ELLIE RANDOLPH

        Every October, The Witch is reborn. She is multiple and contradictory; evil, old, ugly, young, sexy, powerful - but does she receive her power from the masculine devil, or is the witch her own agent? I wanted to explore common symbols of “the witch” in order to attribute her magic solely to her own femininity. I also wanted to create playful images that felt magical, psychedelic, and mysterious with compelling female characters who were vaguely threatening to the viewer. I attempted to evoke the image of the witch by dressing the girls in black, grouping them in threes (think the fates or Macbeth), and creating magical environments using fairy lights, lens flares, and “magical objects” including a blow-up crown and some pink kaleidoscope glasses.

        Backlighting and the symbol of the crown suggest a power emanating from the girls, which is visually linked to the historically feminine symbol of the moon and the girlish rainbow crystals. In some images, I photograph from a removed vantage point in order to create a sense that the viewer is spying in on something private or forbidden, and in others, the girls are directly addressing the viewer to create the feeling that they might be subject to the magic (or possibly the wrath) of the witches. I also played with lighting to create dramatic and intimidating shadows and darkened or underexposed some images to enhance the sense of mystery. I distorted some images by popping the crystals out from the kaleidoscope glasses and partially or entirely covering the lens of the camera. I created colorful lighting by shining one or multiple iPhones through the plastic crystal glasses.