The Journey Home ….
‘The Journey Home’
‘The Guidance of Stray Souls
‘Let Your Heart Be The Map’
I have re-written the start to this diary entry so many times, that I am just going to give up on trying to introduce these pictures in any proper way. Instead I need to begin from the heart, because it is what feels the most natural for a set of images that have brought me so much happiness.
Recently I gave a talk at my current exhibition in London, and realised afterwards that every picture I had described as being deeply emotional for me had not been taken this year. That night on the train home, staring out into the darkness I wondered if I had lost my way from the origins of the project and the human connection that lies at the root of all I try to do. I love the pictures I have produced, but the shoots have definitely become larger more complicated productions and as a result at times have been more stressful. The last few months had been relentless, I felt I needed to let go, to breathe and be outside in the landscape. Maybe I needed to be reminded of who I had been in those first early days in 2009 when nothing else mattered, just the moment, the light, and the dreams I so desperately wanted to create.
Writing this now, I am so grateful to say that everything I thought I had lost was returned the day I took these pictures. The emotion I have for them is so strong it’s strange, it feels like they came to me just at the point when I needed them the most. They are my comfort, based at the heart of all the things I care about the most – nature at its most extraordinary, precious friends and the bond I have with the woodlands. The set up was stripped of complicated props and detailed costumes it was simply about Katie, quiet in the early morning cocoon of the trees and the emotion she conveyed. The pictures carry so much weight for me as they are the start of Katie’s (and my own) journey home. I am now three and a half years into creating this series, and it has taken all I can physically and mentally give. I never imagined the project would take this long, or that my life would have become what it has. Without realizing it at first, over time Katie has become my mirror, it is hard to explain but her pictures always underpin where I am in the real world. I always thought I was burying my reality in the process of creating the photos, but as the months have passed I realized they were simply reflecting back everything I was feeling. This connection I have with her drives everything and is something I have finally embraced. I see her experiences as a parallel to mine, and now my focus is to lead us to a place where I hope I can find some closure – an ending, and maybe a new beginning in the same moment.
The finished cloak and hood at 1am the night before the shoot
Since the first few months of starting this series, I had always said my wish was to record every colour nature had to offer. Each year I made a point of trying to be ready for the seasonal highlights but it was not always possible whilst working on so many shoots. Like the fields of flowers, I found the vivid Autumn leaves would appear and disappear all too soon, and I came to learn that their high point of the perfect red and yellow was just as fleeting. It was now November and the leaves were turning and falling once more. It was one of those dawns where the low winter sun sets the colour of the trees along the road on fire, and I knew deep inside I probably had less than a week to find a location and make a costume. The colour yellow is highly significant to the story, just as in earlier scenes where red had led the characters along a new path, yellow would now do the same – so there was no compromise to be found. I spent two solid days in search of a yellow wood, I visited every place I could think of. I walked until I was lost and spent hours driving, chasing distant coloured trees on the horizon, all resulting in nothing more than a mirage when I reached them. It was only on the third day as I stood defeated staring up at the most beautiful red trees wishing they were yellow, that I realized my mistake. All this time I had wanted the picture to be completely yellow, with the focus being entirely Katie alone on her journey. I pulled a crumpled yellow leaf from my pocket, and let it fall on the crushed red skeletons that had collected at my feet. The contrast in colour was so powerful it suddenly dawned on me that I could use this combination to single Katie out as a shining energy in the landscape. All along I had been searching for the wrong backdrop, when it was actually a red wood that would bring the picture to life. I looked around with fresh eyes and started photographing my tracks, walking deeper into the trees. At the foot of the wood I turned back to be faced with a long winding path that melted over the horizon, it was utterly perfect and despite feeling a little ridiculous for not realizing the situation sooner, at last the location was set.
