Monthly Archives: July 2014

fairytales 3 // Lethe

Part III of the Fairytales project was created during the same photoshoot as part I, the one with Persephone, at the same location and using almost the same props – we just added different accessories, removed the black body and interpreted differently the fabric’s characteristics. For this one we inspired ourselves at first from the legends of the beautiful mermaids, partly human, partly fish, however I’m a bit unsure on how to name this story.

lethe, greek legends,

The thing is that this location with its dark red rocks, being the same as in Fairytales 1, makes me think of Hades’ underworld, the one from the Greek mythology, and not of a siren’s story. So I thought a nymph would be a better fit, therefore I looked up some descriptions and found Lethe, the spirit of the river with the same name, one of the 5 circling Hades and thought it’s a good fit.

So meet Lethe, the spirit of forgetfulness, oblivion. It is said that the souls had to drink from Lethe’s river to forget their past lives.

mermaid legend, greek mythology, lethe mermaid legend, greek mythology, lethe

Anyway, I am open to suggestions in regards to the name and character of this Fairytale. If you know any nice mermaid tale, let me know and I will consider it!

mermaid legend, greek mythology, lethe mermaid legend, greek mythology, lethe

Model: Maria Avila

MUA: Gloria del Hoyo

Assistant: Andra Oana J.

<3

fairytales, tyene, game of thrones

fairytales 2 // Tyene

Here goes part II of my Fairytales photo project, trying to illustrate one of the characters from the ultra-popular Game of Thrones series. Now, let’s make this clear from the start: I didn’t read a single line from the books (although I intend to finish them until the end of this year, let’s see how that goes), I have only seen all the seasons (and lived every scene with my eyes stuck to the screen or just shouting and swearing each time a dear character died – which could easily mean a few times per episode).

And I made this clear because Fairytales II illustrates Tyene Sand, one of Oberyn’s daughters from Dorne (which by the way, did you already know it was going to be filmed in the Real Alcazar of Sevilla? HOW AWESOME IS THAT? Haha, I have visited Dorne before it was cool!).

fairytales, tyene, game of thrones       fairytales, tyene, game of thrones

So, the thing is that I saw Zeynep’s photos in my news feed and wanted so badly to photograph her. Tried my luck, wrote her, accepted and just 2 days before her flight back home we were rushing through Sevilla’s heat to find a shadowed place for a few beauty test shots. Due to the lack of time to think about a nice story for the photoshoot I resigned with the idea that I’ll capture just simple portraits of Zeynep. However, I brought some of the recently bought fabrics, just in case. Gloria, the MUA, saw the dark burgundy colour of the fabric and thought of a gold make-up to go with it.

From then on, we started to improvise. We improvised on the spot a dress from the fabric (and had to compose two images in post-processing to have it look so long and flowing, as it wasn’t long enough for the model’s height) and a forehead accessory from Zeynep’s necklace.

And after the very first captures, while reviewing them on my camera, I couldn’t stop noticing a little Game of Thrones feeling, maybe due to the overall colours, or the background, or the model… What’s for sure is that I knew this photoshoot will transform into the second part of my project and that it’s going to picture a character from Game of Thrones.

fairytales, tyene, game of thrones            fairytales, tyene, game of thrones

But what character? I knew I wanted her to be from Dorne, because I imagine the place pretty much with those golden colours, with an exotic feeling, just like Sevilla is. And what other better reason than the fact that Sevilla’s Alcazar will be it’s setting?

So I had to do a bit of research and what caught my eye was the character of Tyene Sand, from Sunspear (capital of Dorne), who is described as looking sweet and innocent but is powerful and treacherous. And Zeynep is just so beautiful and can easily go from a range of expressions, from innocence to pride, from fragility to boldness.

fairytales, tyene, game of thrones            fairytales, tyene, game of thrones

Yup, I think she would be a great fit for this character. I would love to see her act in the series, as she is also an upcoming actress and I’m sure she’d do a great job.

If you already read the books and know more of this character, I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

fairytales, tyene, game of thrones            fairytales, tyene, game of thrones

Model: Zeynep Tugce Bayat

MUA: Gloria del Hoyo

Assistant: Andra Oana

<3

fairytales 1 // river of wailing

Here goes part 1 of my Fairytales photo project that I have just announced in my last blog post. I’m super excited with this experiment and already have tons of ideas that I can’t wait to turn them into something real. I’m so glad I decided to start this series and also make it public, focusing on something specific actually keeps me thinking all the time to themes or elements to be incorporated into these photoshoots more than before.

First part of the series is called River of Wailing and portrays the greek goddess Persephone. It all began with another image taken back in October 2013, that I chose to illustrate the legend of the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades for a project at University. When I told the professor my idea and showed him the photo, he told me that my image was more of a ‘before kidnapping’ illustration and that I needed another one, of the ‘after’, the transformation. Oh, well. So I had to chanel my thoughts into this direction and had plenty of other ideas, but all of them different of the final outcome.

In the meanwhile I had planned a photoshoot at an amazing location, a deserted mine with red land and waters, all looking like martian terrain. I didn’t have any specific idea or clothing or details. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to have a photoshoot there. Then I went to a fabric store and, luckily, they had great discounts and so I bought some amazing fabrics for just 0,99€ (not to mention that I returned the next day and bought some more, just to have them for future experiments). The model, Maria, is also a clothes designer and she had this beautiful black body wear designed by herself, which she brought at the photoshoot. And from then on we started to build the idea of the photoshoot, but everything felt into place just when we arrived at the location and started shooting. When I’ve seen the amazing landscape, I knew it was fit for the Persephone idea.

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Then there was this red river, from which I inspired myself for the title of the series. The River of Wailing is one of the 5 rivers encircling the world of greek god Hades, the Underworld. Long story short, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and harvest goddess Demeter – from which we got inspiration for the accessories, a bracelet and a hair tiara with vegetation details, thanks to MUA Gloria for them, and the black body that also has some similar details -. Hades sees her, fells in love with her, kidnaps her and takes her to the Underworld. Then, she’ll be obliged to spend a part of the year with Hades in the Underworld and the other part with her mother.

The photos illustrate Persephone at the conjunction of the two worlds, the one from the surface and the one below, represented by the sky and the trees in the distance respectively the arid land with the red river.

I hope you like the images as much as I do 🙂 Enjoy!

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Model: Maria Avila

MUA: Gloria del Hoyo

Assistant: Andra Oana J.