Adaptation Series

Almost two decades ago, when learning photography the aspect that really first clicked in my brain was the ability to be in studio and control my setting. I thrived at being able to recreate lighting and composition based on looking at a visual. Adaptations were always something I was keen on. When the pandemic hit more than a decade later, I found myself a covid long-hauler sick in the first wave. I was locked in alone in an one bedroom apartment for 90 days.

As the illness lifted, I birthed the idea of one adaptation a day. It was something that could give me a comfort, a schedule, and I could take the whole day to do it if my body wasn’t keeping up. I was locked in with my strobe lighting kit, 1 soft box, two reflective umbrellas, my DSLR, and a few backdrops. Everything used was found in the apartment. All of these images I photographed by myself and of myself using a timer. My mornings began with laying out the costume for the day. Then teaching a two courses on zoom, then tackling where was the best spot in the apartment to pull off the recreation. Then came the lighting set up, and timing it with the daylight or constructing a lighting scheme with the strobes. The series required about 90 minutes of test shots to land the framing and lighting to match exactly. I did this prior to hair and make up. Once the shot was locked, then I’d get into hair and make up and let the magic happen.

This process over those 90 days became ritual for me. It became my schedule. It created order during a moment of chaos when I was healthy enough to not be bed ridden but not healthy enough to go on a walk. I let my creativity guide me.

Over time, I made this project a bit more interactive. I began calling upon my instagram followers in the morning to vote between two photos. I used a poll, and based on the poll results by noon it navigated which image I shot that day. This series was a fun exploration of honing technique while passing days of loneliness.