Women of Folklore: This Could be You

The last installment of this series is meant to bean end point for the series, but also a step for continuation.  The idea that just because you're not fighting in battles, your actions could mark you as a women of legend and lead to change in culture in our future. 

Model: Sarah Butcher

 

By fighting for women's rights, you too can leave a mark on our history and our culture. Perhaps you will be the next woman of folklore.

Feminist Protestor

My model stands in a bra as a stand against the idea that women "ask" to be raped through their clothing.

 

Common quote in protest signage

 

I wrote the sign to be a protest against feminist issues in general (although it is a sign used in many protests). 

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who helped make this project possible.  Without my models, the costume shop, the people who lent me props, as well as the people who helped me make stuff, I would not have been able to do this without you.  You are all awesome people. 

Women of Folklore: Molly Pitcher

This was an interesting one to shoot.  Molly Pitcher was a woman who fought in the in the revolutionary war, taking her husbands place on the battle field after he is injured.  I knew I had to give her some sort of "action," something that would go beyond her just standing holding her cannon puncher.  What would her surroundings be on the battle field?

Model: Sarah

Costume: Costume shop

Canon Puncher: James Chavey

In the battle of Monmouth during the Revolutionary War, Molly Pitcher left her post as a water carrier and took her husband's place on the battlefield after he was wounded by cannon fire.

Molly Pitcher monument

The costume was acquired from the costume shop, and edited to fit the time period, as well as for the conditions (I added some stains and rips to it). The cannon puncher was made from a broom handle, a paper towel role, and a black t-shirt.

Molly Pitcher, Unknown artist

My favorite part about this shoot was the cannon smoke!  The smoke was made from throwing baby powder and the use of a remote trigger.

Thank you so much for your help Sarah.  You were quite the trooper!

Women of Folklore: Joan of Arc

This was one of the hardest shoots of the entire series.  The chain mail was done by hand, the armor is knee pads and ankle pads spray painted silver, and the cross was acquired last minute from the antique store next door.  I'm happy that the costume pulled together at the end.

Model: Sam

Costume: Lexie Bragg

With the guiding voices of Saints, Joan of Arc won many battles for France to drive out the English.  After being captured, she was convicted by the church for heresy and witchcraft, and burned at the stake. She was later found innocent and declared a saint.

Finding costuming for this was very difficult.  There were a lot of variations of her armor, and not very much standardization.  I decided to do what would be easiest, and luckily, the costume shop had chain mail!  The sword was stolen from a friend.  

I wanted to show the "holiness" associated with Joan of arc.  I added the back lighting to give her a halo, and a more modern play on the gold circle around the head.  She is holds a cross in one hand and her sword in the other to show the importance of religion and the sword in her fight.

I want to give a big thanks to the costume shop for letting me borrow the chain mail.  I would have been so lost without you!

Women of Folklore: Mulan

In my original plan for this series, every tale came from a different country.  In the revamp, my stories became less diverse.  This is why I sought out to do Mulan (which was not in my first revamp plan).  I wanted to show the growth of feminism around the world, and how other countries reacted towards the growth in power of women.

Model: Anna Nguyen

Costume: Rebecca Jones

Taking her father's place in the war against the Huns, Mulan returned

home to question her identity in her traditional Chinese culture.

Hua Mulan

I chose to mimic this traditional style image of Mulan for my own series.  In the poem, it discusses how she puts the powder on her face to return to her position as a woman.  She holds the sword in one hand and the powder in the other as sign of the pull she feels between the freedom of being a man and the tradition of being a woman.  Described as two hares, the steps of the male rabbit sharp and sure, and the steps of the female hare twisted and muddled. 

Modern Hanfu

I was lucky enough to have a friend lend me a Japanese Kimono and sword. Even though the dress was technically not from the right country, I knew I was super lucky to have such an amazing dress.  I attempted to style it in a way that mimicked a modern Hanfu by draping the gown straight down instead of crossing it at the middle as is done with Kimonos.  

I want thank Anna and Rebecca for helping me do this shoot.  I would not have been able to pull off such an amazing photo without your help!

Women of Folklore: Blenda

Blenda's story is one of my favorites.  It is said to be the first example of equality between men and women-the beginning of feminism.

