Liquid Gold
When Anna told me she wanted to shave her head, one of the first things I told her was that I HAVE to do a photo shoot with her. She was immediately on board, even though the last two times I photographed her I wrapped her head in yarn and covered her face in burlap.
A couple weeks went by, and the moment everyone was excited for arrived. She shaved her head.
It was as beautiful as I thought it would be! At this point I knew I wanted to pour something onto her head for our photoshoot but I wasn't exactly sure what that liquid would be. Something dark and strange. Eventually the ideas started coming together and I decided black crude oil being poured onto her head, in the desert, in an old tub, was the way to go.
Of course, I wasn't going to pour actual oil onto her head. So I did a lot of research on black liquids I could use that wouldn't be harmful or stain her skin. I decided the best solution was to mix corn syrup and black cocoa powder. The final result was very sticky and tasted pretty awful, but looked exactly like I wanted.
Next, I needed to find a tub. My friend and fellow photographer, Kayla Marr, reached out to another friend of ours Marc Harvey. We knew he had the perfect tub and to our delight was more than willing to let us use it. The tub was loaded up and taken to our shooting location where, Anna, Kayla and myself had to unload it from the truck by ourselves. Cast iron tubs are normally between 200 and 400lbs. I'm not entirely sure how much this one weighed but it was incredibly heavy and difficult to move. But we did it!
We positioned the tub, set up the lights, and took some practice shots before doing the real thing.
I have to say, Anna was a trooper (as always) that day. It was freezing, the black goo was everywhere, very sticky, and seemed to be attracting mosquitoes. It was not an easy shoot to model for. But for the sake of art she powered through it. And of course Kayla was also a huge help with her assistance in the entire shoot. I can't wait to see what our next adventures will be!
