Photographer: Kirsty Mitchell

Kirsty Mitchell's work is inspiring to me because of the way she has created an imaginary fairytale world in her series Wonderland to overcome a very sad time in her life. She uses handmade props and costumes often inspired by nature to express her visions in the images she produces. Most of her work is initially created in the studio (making costumes, props and planning) and then moved outside into nature for the final result. 

Her work explores the aftermath of her mothers death and is driven by the want of expressing and overcoming the extreme mourning that the passing of her mother did bring. Her mother was an english teacher and so she wanted to produce a body of work which would ensure that her mother was always remembered and celebrated by the people who knew her. Mitchell describes the work as a mix of the memories she had of her mother reading her fairytales as a child. The characters she produces are completely made up and have no written story to them leaving viewers to explore the tale through the images on their own.

Everything that Mitchell's creates comes from her knowledge as a former fashion designer and student, meaning all of her props and costumes are made precisely to scale much like a set of a film. She uses minimal photoshop to finish her photos which makes me feel like they're a lot more realistic and allows you to delve into the realms between fiction and reality. 

I attended The Photography Show 2015 and went to a talk by Kirsty about her work. During the talk she mentioned that she has always been inspired by painters and paintings and they have had somewhat of an influence in her own work. Gustav Klimt and Andy Goldsworthy were the main artists she talked about as well as Early Victorian Photography and paintings of religious icons.

Kirsty has used her artistic skills to represent her mother through the telling of stories, much like her mother did as an English teacher. This has created engaging images and has represented her mother in a subtle way.

'Gaia, The birth of an End' - Based on the Greek Goddess Gaia who was the Goddess of the Earth & great mother of all.

More of the images from this series can be seen here and the story behind the work here.