Model: Lucy Hodkiewicz

MUA/Costume design: Lexie Bragg

Sword: Dillon Moran

 

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While the men were away at war, Blenda led the town women to victory against the invading Danish army through cunning and creative tactics.

Blenda and the towns women approached the Danish army on the field of battle and thanked them for being their saviors, and saving them from the men of their own village.  They invited the Danish  to a feast to celebrate their emancipation.   The women fed the army and got them drunk on wine. Once the entire army was in a drunken stupor-the women killed them all. 

The men of the village were so proud of the women, they granted them the honor of wearing belts: a symbol of protectors of the village, as well as equal inheritance.

Selfie by Lucy

 I bought the dress from St. Vinnies and sewed on the trim and added the lacing.  The fur is from the costume shop, and the pin is a traditional Norse "tree of life" symbol, stolen from James and creatively attached with thread.

 

Memorial statue, Sweden

I had a hard time finding what a noble women would have worn for this time period.  Most depictions of Blenda had her in armor or chain male, but if she was out to trick the Danish army, why would she give away their plan by dressing for battle?  

Beowulf, a Canadian production

Beowulf and Grendel,  2005

I took my costuming ideas from Beowulf, a fantastical Norse myth that took places in the same time period. I chose this as my inspiration as I thought the cut, detailing, and accessories would be more accurate for a women of noble birth versus the peasant dresses I had been finding.  Obviously Beowulf is a popular story!

I'm really proud of how this shoot turned out.  The costuming is accurate, and I love the sword (which some might say isn't accurate, but it is very similar to the sword seen in the memorial statue; and I'm assuming that they wouldn't "wing it" with a memorial)!

A big thank you to Lucy for helping me with this project, you were the one I really wanted!

Women of Folkore: Antigone

Although Antigone is second in the series, she was actually my first shoot.  I started with Antigone for one simple reason: her dress is a curtain and it was easiest to make.  

Model: Lavender Marie

HMUA: Alicia Marie

Costume: Lexie Bragg

Antigone chose to follow the laws of the Gods over that of men, and was condemned to death for her treason.  In one final act of defiance, she took her own life instead of the long painful death to which she was sentenced.

Antigone holds a shovel and a pitcher-the shovel to be used to dig a grave for her deceased brother, and the pitcher to be used in the sacred last rights as required by the gods.  Lastly she wears a belt-one she will use to help forge her own fate. 

 

Antigone Dancing Maenad, Callimachus

A lot of research was done to get Antigone's dress right.  Her dress is a doric chiton-a fashion statement that I actually really like!  Her hair was also styled in a tradition curled up do.

 

 Madonna de los Palafreneros, Caravaggio

For this series I decided to use chiaroscuro, or intense light and darks; as often used by Caravaggio.   I have long loved the lighting used in Caravaggio's work, but was also inspired by his use of biblical stories placed in contemporary settings.  His goal was to bring biblical stories back to life by making them more relatable with simple background, contemporary dress, and to remind those of their importance with dramatic lighting.


I want to thank my model and makeup artist.  You guys were totally awesome to work with.  Thank you so much for the opportunity!

Women of Folklore: Lilith

This past fall I took my Capstone: a class designed to help you develop a body of work meant to help propel you into the life of an artist once you graduate.  I wanted to create a series that examined the cultural expectations of women and how they changed over time.  The series goes in chronological order, starting before the recording of time and ending in the contemporary.  

I want to thank Katherine for being totally awesome and brave for modeling for me.  The series would not have been lost without you.   And thank you to James Chavey, for helping me steal dirt for this shoot.

My series began with Lilith:

Lilith, the first wife of Adam, was created from the same earth by God.  Refusing to be subservient, Lilith was exiled from the Garden of Eden and damned to hell, becoming the first Demon.

In my version of Lilith, Lilith holds a pomegranate- supposedly the original fruit of sin.  She stands atop a mound of a dirt, symbolizing the earth that she was made from.

Lilith, John Colier

I chose Lilith because of how strength I found in her story: She refused to be subservient, and was therefore damned to hell.  It shows the horror that women have faced, in some countries still face today.

When Katherine volunteered to model for me, I could not believe how lucky I was; look at her hair!!  Her hair is nearly to the floor, what more could I have asked for?  She was amazing to work with, and I could not have asked for a better shoot (or afternoon!)

Here are some outtakes from our shoot, because how could I pass up this opportunity!