A combination visual art and storytelling
It’s Nana again. The university system in the Netherlands consists of 4 years of studying, with half a year set aside for the minor. The minor a student chooses is generally an important factor that will help build the student’s specialty or focus.
I have always been a child that reads books and had a fascination for the fantasy world. I was also attracted to the visual art, be it painting, sculptures, photography and art installations and wanted to combine these two elements, the visual and the storytelling, into one. I was already doing this with my drawings, paintings and sculptures, but not yet with photography. This is why I decided to pursue this art form.
I started searching for photographers, to see whose style inspired me maybe try to discover what kind of photography I wanted to aim for. Soon my list started to contain a certain style and I could recognize elements I wanted to use.One of my big time inspirations became Kirsty Mitchell, who started her Wonderland series as a distraction from the pain she felt after losing her mother to brain cancer.
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Kirsty described the relationship she had with her mother as her best friend, something I myself could relate to. She wanted her mother to never be forgotten and decided to dedicate the Wonderland project (that has been running for almost 5 years) to her.
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Kirsty had a successful job as fashion designer, but after her story evolved, she decided to leave her 11-year fashion career behind her and focus herself fully on the project. She constructed her own costumes, and put together the sets after scouting for locations herself, sometimes even waiting a year or two before shooting.
I picked Snow White, but made her the evil one in her own story.
I sent out a lot of messages, trying to find a model, stylist and make-up artists, and was finally able to get certain people interested.
I had specific criteria for the model, and the model that I eventually chose, fit those criteria. After this I constructed my own set in the living room and spent the whole day taking pictures.
A few examples of the twists in the pictures are: She is the dominant one, controlling the dagger and what happens to it. She’s not quite as thankful to the dwarves as she is during the Disney version Snow White is the one offering the poisoned apple this time. Instead of falling asleep because of a poison apple, she fell asleep due to excessive amount of drinking (the bottle being under her pillow).
Though I still have a long way to go, polishing my photography skills, creating concepts, prop making and orchestrating everything together, I am really looking forward to the fine art projects I will want to dedicate my life and soul to.
