Down The Rabbit Hole

I've been in the states for a couple of weeks, two of my friends are getting married and I wanted to celebrate extra hard for them.

During my holiday, I've managed to get a couple of photoshoots done for the Fairytales series I've been working on. The first of which I present to you...

Alice in Wonderland!

This is a photoshoot I've wanted to do for a long time. The craziness from the story leads to all kinds of possibilities within photoshoots, but since the ideas are all there already, I wanted to take a softer approach, play with colour and composition more than actual concept.

The playground at Millennium Park, Chicago offered the ideal location for this shoot. Originally thinking of Lincoln Park, I stumbled across this new addition to downtown since my last visit, and instantly knew I'd found the place.

The giant table, the upside down tree, the labyrinth of mirrors – it was perfect. This was a collaboration shoot with Lauren Schultz, as we've been doing fairytale photoshoots side by side since I first realised the concept almost two years ago.

I brought along some props, but even without them, our model Taylor French was perfect and barely needed any instruction. Being an acting major, she kept in character even when the perfect moments to laugh/sigh in frustration came along (Saturday is a good day to take the kids to the park – who would have thought!)

Before leaving the UK, I found a great stall in St Nicholas' Market, Bristol. It sold a variety of playing cards, some scenic, a lot to do with British monarchy and history, and one devoted to mushrooms. I love mushrooms, the fact they grow from decay, the thousands of different varieties, that some can cause death, others hallucinations, and some just simply taste great in soup.

Attempting to play with size, we found upside down trees within the park, and a giant round table (no pictures from there made the final cut, unfortunately), really helped the Alice in Wonderland theme come into itself.

It's no secret that Lewis Carroll had some not entirely okay concepts behind the stories, and having Taylor look scared, vulnerable and unsure of her surroundings, helped heighten the sense that this was a child being forced into an adult world.

And of course, no Alice photoshoot would be complete without painting the roses red.

More fairytales coming very soon!

I'll See You When I Fall Asleep

Sleeping Beauty was among the original fairytale ideas for the Alternate Fairytales series thought up oh so many (five) years ago, and last weekend it was finally shot in all the glory I imagined.

Chelsea (my model and close friend) and I united the earliest time of day I can remember without having slept over the night before (neither of us are remotely morning people). She was very enthusiastic about the idea, and the more we prepared for it, the more the ideas came flooding forward.

Prince Charming, if you didn't catch on.

Aurora is one of the princesses who I never really understood the appeal of. When people think of the Disney version, they imagine her blonde head on a pillow, just sleeping. To me she has the least personality, but that also leaves more room for play when amping up the alternative side.

I bought some empty gelatin capsules and filled them with glitter. I was also donated a few wine bottles as my consumption rates have dropped from what they used to be. Chelsea brought along some flower garlands, and with a combination of all these, we experimented with Sleeping Beauty causing destruction to herself through drinking and drugs, ultimately ending up on the streets.