When Fairytales Come To Life

Today I want to introduce four of my favourite female portrait photographers' which I have long admired: Kirsty Mitchell, Alexia Sinclair, Miss Aneila and Kareva Margarita. I'm not sure how to describe their work, I'm not sure even they do! It's a great weave of surreal narrative and make-believe that speaks of fairy tales and legend, the result goes leagues beyond typical fashion photography, into realm of something that cares a great deal more about the story. It certainly appeals to my theatrical mind (indeed Kirsty Mitchell also studied costume design). I love the way the props and costumes inform the storytelling, they are beautiful pieces of fine art which are shot in whimsical sets that oozes pure fantasy, then digitally manipulated afterwards.

Kirsty Mitchell, who lost her mother to brain cancer and then was driven to create the most breath-taking fantasy land photo series in her mother's memory. The "Wonderland" series has been three years in the making. All costumes, wigs and sets were constructed on a shoestring budget. Some images took up to five months to create. She would often wait an entire year to find the perfect natural setting for her shots. The resulting images looked so hyper-real that it was assumed that they were created in Photoshop...they were not.

Alexia Sinclair is best known for her intense colour photographs portraying historical and allegorical figures. Her elaborate compositions take on the complexities of history painting by depicting a moment in a narrative story. The abundant detail and symbolism in her work are devices that allow her to tell complex stories. Her pictures combine the elegant finesse of contemporary fashion design with the sumptuous aesthetics of the Golden Age of painting.

The Golden Age, 2016 and The Cabinets of Curiosity, 2013

For those not up to date on their old English! The gloaming is that time of day where the soft glow of dusk envelopes your soul. Where the nocturnal gatekeepers take control and anything seems possible. You can (at least Alexia Sinclair does) imagine secret doorways in the trunks of trees or toadstools the size of houses. "It's easy to understand why it's commonly known as the magic hour, anything seems possible and that's where we begin".

Into the Gloaming (2015)

Natalie Dybisz a.k.a Miss Aniela is a UK-based photographer team, globally producing and shooting art, advertising, and #SurrealFashion.

Mixing fine art and fashion, Miss Aniela creates a fine balance of contemporary creativity. Her work centres on a fusion of traditional imagery and digitally enhanced motifs, interweaving in a surreal composition.

Through ten years Miss Aniela has evolved her passion for surrealism in the collection ‘Surreal Fashion’, where she photographs contemporary models with a reference to Renaissance and Dutch masters, shooting in stately home settings across Europe and USA.

Larger-than-life characters dominate a dreamlike tableaux of chandeliers, taxidermy and four-poster beds; motifs for a utopic world of the past that we long to inhabit. Miss Aniela’s recent work also involves the ‘Face’ series, intricate laborious artworks merging large-scale faces with hundreds of paintings from art history.

Photos by Kareva Margarita 

Margarita Kareva is a Russia-based photographer who specializes in fantasy art photography. Her photographs beautifully portray women that have been transformed into fairytale princesses and witches.

She adds surreal elements to her shots that make the photographs really stand out, combining Photoshop manipulation with real props.

Her work is constantly evolving and growing because she took up photography just three years ago. Her portfolio is already full of vibrant, magical and creative images. Kareva’s story proves that it is never too late to take up a new hobby – you just need to “learn every day, all your life”.