Photography research - Kirsty Williams - Wonderland

All content is Copyright of Kirsty Mitchell Photography. 
"Wonderland" has been been running for over 5 years, and is now in its final stage with its completion planned for October of 2014. It is self funded and created in memory of my mother who died of cancer in 2008 Almost everything within each picture has been either designed or hand made entirely by myself including the costumes props and sets. There are no designers, stylists or wardrobe people involved. The scenes are entirely real - created like mini film sets, and in some cases have taken up to 5 months to make everything for just 1 photograph, and over a year to plan. The characters are not a recreation of anything that already exists; this is my own personal Wonderland, made of hybrids born from the pages of the original book illustrations my mother read to me, mixed up with dreams and the underlying sadness of my adult grief. To see the enormous level of work involved with each shot, as well as their accompanying films please visit my website 'Diary' which shows behind the scenes photos of how each piece came together.
To read about the project in depth please visit this link - http://www.kirstymitchellphotography.com/thestory.php?album=5 
'Wonderland' by Kirsty Mitchell is just perfect for myself to research. The natural elements of the images alongside the beauty fashion story telling narratives are absolutely inspirational to me. The image on the right uses pink Heather plants to surround the model, who is cradling a boat as she has fallen onto the plants. To me this echo's back to Elizabethan times, and an element of a fallen queen, although that is not historically correct. The use of colour to highlight the model but using the same colour has worked wonderfully well and created a stunning image.
(images from kirstymitchell.com)

The next image uses a similar colour palette, all based on purple, blue and lilac tones. The model has beautiful red hair which really stands out against these colours but really contrasts the green in the image and makes us aware of her. She is wearing gloves which are actually painted on and is cradling a book, which looks to me like a very beautifully put together scrap book, and gives off the idea of memories, like it is important to her and contains all the beautiful things in her life. She also has butterflies placed on her which is the only element of the image I dislike as I do think it is slightly predictable and also they look very fake and brings the high quality finish down slightly.

The next image on the left is breathtaking. The colour scheme again is strong and that is what I think works so well with this collection. She can go from one extreme to another through the images but they still work as one as the colour schemes are so well matched throughout each image. The wig this model is wearing is just incredible. I believe it is made from real flowers - bluebells, and this makes me assume it was shot in the spring. The shape of the wig is very powerful, something which could be taken into my project as Titania is the queen in AMSND. She is surrounded by an amazing set of books, and looks on very harshly at the camera as if she is reading to become more informed and intelligent than the image makes her look. Again I am slightly baffled by the make-up, especially the work on the cheeks, as I believe the colour is a little too dark and possibly could of had a slightly better blend if anything, however this docent detract from the beauty of the images themselves.