And I keep going—over the 2 years of the course. I alternate between shoots and processing and printing the images. Here’s another selection from my first semester using the digital back of the Mamiya camera. I was learning how to get my look right, how to copy a pose, as well as the lighting. As I styled myself, I learned about vintage make up, about hair styling, how hair was washed less frequently and could hold styles better. I was finding out about life in the 1930s online.


I was learning about how to style a costume by getting it wrong, like let the dress hang or iron it to release the wrinkles and pull my own underwear up so it could not be seen (or wear nude colours!). And a pose may be awkward, but I still need exude both charm and the expression of the woman I am recreating.

