Doing this project with Anastasia was a natural choice for me. I have always been body positive and getting my photography taken is a lovely thing. I am ,occasionally, the photographer rather than the photographed. I think there’s a kind of care or sense of strategy to evoke the personality in the subject's expression in the image. I think she does that for me, here.
The photos act as moments for my in-person experience of Anastasia. She related to me in a way that felt familiar and respectful.
This project became more than I thought. Art changes with its surrounding context. The world recently shifted after the global pandemic.
Writing a aStatement for a photoshoot that happened in February of 2020 two months later, I cannot help but feel an unusual amount of nostalgia. Meeting a stranger, sharing space with her-- I put on gloves and a mask to go to the grocery store.
That day, we talked about plants. We talked about my recent break-up, my new crush, the nuances of relationship and the energy that comes from caring about someone else, and the risks we take to find connection.
Not a mirror-- with photography, it’s like archaeology-- a mummification of that moment of that person--
I think about appearance a lot, especially hairstyle. I want to shout out to my favorite hairstylist, moon.mops who gave me this mullet.
Even though I am nude, I am still wearing this haircut, like embodied armor. I looked at these photos and felt grateful that this is how I want to remember myself and tell others about me who might never have gotten to know me.