The most perfect may afternoon with Model Katie and her son. Wandering in old apple orchards and in gowns by Ashley Rose.
Queen Of Spring
Early last month I got to shoot with such an amazing team of women. Boston designer Ashley Rose who made this lovely gown with real tree bark. Makeup artist Stefanie Strazzere hair by Steph B and model Amber Strickland . I can not wait to work with this gang os super talent again.
When I first saw this gown that Ashley was working on I was brought right away to the vision of Alphonse Mucha's "Seasons". I am forever enchanted by the tie between the natural world and the feminine, the duality of something so soft seeming being also harsh and strong at it's deepest core. That's what I was trying to capture here.
From the Boggy Earth
The past month and a half have been a whirlwind, maybe a tornado. IDK. These last two shoots have honestly been two of the last I have shot in a while, aside for some client work I can't share yet. Just days after this shoot and my shoot with Ashely Rose. I lost my best friend, a little dog named Byron. He had a large mass in his abdomen that was inoperable. We spent so much money trying to heal him and he still passed away in just days. I was devastated, I still tear up on a daily basis now, a month and a half later. Our other dog became depressed and lonely and a few weeks ago we got another dog. We love him but it's been a lot of time getting in to a new groove. I am telling you all this because I wanted you all to know why I have not been posting, shooting etc. That's the top reason, the other is, at the risk of some full disclosure here, is that I have just been in a real funk, feeling like my work doesn't matter. I know these feelings come from my lovely personal cocktail of anxiety and depression, that I battle with every day. It's where I am at right now. I am working on snapping out of it.
Now for a little bit about this series of photo that I shot with the super talented Steffanie Strazzere . Her love of swamps and the way she channels that admiration into her personal look really was the catalyst for this shoot. Although I had always appreciated the reeds, and ferns and moss of the swamp, I had never really tried to delve any deeper than that. I started to think about how it was a place that most humans did not tread, the place where spring first shows her face. As if lady spring is sleeping there all winter in the boggy earth under ochre grasses and cat tails. So both Steffanie I came together to create what this witchy swamp goddess would look like when she was rising for the first time after a long winter. (dress, art direction and photographs by me, Modeling, makeup and inspiration Steffanie )
