Showmar Photography

By:  Paula Showen

I wanted to start this year with a new project and contemplated ideas for several months. I needed something a little different for 2010, something that would hold my interest and be fun for people to view. It was while I was visiting New Orleans that the perfect idea finally came to me. I started collecting masks on my trip, masks of all colors and characteristics. I brought them all home and immediately started selecting models. I am so excited about this project! I've started it and have scheduled several shoots. I anticipate this project taking the entire year, but I am going to make the pictures available as I go. I also want to blog on the project for anyone who is interested in how I decided on the costume and poses. Each model will have their own section and I'll discuss the events of the actual shoot.

A few of the models were taken in 2009. I included them in this project, because of their unique personalities and because they are wearing really cool masks.

THE BRIDE - December 24, 2009

My first model was my daughter. I wanted to make sure to include her and wanted her to be the first model in my slide show. She's wearing the wedding dress from her failed marriage. The mask represents the fact that her former husband didn't know her. He didn't realize that she wasn't going to accept being treated anything less than she deserved. He didn't know that if he continued on the path that he was on, that she would leave him, which she did. Her hands, body position and facial expressions represent her leaving one life and beginning a new one. Their life was a masquerade.

Life for her has changed. She is settled in a new relationship and now has a beautiful baby boy. As we did this shoot, there was a high degree of discomfort that could only be resolved by putting the dress away and abandoning the shoot. There was a heaviness in the air and the shoot lasted all of 15 minutes with only a few shots taken. Honestly, I was the one that became uncomfortable. My daughter would do anything for me and my photography. I felt this was asking a bit much of her.

I now have the dress as a prop. It's a beautiful gown in dire need of cleaning!

MYSTERY WOMAN - 2009

She holds the purple mask, hiding most of her face, exposing only her eyes. The mask reflects in her eyes and the brilliance of the mask itself is intended to signify that she is withdrawn and fades into her quiet sullen place.

I’ve watched her grow from the typical spirited, vivacious child into a poised and quiet young woman. I noticed that she tends to hide her true inner self and feelings, making this an appropriate pose for her.

THE MASK MAKER - 2009

This is a very talented artist who specializes in mask sculpting. His masks sell in local galleries and tend to be on the dark side. He's young and creative. He wants to be a mortician someday.

One day, while working in the gallery, I noticed tattoo markings on his chest. He was wearing a button down shirt with the top buttons open. Only the very tip of the top portion of the tattoo was showing. I asked him what the tattoo was and and told me that it was a symbol of some legendary story that he followed when he was a child. I asked him to show it to me and when I saw it, I referred to it as a pentagram. I scolded him for branding himself with such a symbol and he argued that it was not a satanic symbol at all.

His masks all have a grotesque appearance. They are very dark and (if you ask me), very satanic. I asked if I could photograph him with his masks and bare chest. That was the best way to tell the whole story. I darkened the tattoo to give a sort of a 3-D or textured effect.

I hope to get the mask maker back for additional shoots with some of his newer works.

THE WARE WOLF - January 2010

I was looking at pictures from his Halloween party. There he was, a cat in a tux. I had mistaken his costume for that of a ware wolf. With utter excitement, a vision came into my mind of him sitting in a formal chair with his tuxedo on and a ware wolf mask. I would create a cloudy moonlit night behind him.

I invited him into my studio and created that image. He had brought along his lounging robe for which I had the perfect mask, so the ware wolf became the bird man!

THE ZEBRA - January 2010

This has to be the most fun shoot of all, so far! We laughed so hard at how really ridiculous the model felt and how funny the set-up looked.

I had this idea in my mind for probably a year now. I wanted to do this shoot so badly. The model is an artist and I've practically begged her to create a painting that I can lose some one's face in. Over and over we agreed to do it, but it never happened. So....I went out and purchased fabric and had her come to be the model. I'm hoping that sometime this year, we will actually do a project together that involves her beautiful work!

I asked her daughter to record snippets of this shoot that will be included in the slide show. Hopefully, we captured the comedy and fun.

THE BALLERINA - January 2010

I really don't have any particular reason for this. I just always wanted to shoot a ballerina. I hadn't really considered doing putting a mask on her.

I met this little ballerina when her family came to me to do their family portrait. I was impressed with them and especially her. She had so many interests, including flying. She does almost everything except ballet. Her mom was all into it and they went shopping for the costume and they came to do the shoot. When she walked in with the pink ballet outfit, I selected the biggest mask I owned. I just thought it was a twist to put the largest mask on the smallest model. She pulled it off very well and I was pleased with the results!

LADY'S GOT A GUN - January 2010

This is my friend, Cheryl. She is also a photographer and shoots primarily wildlife. She was telling me a story about being out on a desolate road, just leaving an area where she shoots her tropical birds. She had just put her expensive camera equipment into her car, when she noticed a car with two people had pulled in behind her, blocking her car. She was sure that they were there to rob her of her camera and lens. She managed to escape this traumatic scare, with no harm coming to her or her equipment.

She went home to tell her husband of the event and he told her that he was going to get her a gun and teach her how to use it. Well, that's all I needed to hear and suddenly, I found myself asking her to come pose for me, wearing a mask and holding her gun. When she agreed, I went shopping for the perfect mask for her. I pulled out my grandmother's fur coat and scheduled the shoot.

I was having so much fun with this shoot! Cheryl had me do her hair, we put the makeup on and within 20 minutes, I had tons of really awesome shots! It was hard to select the best, so there are several on my slide show!

 Please check back.  This project will be updated throughout the life of the project.  Click this link to check it out:

LE' MASQUERADE:

 http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/f9lymSGG/1/4509727#imageID=89998980