty set. With a crisp white dress shirt, a punctuation to all those curves.The intimate portrait of Alysha Grace draped in a cotton sheet, with the folds accentuating her hour glass figure. Focusing the gaze on the arch of her elegant swan neck, is the epitome of relaxed glamour. Her crimson lips and tousled dark hair, in sensuous contrast to the white sheet. Light and shadow adding dimension to the frame. Tonal contrast and negative space, reminiscent of 1990s super model fashion photography. The graceful geometry of her form taking center stage.

Amanda Stoer in Lazy Sunday

The composition of Alysha Grace in the white dress shirt with the front buttons undone against the curvature of her breast, supple against the crisp edges, is elegant and graceful. The play of light and shady in the frame, Alysha’s silhouette in the structured garment adds depth and texture. Alysha poses with arms outstretched, in seamless nude panties, in the photo spread which started it all. Shore Thang alums and models such as Alysha Grace Marko, Kashmir Snowden-Jones, Alyssa Wallen, Allison Boyd, Amanda Stoer, Natasha Key are prominently featured, among other models.

A few of those models are also featured here on Petite Curve.

Zachary Elliot captures the beauty of a diverse group of models instead of just faces shaped by one aesthetic. The photography in ‘Lazy Sunday’ is exceptional, serving as a visual inspiration, reimagining what is in front of the lens. The exceptional cover art of the ‘Lazy Sunday’ features a rendering of a supine, silhouette. The sylph like nude is a study of shadow and light. The long, fluid contours are a balance of softness and definition. The cover features elements of fine art photography.

Nude model Brooke Eva, featured in the book poses in a sheer ivory body suit, her face framed in the rays of the sun, as she looks out at the Pacific blue. Sunlight softens the contours of the frame as it dapples in, the muted tones of the ocean cools the warmth of her features for contrast. Her auburn hair, brown eyes, cameo like profile and slim, athletic curves make Brooke the perfect model and muse. She “unfolds like a flower with only a minimal amount of direction”. There is an unforced quality, without elaborate staging using light for framing and composition, creating an almost cinematic quality.

Note: Lazy Sunday is currently out of print, following a limited run in 2019

Model Brooke Eva is also a photographer, she and Zachary Elliot have collaborated many times to create “an enormous body of work”. Including 35mm film shots that were shot on a Nikon F100. The Venice beach photoshoot took place in a small studio apartment. Whilst the photoshoot of Brooke Eva in the Pacific Palisades, was in the Porto Marina Way coastal hillside neighborhood of Castellamare. The setting, a contrast between the expanse of the coastal property and an intimate studio. The beautiful five bedroom, four story Mediterranean style estate, the set of these shoots, was sadly destroyed in the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire. The unfortunate loss adding a historical as well as nostalgic dimension, which is preserved in the photographs. The fleeting moments and memories, which are captured in the book have a deeper and archival significance.

Model and actress Kashmir Snowdon-Jones, or Kash as she is known, was a notable contributor to ‘Lazy Sunday’ and appeared on the book's cover.

Kashmir has a Welsh backgroud and has unmistakable charm and that relaxed American Glamour mixed with English refinement. She is a model who combines a European fashion sensibility, with the sunlight, SoCal energy of “Lazy Sunday”. Having collaborated with Zachary Elliot for an iconic photo shoot in Havana, Cuba, where her poise and the effortless way in which she occupies the frame is highlighted. An elegant, slim 5’9” blonde, known for her long legs, Kash is definitely a vibe. Combining an editorial, polished curated quality to an otherwise unhurried, lazy afternoon. She did her first ever nude photo spread for Playboy magazine, an important moment in her modeling career.

