Witchcraft in Photography
~ Note from the artist ~
I’m an Asperger Autistic artist and I have prosopagnosia – which means I’m face blind. That is why I see things differently than most other people. For me, everything is a bit blurry, distorted and idiosyncratic. When I started with photography, standard lenses felt wrong because every picture was boring, sharp and clean. That’s why I started to build my own handmade lenses (e.g. out of toy kaleidoscopes) and using prisms, pieces of scratched plastic, fluid colors, handmade tools that create reflections and mirroring, etc. I’ve used my handmade tools from the beginning to create a surreal look on my photos. 12 years ago, I finally found my life changers— the Lensbaby Muse. This was followed by the Composer with the optic kit. I’ve combined the Muse and Composer with my handmade tools and finally everything felt right in my photography. Many more Lensbabies have followed... Since the OMNI system, I don’t need my old handmade tools any more – although I still have them.
Although I almost never dress up for Halloween myself, I absolutely love this time of the year. The days are getting darker, the colors outside are moody & dull, and for me it is the best time to walk through beautiful, dark forests.
Edge 35 ISO 200 1/20th
During October and on Halloween, forests remind me of witches, witchcraft, and their bond to the nature surrounding them. And in this year, I wanted to take pictures of my vision for what is going on out there in a forest near my home, on Halloween.
Edge 35 (ISO 200 1/20th)
"...she is floating, leaving her body.... transforming the reality around her."
In my view, my model Luca reflects this natural, earthbound look of witches so she was a perfect model for an enchanted Witchcraft shooting. What would a photoshoot be without my Lensbaby?! This lens created a surreal look without using too much makeup and standard Halloween costumes.
OMNI Seahorse Crystal (ISO 125 f2.8 1/25th)
OMNI Seahorse Crystal (ISO 160 f2.8 1/20th)
Here, I’ve used the Edge 35 to add blurriness and create spooky images. With help of the OMNI Seahorse, Stretch Glass, Rainbow Filter and Color Prism, I was able to create a witchy mood around my model. It’s like witchcraft… pictures that look like she is floating, leaving her body, or transforming the reality around her.
OMNI Seahorse Crystal (ISO 125 f2.8 1/20th)
Simone Gernhardt
Simone is a photographer and makeup artist from Germany. She specializes in portrait, fashion, beauty, and experimental photography. 15 years ago she became a photographer, using experimental tools and prisms from the beginning. Her main focus is to create pictures of how she sees the world and people around her, in her own way. She discovered Lensbaby 12 years ago, what finally gave her the chance to create these kind of pictures and uses Lensbaby lenses, optics and the OMNI System for every shooting.
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