Angels and Insects

Words/Photography - Sarra Fleur Abou-El-Haj

I always like to play with the notion of layering in images; whether that be in the image, on the model or on the actual prints.  Here we began with some natural elements we could put on the face and nails.  We bought feathers, dragonflies, butterflies, flowers and asked a local florist to collect large thorns for us.  It was a day to experiment and we tried lots of varieties.  Some worked, some didn't.  Flowers and butterflies automatically give the impression of romantic beauty and I didn't want that.  I wanted a more bazaar, animal-like feeling.  Our model, Irina, was a great sport through it all.  I cast her for her doe-like look and all those gorgeous freckles.  But her fantastic personality and creativity made shooting her such a pleasure.  At the same time, I shot some of the elements by themselves because I knew I wanted to add a three dimensional element to some of the prints creating a layer on top of a layer...