The final image I’m presenting here, is the last one I completed, but the penultimate of the set. I got together the outfit and props for the tenth image, but time ran out and I did not get to rearrange the last shoot. It was difficult to get the studio booked and gather together my team. And once I had my solo exhibition of the work, the momentum disappeared. I still have a wig and feather fans for the final image, and maybe, one day, I will create it.
I’m peeling the back from a Polaroid here and you can see it in my hand in the documentation of the shoot. Between these and the Polaroids it’s possible to get a sense of how this, and all the other shoots unfold. It is a process of working out the lighting while I also step into character. I start in my own comfy clothes and no make up and transition over time. It is remarkable to see the difference the tights (pantyhose) make to my legs.
The costume I created myself, by buying a cheap dress from Walmart, a child’s tutu and some fake flowers. I cut up, hot glued and stapled the lot together to resemble the original dress, and not quite getting it right. It feels like another successful image though, as the careful viewer will see the hot glue glamour, the DIY aesthetic which works against the grain of the lighting which gives a kind of polish.
Zoë Mozert Appreciation Society 