Miranda by Candle Light (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

6x7 cm film

Later the same night, I found myself with twenty free minutes, several unexposed frames of high-speed film, and an enthusiastic model, Miranda. While waiting for friends to converge on the house, in advance of a social outing, we made a small series of images, Miranda's first with candles. The first photo was pretty traditional, but still an approach I enjoy taking; the frontal portrait with a candle has a classic quality which I return to again and again. In fact I think I have done with pose with every model who's done candle nudes, though few are as successful as this one - the 3200 speed film allowed for a shorter exposure then I usually use, which in turn provided a less motion-blurred result.

6x7 cm film

The second (and more interesting) image was more of a whimsical experiment, then a serious image; I framed Miranda's body and the candle against the deck-doors, which were splattered with raindrops shimmering with the light from the road beyond. I was a little doubtful that such an image would work, as it looked a little cluttered through the viewfinder, but as soon as a saw the negative in the darkroom, I knew it was surprisingly successful. On some levels, I think it has origins in my Simulacra imagery, but at the same time, it has other, less clear referents, and is very provocative. I suspect that this image is only the first of more, though how the descendants will manifest themselves, I have no idea.