$20 Print for August

For the month of August, I am offering $20 prints through my website of my photograph SWARM.

This image is part of my series based on childhood fears.  I made a small set in my basement out of a mattress and covered it in dirt and leaves.  The dead mother/witch figure was played by my friend Zoe.  I asked Zoe to play the part because of her pronounced cheekbones. Her vintage nightgown came from an antique mall. I used flour to further whiten her hair, and Halloween crackle make-up for her skin. Her fingernails were made from Lee press-on nails, rubber cement, and a black sharpie.  I could not afford real special FX contact lenses, so I lightened her already blue eyes in Photoshop.

The spiders are black plastic spiders that I found at the Halloween Superstore.  My friend Felix and I spent over an hour going through the spider barrel, picking out the very best ones and placing them in a separate pile.  The teenage employees at the Halloween Superstore thought we were crazy.

The baby in the photograph is my nephew Matt.  I gained permission from my pregnant sister Sarah to use him in this shot months before he was even born.  Zoe waited on set while Sarah walked Matt to sleep.  He slept in Zoe’s arms throughout the entire photo shoot.