Kashmir Snowdon-Jones on the cover of Lazy Sunday

In ‘Lazy Sunday,” Kashmir flexes that “transatlantic beauty” which she is known for, when posing. Alyssa Wallen, a Shore Thang “best of the beautiful” model is a “criminally pretty” redheaded from Austin, Texas with a body to match. Zachary and Alyssa had met during the making of ‘Lazy Sunday’. With Alyssa contributing to quarantine selfies, which were later featured in the book. Statuesque with delicate, porcelain doll like features, Alyssa poses with feline grace, bringing her own interpretation of a “Lazy Sunday”. Languid, warm and unhurried afternoon. Allison Frances Boyd, is an actress and model who is a native of the American South. She is an all American blonde with dangerous curves and beautiful eyes.

Allison Boyd met Elliot in 2016, when the work on the book was taking shape. Allison played the role of Karen in the 2013 supernatural horror film ‘Oculus’. A motivational writer as well as an actress and model, she is multitalented indeed. Allison Boyd is captured by the camera in moments of unstudied beauty. Effortlessly sensual, the vibe is a lazy afternoon without an agenda. Bringing a cinematic quality and a beautiful silhouette to her portrait. Beautiful in a simple T shirt and briefs, with her face in profile as the sun ripples in.As an actress, her awareness of movement is added to the frame.

Nude model Amanda Stoer’s creative collabs in ‘Lazy Sunday’ started way before the founding of Shore Thang. Going beyond the conventional, Amanda was photographed in the Kelso Dunes of the Mojave Desert. The ridges and curves, sculpted by the wind accentuate the beauty of the human form. Images which can best be described as “otherworldly,” were captured on 35mm film. The surreal landscape, a tonal counterpart to Amanda Stoer’s slim and graceful silhouette. The composition, an ‘arabesque’ in the desert, an exploration of the scale of the human form in the vast expanse of the desert. The contours of the dunes and the curves of her body create a visual harmony. Zachary Elliot describes Amanda as“graceful,” and how they “shot together more then any other model”.

Brooke Eva in Lazy Sunday

Recalling how this shoot was the most “ambitious” to date, capturing the “adventure” which defines ‘Lazy Sunday’. Amanda woke up at three o’clock in the morning just to do her makeup and she and Zachary Elliot drove for three hours into the desert just to capture the light. The desert light, sky and stark beauty of majestic dunes create a timeless, otherworldly canvas. The images and the resulting portraits showcased in the book, are where documentary photography and fashion editorials converge. A photo study of the interplay between feminine form, nature and it’s immediate surroundings. The book expands beyond conventional portraiture to something more collaborative and dynamic. In a striking color portrait from the book, there is a bottle of spilled milk on the hard wood floor. A model, captured naturally with no filters or photo shop,  licks the milk with her tongue out. Lapping up the milk with it dripping over her face hair in the milk, with obvious roots growing out and freckles on her shoulder an what resembles a spot on her tank top. Literally bucking convention with the message, don’t cry over spilled milk, creating instead an opportunity for self expression. Spontaneous, unexpected beauty can arise from an imperfect moment.

Literally the epitome of a ‘Lazy Sunday,” the model is lazing around in bed over the sunday paper, with a white silk blouse just grazing her hip, as she looks at the camera mischievously. Her dark hair done up in a red and white polka dot hair tie. The second frame is of her stretching in a split, on the balcony of an apartment in a black sports bra, pink gym shorts and white knee socks. The adjacent image of said model, is in black and white as the model pores over the newspaper while reclining on the ledge of the balcony in white knee socks, black platforms denim shorts and a daisy headband,  with the mountains as the backdrop. In another image, a brunette model lingers over her morning coffee in a red mug, making it a centerpiece of the whole scene. Her pajama top undone in front, revealing a perky breast as her gaze never leaves the camera.

A blonde by the name of Lee reclines by the pool in a white tank top and cherry red midi skirt and is giving 1960s Hollywood. In an iconic image of Amanda Stoer in a thin, muslin chemise sitting on a window sill bathed in sunlight, which could be moonlight as her skin glows incandescent. In an all white room with a shutter drawn down, the outline of her breast creates the only shadow as her light brown hair shines in the sun. Bringing Zachary Elliot’s vision to life, the visual vocabulary of “Lazy Sunday” is about the art of natural light and observation, marking the period when a coherent, artistic vision was formed.