I fixed the shoot for in two days time, which meant I had just 48 hours to pull together a costume. I spent the morning clambering around in the grounds of my local hospital’s garden where I had discovered the purest yellow leaves I could find. The ground was thick with them, but the best remained on the trees. So I jumped and tugged and huffed and puffed, clambering around the branches, filling bursting bin bags praying no one from my street would recognise me. I worked relentlessly to create Katie’s golden cloak of leaves. It had to be one of the simplest costumes I have ever made, but actually by far one of the most beautiful. It took 3 trips to the gardens and two days of relentless gluing, but as I sat exhausted on my kitchen floor the night before the shoot covered in insects, I was thrilled with the finished piece, it was completely worth it
Me and Elbie making Katie’s trail of leaves
The following morning we set out as early as we could. It was just the four of us, the original gang from the very first pictures back in 2009. I sat in the van staring out the window, clutching my precious hood made of leaves, while the step ladder and equipment jangled and shook in the back. Arriving at the location it felt so good to only unpack a few basic things as we marched off into the wet mud, carrying the giant yellow leaf cloak between us.
I rarely shoot two pictures that look similar, but in this case there is a deliberate transition across the three frames I have chosen to portray for this part of the story. I imagined them as cinematic film stills of Katie’s journey, and intended them to express the physical aspect of her traveling towards us. That is why the first was framed from a distance with the emphasis on the landscape and the direction of her path. Throughout the series I often use trails of flowers, coloured powder or in this case leaves as way of depicting motion within a single frame. The sequence was intended as Katie hurrying away from the Centurion after taking the precious Queen’s key. I choose to make a cloak instead of a dress, as I imagined it as her attempt to pass through the woods unseen under it’s protection. But like all good fairy tales I wanted her light to shine through the disguise, betraying her with a shimmering path of golden yellow left in her wake. A symbol of a pure soul I suppose is the only way I can explain what I was trying to portray.
For the second shot I brought the camera in closer, framing Katie in a dream-like state with the Queen’s key around her neck. I wanted it to be seen as guiding her as much as she was protecting it. I imagined her sleepwalking as though under a heavy spell, moving forward yet unconscious of her surroundings. I love the solitude of the picture and how lost and alone she seems; yet by the very nature of her clothes she will always be a part of the woods. This is how I have always felt since losing mum, the woods are the only place where I can feel calm and pull myself together on the bad days, when I miss her the most. In short, I wanted this second picture to be a moment of quiet contemplation before the final awakening of Katie’s close up.
Personally it is the final picture ‘Let Your Heart be the Map’ that now means the most to me. There were so many times during editing, that I found myself lost in the moment with my eyes full of tears. It is hard to put into words, but I saw it as a picture of Katie and myself both in the same moment. Sometimes staring at my monitor I felt like I was looking in a mirror, with each of us on opposite sides of the glass. Wonderland has always been my escape, I have spent it’s duration hiding from reality in my imaginary world in order to block out losing my mother, and some days I have sunk so deep into it’s story that the real world was completely out of reach. It was what I needed, it was what I wanted, and as Katie experienced the different places and characters so did I, but like all things time has moved on. I have begun to need my family and friends and maybe after working so hard for so long, it is time for me to turn back and return to the surface.
So as my life is echoed through Katie, this picture is like the first breath above the surface for both of us. It is the remembrance of home, the spell is breaking, her eyes are open and the breeze through her hair is calling for her return. It is a milestone picture in the series and there is a reason why the light is so strong on her face….. someone is coming to guide her back, and with them they will bring a change to the current darkness of Wonderland.
So finally, yellow why is yellow important you might be thinking? Well maybe if you click your heels together and close your eyes, you’ll remember it can only mean one thing…that ‘There’s No Place Like Home’.
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Finally (I just couldn’t help myself). I had to share this behind the scenes picture of Katie, it makes me laugh so much. Sorry to shatter the mood of the pictures, but theres really nothing funnier that an extraordinary crisp-eating leaf creature deep in the woods to make you go home smiling 🙂 !!
Lovely story 🙂 Glad you found a little moment of peace in simplicity!
*cheering you on from Canada*
🙂
Definitely an inspiration In many ways. You are such a talented individual with such a creative mind and I know the future only holds the best for you! Thank you for sharing these images with the world.
Truly wonderful!
