Making MONSTER PROM

This is my recent photo project titled MONSTER PROM.

I re-imagined iconic monsters Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolfman as teenagers posing for their Prom photos.

This project was a commission from Sony.

Nothing captures the quintessential awkwardness of adolescence like the Prom photo.  It is the final game of dress-up before entering the adult world.

Monsters are the perennial outsider.  Did any of us ever feel more like monsters than we did as teenagers? The self-consciousness of adolescence comes with the realization that the villagers can turn on you at any moment.

There is a long-standing tradition of teenage monsters in the Horror genre, starting with I Was A Teenage Werewolf and I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, both from 1957.  Modern variations on the teenage monster movie include Carrie, Teen Wolf, The Craft, even Twilight.  Wes Craven’s Scream could easily have been titled I Was A Teenage Slasher.

My eldest daughter Arinna (from my photograph BABYSITTER) played the part of Frankenstein’s prom date.  She also helped me cast my project, and recruited several of her friends to be models.

All of the girls’ hairstyles were done by Nikki Moreno from Vixen Pin-Up Photography.

Candy Cunningham – Nikki’s partner in Vixen Pin-Up Photography – did make-up for all the girls.

I staged the photo-shoot in my own home.

The teenage monsters were made by J. Anthony Kosar, and his special-effects team at Kosart Effects.

 

I photographed the kids in full costume on my set, complete with hand make-up.  Kosar provided fake feet for teenage Wolfboy, played by Wyatt Zirkle.  Wolfboy’s date was played by Fee Pauwels.

I photographed Kosar’s sculptures on the same set, under the same lighting, to ensure that both parts would fit together seamlessly when combined in Photoshop.

Teenage Frankenstein was played by Andrew Gleason.  Frankenstein’s date was played by my daughter Arinna, who also starred in my photograph BABYSITTER.

My wife Jen helped on set.

Teenage Dracula was played by my 12 year old nephew Nate.  His date was played by Mary Burke.

Demian Vela helped on set as well.

A special thank you to my sister Sarah who made all of the flower corsages.  And a big thank you to Kevin Kinkead at Boomerang in Westport KC for giving me such a great deal on all of the retro clothes!  And lastly, thank you to Margaret of London for inviting me to be part of this project.

See you next time!