During the pandemic it was very difficult to create any work. I remember taking a lot of pictures of brown grass and spring flowers, but I really prefer portraiture. Once things had settled down slightly and the lockdowns eased up I posted a general inquiry looking for collaborators to work on a socially distanced photo project. I'd been looking through Kristi Mitchell's incredible Wonderland series, and knew I wanted to do something with props, and sets, and makeups. I got lucky when a friend who designs costumes responded that she had a project involving paper costumes that would look like the pages of the fairy tales where the characters originated.
I'd been experimenting with vintage lenses like the Helios 44mm, a Soviet era lens that produces swirly bokeh. I first experimented with the effect on a test shoot pre-pandemic. I decided to take this approach into these photos as well, and added a Petzl lens into the mix as well.
What followed were, to date, nine shoots. We have more planned and the parameters have stayed the same: minimal crew, natural light and locations, a diverse cast, and reimagining the stories in some way.