Your beautiful story is just as mesmerizing as this image…. thank you so much for your honesty… and thank you so much for the fantabulous inspiration…..
You have such an *Extraordinary Imagination*. You bring such beautiful inspiration and touching stories behind every piece.
Thank you for sharing your story with us all. Your mother would been so proud. She will always with you in spirit & heart. ♥♥
Best from Washington, DC ( United States )
Oh Kirsty! These are stunning, as ever. My heart always beats a little faster when I see an update from you! Thank you for sharing so graciously of yourself.
Xoxo! ❤❤❤
It makes no sense to be so talented!!! It’s freaking unatural! You are my photog idol!
This is just so impressive! Great story-telling image!!!
You are above all my very favorite photographer. Thank you for creating such wonderful art and for sharing the behind-the-scenes imagery that really tells a story.
I can only hope to someday create something as breathtaking as you. Keep it up.
Veronica C. Burgess
San Francisco Bay Area, California USA.
I’m already stunned! you’re so creative! I love you already! #fangirling 🙂
You truly are an inspiration, this collection of photographs you have created so carefully from inception are the inspiration for so many peoples projects now, how wonderful to have done something so groundbreaking and new that has touched so many people. I ADORE looking at all of your photographs, especially the behind the scenes shots. Kirsty Mitchell you are a wonder, very many congratulations on all of yours and your teams hard work, you are inspirational.
Hi, I discovered your photography today through a community on Live Journal, and just wanted to say that I have been entranced by the imagery you’ve created here. The costumes are *stunning* and the narrative you’ve created with them, your models and the staging – not to mention your lovely, brilliant photography – well, these images are going to stay with me for a long time. Very well done.
what a beautiful statement you made above.
It must have made such an impact for the positive in your own self…I hope it continues for you also that which began as a spark continue into flames within your heart and give you comfort always.
Absolutely stunning… I lost my mom too, and for a whole year I lived in a fog. But I didn’t know it until I began to *wake up*, and it was nature that brought me back! (Birds chirping, the smell of Spring coming on the air). This reminds me of that journey. Thank you for sharing your talents with the world. It goes beyond Art, and is truly amazing!!! Love from the USA.
Kirsty! Thank you so much for being so truly amazing. You are a true inspiration and are simply beautiful. Much love to you. xx
Wonderful, wonderful series. Cingrats to you and to me for finding you, you are a source of inspiration.
I look forward to following you for years to come.
Andy
Kirsty…you are fabulous and inspirational. Your journey through your eyes is stunning. I only have one question. How many yards of material did it take to make that cloak. LOL LOL THAT is just stupendous! Your mind is a work of art in itself. {{{{MUAH}}}}
There r no words to describe ur love passion art ur work is mesmerising and spectacular truly magical your pictures are beyond words ❤
Kirsty, The Guidance of Stray Souls caught my eye one day as I was googling autumn leave photographs for my own creative purposes. And now I’m fully enthralled in your Wonderland, how meticulously you layered leaves for Katie’s cloak, your process of discovering contrast to highlight a pure soul, I am savoring reading your story and viewing those photographs that portray so much bittersweet beauty.
Kirsty, The Guidance of Stray Souls caught my eye one day as I was googling autumn leave photographs for my own creative purposes. And now I’m fully enthralled in your Wonderland, how meticulously you layered leaves for Katie’s cloak, your process of discovering contrast to highlight a pure soul, I am savoring reading your story and viewing those photographs that portray so much bittersweet beauty.
Nashua, New Hampshire
USA
Absolutely gorgeous and I love that you show how you created your images!
Reading your story brought me to the edge of tears, I can totally relate. Your Mother would be very proud xx
I can’t believer there’s only 20 comments on this. Your work is wonderful, beautiful, amazing and much needed. Thankyou x
I wanna be like you! It’s so BEAUTIFUL
Found this via pinterest and I’m at loss for words… Wow! <3
WoW !!! vu via Pinterest too, j’adore l’idée, que c’est poétique, magnifique mise en scène et réalisation ! Un grand bravo +++ (from Lille, France)