"Dainty little maiden, whither would you wander?
Whither from this pretty home, the home where mother dwells?
"Far and far away," said the dainty little maiden,
'All among the gardens, auriculas, anemones,
Roses and lilies and Canterbury-bells.'"
- Alfred Lord Tennyson, The City Child (1st Stanza)
For nearly a decade and a half now, I have photographed what I've called fine art photography - highly stylized sessions that include aspects of mythology, fairytales, and high fantasy. From Vikings to Sirens, Ghosts to Goddesses, I discovered a passion in bringing the fairytales and stories we learn from childhood, to life through imagery.
This year, I'm bringing those stories to life in a way that is accessible to everyone. Offering fairytale photography sessions has been a long held dream of mine, but one that can be a hard sell. Now with a growing interest in cottagecore, hobbitcore, and Ren Faires - reaching out to the fellow fantasy lovers, the Dungeons and Dragons nerds like me, and the folks who just love costumery for no reason than dressing up should be something we do just for fun - has never been easier. From concept to styling, and custom storyboarding the entire session - I want to make fairytales and fantasy available to everyone.
Bella was an incredible subject to work with - with her background in cosplay and (comic)cons, as well as dancing, she jumped right into the fantasy realm of a cottage maiden wandering through nature, looking for a quiet spot to read her poems. Working in a small park in central Connecticut we found fields of hard sunlight, pockets of beautiful sun flares, and some soft evening light as the sun faded behind the tree line so that we could tell a full story through her photos. Take a look at more of Bella's fine art cottage photography session below:
