The story continues….
Harlequin - aka Harley became my first creative muse - I remember snapping away at him with a disposable film camera the first day we brought him home - in between hugs and food and playing tug of war (sometimes during) I was clicking away.
I captured his growth, his broad chest and his floppy ears - but more than that I captured his story. His aloofness, the fact that he would do anything for food and by joyful ignorance - how important his friendship and connection was to me.
For those of you that have experienced those formative teenage/young adult years, you’d remember that along with the fun times there’s usually also the crappy, angst ridden moments and my connection with animals got me through mine. Harley was a great listener, and we talked through all the big questions of who I was and what I was going to do with my life - his main opinion though was always, take more naps and eat good food - not always the best advice to apply to these particular situations…
When I moved out on my own, he kept my parents company - his pace was more suited to them as he entered his golden years. I still visited him regularly and kept taking his picture until he went on his last big adventure to the great kennel in the sky at the ripe old age of 17. He had been with me for over half my life…
The second influential man in my creative life presented to me as a small wrinkled, spotty, long eared master of sad eyes with giant baby paws in a rescue adoption ad (exact photo ad - bottom left).
They didn’t know much about this little man’s back story, other than he had been unwanted on a farm property, hadn’t had a lot of human interaction and was currently being bullied by his two sisters he was being fostered with. I applied to adopt him as soon as I’d finished reading the ad.
I’ve always been drawn to the misfits, the outsiders and the ones that often go unnoticed. My favourite characters in films are never usually the heroes, they’re always the sidekicks or the supporting creatures - to me the heroes of the stories couldn’t win without them.
In the great Jim Henson film ‘Labyrinth’ my favourite character was Ludo, the giant red beast of a creature who was being tormented by goblins a fraction of his size when we first encounter him. He was to be the namesake of my new muse.
Ludo has a lot of similar qualities to Harley so he helped me heal from losing my old man. He also has some more challenging quirks, but we work through those together, as Harley worked through things with me.
One thing became immediately clear - Ludo was destined to be in front of the camera - while Harley used to avoid eye contact every time I brought my camera out, Ludo locked on straight away.
He’s become my creative partner in crime, and is always up for playing any role I cast him in for my more exaggerated images. But as with most of my animal portraits - my most favourite images are the ones where I capture him as he is - quirks and all, grabbing that moment minus any other distractions where he doesn’t have to be anything but himself… my best friend.
Ironically, a huge creative inspiration of the human variety is also a rather hairy fellow - the aforementioned Jim Henson. Now, I could write an entire academic essay on the creative brilliance that this man brought to this world but essentially he was able to weave powerful messages about identity, community and diversity - to name just a few - into his works. He understood the power of stories and that everyone has a story to tell, and that they are valuable.
Stories have always been at the core of what I do - communication and connection with everything around me helps me to explore this crazy world we live in - the good things and the bad, the happy and sad.
If you’ve managed to stay with me through this tiny piece of my story, I’d love you to get in touch and tell me yours…
xx