It seems I am posting a lot of causal looking images lately on my Mystic Bliss and personal social media pages.
This is because of the “where are they now?” series I was inspired to capture. It was inspired by the people who are interested in Mystic Bliss Empowerment Cards. It never fails, it seems, that someone viewing my cards for the first time asks me about the models or how something was taken and how the session came to be. They are often surprised that most of the work in the costumes and makeup I did myself and even more surprised to know that everyone in the series is a friend or related to me or at the very least a strong acquaintance and not hired pros.
Then there is the fact that each session I have done over the years for Mystic has been more than a simple shoot. Every one of the sessions was inspired in some way by the person chosen to model for me. There is a story in each and people love to hear them. To my surprise they REALLY love to hear them. This is why I have selected to revisit each card and showcase the fact that so much time and work has gone into the series by having the original model for the cards be the props for them. All they have to do is hold the card lol.
The time factor is very evident especially in the cards featuring younger models. They are now grown up. It is less evident in the more recent images captured specifically for Mystic Bliss Empowerment Deck once I knew fully the potential my Mystic series images held to become a deck.
Seen here is my son, who was a very accommodating eight year old when I got him to sit on snow for me while wearing tights (oh boy am I ever gonna hear about that one for a while lol). To this day he will lament the amount of times he had to wash his hair to get all the white paint out even thought it was water based… who knew red hair was so porous? It should be noted that neither Joe or his older sister are easy to get photographs of anymore. It is my firm belief that kids who grow up in a house with a photographer end up hating, or at least barely tolerating, having their pictures taken… but who can blame them? I know I can be snap happy at times.
I am not exactly sure what I will do with all the images in the “Where are they now” series when it is complete but i do know that I am having fun writing about them and catching up with some of my models. Just this morning I shipped out 12 sample cards to 10 models (2 posed for 2 cards) so they can capture their images and post them for me. In some cases I had not spoken to or seen these people is a couple of years for various reasons and yet they LOVED knowing they could help out when I asked. Friendships were formed during these shoots that can not be broken easily by time. People have moved or already lived in places like Europe where I captured their sessions but I will still get them recorded thanks to the postal system. This excites me!
To get a few other captures, I am getting to have coffee or lunch with a few people this week. Already this series has served as a very viable excuse to reconnect with special people as in the chance I had to hang out with my very busy niece Amy. Many people say she reminds them of me in many ways. I consider that a compliment since this young lady is incredibly gracious and talented.
Other past models I get to hang out with soon include one local media celebrity and one young lady who now has a child of her own I will get to meet. She was but a small child herself when I photographed her as a tree faerie. So small in fact she was actually able to sit inside a hole in an old willow for m. This image was selected for the I am Knowledge card… and what a fun story around that tree and the choice of card for her!
No one can convince me that these cards are not being guided in some way by benevolent forces. As I reflect on these images and how some came to be, and even the way I was inspired as I went along, I am reminded of the guidance and whispers I am sharing through the cards and guidebook.
Once I have compiled the whole series I may expand on the writing to assemble The Making of Mystic Bliss. It seems the natural progression. I only wish I could visit with Ron and Maggie for this series. Both of these dear souls left us way too soon. I am just glad they got to be a part of this project with me before they left this story.