Projects and Fun

I'm working on a long-term project, something that I hope will provide me with a creative outlet for the next couple of years. I've been exchanging some e-mails with some prospective models, and this description of the project from one of the e-mails:

The them of the project is The Fae in All of Us, and so I'm looking to find various models to help me depict this in images - so the images will vary depending on the person, the season and the desires of the photographer and model. While, I do intend to complete the seasonal series (Winter, Spring and Summer), I also intend to depict the elements as well (Earth, Wind, Fire and Water).

The project does, however, allow me a great degree of freedom to work with the model to achieve her vision as well. For example, I have one friend who wants to be depicted as a "Combat Fairy." That's her vision, and it will be fun to work with her to see it to fruition. In this case, she is designing her own costume and we'll work together to find the appropriate location and we'll begin shooting when we're both satisfied with the concept and preparations. In another example, I have a model who interested in posing as the fire fairy. He concept is red wings, red hair, and a sheer red outfit while she dances around a bonfire. I have a friend with some property and a burn pile who is willing to provide the location for that shoot. Other shoots will be done either in a studio, at other locations I've used over the years, and in some cases will be suggested and provided by the models themselves.

In the case of the 1st set which you've seen on my website, the model was hired specifically for the project. She had no particular vision or emotional investment for or in the project and simply was seeking the modeling fee for the work. After post-processing the images and reflecting on the shoot, I came to feel that I would get better images that would convey more of the project's concepts by using models who were specifically interested in the project for the fun and the art rather than simply for the money.

The set of photos mentioned above are located here: Autumn Fairy

So, that's part of what I have planned for the future. I do hope to be able to post some of the resulting photos in the next few months, though I envision this as a long-term project that will continue over the next 2 to 3 years.