I was paired with Sophie Bosworth who did a presentation on her interest in Creative Events and helping organise them. She and I had a very different presentation so we had a bit of a struggle when we were conceptualising a starting point.
We began by talking about potentially organising a fairy tale themed event , building a ginger bread house in the forest etc etc.
In the end after we did some scouring for a forest ( as I love forests), we found a beautiful one located in North London at a place called Highgate. I went hunting through Shepard’s Bush charity stores. I found an old burgundy cape and a perfect vintage wedding dress, however both were too expensive for my poor student budget. I did buy a disposable camera because I decided I wanted some ‘grungey’ low quality images. I haven’t managed to get these photos developed yet.
Before we had met up , I spotted this bookshop with original style Alice in Wonderland illustrations , hand drawn. The store was FULL of fairytale stories and was an utterly brilliant start.
RIPPING YARNS <– the website
Highgate forest was gorgeous. Autumn adds that magical sprite feeling that is very ethereal. There were a lot of people in Highgate Park which I didn’t like. The snapshots in the gallery below are some that I took and edited through means of making them look like Film photos. I have a thing for light damage on photos which is why i focused on that heavily. I realised after I edited them that (minus the fake light overexposure) they reminded me of Tim Walker, to which we planned to visit his exhibition. Sophie also did a couple of edits overlaying an image of her running over a picture she took of a Fairy Tale book.
Sophie found this fantastic cemetery in Archway called Highgate Cemetery. It’s actually quite famous and looks very beautiful. We however went too late so we missed it being open. I was MEANT to be getting a burgundy, long sleeve, full length dress from my friend but that fell through too! All in all not as successful as day one. We did get a few shots of the surrounding graveyard and the building.
The final images are quite satisfying and helped us establish some fun experiences and potential for development. I chose to overlay a wolfs face because of the age old Little Red Riding Hood, or Red Riding Hood, or Little Red Cap. The development process is quite clear as the original shoot helped me create an ethereal graveyard shot. The leaves reminded me of birds and i chose white doves simply for aesthetic reasons. The piece started to remind me of those old photographs and tales people wold take and claim were ghosts or the spirit of someone. I love the forest. I feel an affinity. The original was uninteresting and dull so I added focus and interesting colouration.
Now to progress further!
"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me." 