I am taking part in a project called "hello, tinytoadstool", initiated by the wonderful shan shan. She sent one of her adorable berets to travel around the world, stopping with different girls in different countries, each taking three pictures with the beret and then sending it on to the next person.
Below is my inspiration/mood board for the project; I like compiling a reference file even if only a few things flow into the photographs in the end. In fact, it's one of my favourite things to do!
Coming home to a mailbox filled with a parcel is always nice, even more so if the contents were so eagerly anticipated and when you can see that the person sending it has taken great care with its preparation.
The first picture was to be a portrait from the waist up. I looked to old portrait paintings for my inspiration, particularly from the Elizabethan period. And, on an impulse, I decided to pay a tongue-in-cheek tribute to one of my heroines, Elizabeth I. So, I doned my replica coronation costume - thanks Mom for lacing the corset! - grabed some ersatz regalia and topped it with the beret.
Costume: custom-made by Reine des Centfeuilles
Well, this one isn't strictly speaking a portrait from the torso up but I really like how it turned out, so I thought I'd share it anyway.
The second photo had to be taken in front of a symbol of one's town or country. I moved back to my hometown before the beret got to me, so instead of Zurich's Grossmünster it's the Munot fortress. The dust of hundreds of years might have settled on it but it has lost none of its imposing grandeur. And the view over the Rhine is simply fantastic!
Dress - Vogue Pattern 8184, sewn by myself
Shoes - New Look
On the last picture, we had free reign to do what we wanted. The idea of doing a interpretation of the three wise monkeys - who allegorize the proverbial principal to "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" - has been floating in my mind for a while and I finally put it into practice for this project. Granted, strictly speaking it's three photos but it really is more like a triptych - well, to me anyway.
Iwazaru - who speaks no evil
Dress - Vintage, from Clever Nettle at etsy
Shoes - Tsumori Chisato
Ring - Bought in Sri Lanka
Mizaru - who sees no evil
Dress - Sophia Kokosalaki pour La Redoute
Shoes - Christian Louboutin for RM by Roland Mouret
Necklace - Vintage
Ring - Bought in Sri Lanka
Kikazaru - who hears no evil
Shirt - La Redoute
Shorts - Topshop
Shoes - Topshop
Tights - Wolford
The tree photographs in triptych form:
Thank you shan shan for coming up with this wonderful project and for having me take part in it!
