Work Before The Shoot

Why does it take so long??

Gathering of props for my next photo shoot. Strange collection!

My dementia project has been slowly growing since October, 2022. I get most of my ideas from caretaker stories with great visual cues of dementia, or from my own experience taking care of Mom back in 2014. Please share a story you have via email CindyHansenPhotography@gmail.com or in the comments below.

LATEST STORY TO INSPIRE ME: Susan has a friend who is a well-known local artist receiving care in a memory care facility. He no longer remembers his artwork or his career, but he finds special joy on days when he doing simple drawing or painting.

THE IDEA I GOT: What if…the old master artists lived now and ended up with dementia, housed in a memory care facility. What would that look like? What would particular artists find joy in that hints at their former efforts? Can I portray them and people will know who they are by what simple arts and crafts they’re currently making? Are their distinctive clothes a helpful hint to their identity?

FIVE ARTISTS I THOUGHT OF:

• Georgia O’Keeffe in her scarf and black blazer with southwest jewelry, gluing macaroni on paper in the shape of a skull, and coloring her signature layers of pink, green, blue and yellow colors with crayons.

• Frank Lloyd Wright in his porkpie hat and suit, gluing popsicle sticks together into a house.

• Michelangelo in a puffy peasant shirt from the 1500’s (like in Bruegel’s Wedding Dance painting) with a child’s tray of watercolors, holding a paintbrush and staring at the ceiling.

• Andy Warhol in a fright wig and black turtleneck, eating tomato soup, a banana next to the bowl.

• Jackson Pollock (balding friend as model) in a dark t-shirt and pants, squirting catsup and mustard all over the table and floor.

Those last two involve eating instead of crafting but viewers would know who they are by the visual cues. I may make a diptych and have them eating together at their own table.

PROPS I HAVE GATHERED:

• Card table is a friend’s grandmother’s table, sturdy wood.

• 36” x 36” white melamine board to act as table top over card table, cut by a friend at a cabinet shop. Color might be changed in Photoshop.

• Black blazer from Goodwill, blouse from my closet, southwestern bolo tie inherited from my dad, and a white scarf from Etsy.

• Fright wig from Amazon, black turtleneck from my closet, red bowl & spoon from my kitchen. Banana from the grocery store. Will need to buy another one by the time I get around to shooting this thing!

• Glue and popsicle sticks from Michael’s craft store.

• Elbow macaroni from the grocery store.

• Construction paper and crayons from the basement playroom.

• Wool porkpie/planter hat from the Oriental Trading Company.

• Watercolor set from Amazon.

• Mustard and Catsup squeeze bottle set from Ace Hardware.

• Puffy shirt (not shown above) from my husband’s closet.

PROPS I STILL NEED:

• Stackable chairs with hard plastic seating, and metal frame. (bright color)

• Suit for Frank (better yet…a clean shaven man with thick, white, curly hair who owns a suit to model in the shot).

I need a high ceiling so that I can shoot the table activity from above. This may require the shoot to be in the garage where there are only rafters and no ceiling, and ladders. The garage is unheated and the current temps are subzero. It may take a while before I can set up a shooting day. This also will require coordinating schedules with the models.

Patience is a virtue, I hear.