Girl with a Tattoo

This piece is yet another in my "Visions" project: an ongoing exploration of fantasy; pre-Raphaelite; and Victorian classicism inspired images.

This particular image is of Maura, a talented costumer who is collaborating with me on this project. In exchange for her costuming work for me--I photograph her, in her many fabulous costumes. (Frankly--I think I'm the one who's got the best end of the deal! )

Maura has many talents--but one of them is "draping". That girl can taken ANY piece of fabric--and drape it around someone so that it looks unbelievably good. (See this Edwardian gown? It's three pieces of silk, dyed by Maura, and about two minutes of Maura's magic draping!)

While dressing for a shoot of her as Belldandy, I suggested she drape herself--and offered up that wonderful silky fabric (eventually to be used in a gown made so that I can reproduce Waterhouse's "Circe Invidiosa")--and she draped.

As she was leaning over, I noticed how pretty her back was--and chose to shoot her like this.

The backdrop you're looking at was one of my own "digital" backdrops--painted by me, in Corel Painter. The original photo [link] shows her standing in a sea of bags and fabric, with bright mirrors behind her, since this was shot in my tiny livingroom!

Oh...and for those of you who are wondering what the tattoo is of...it's a moon...and a bat. Maura and I both love bats--not because they're creepy--but because they are gentle little creatures who are incredibly beneficial to our ecology--and who are much misunderstood. (To learn more--check out Bat Conservation International! )