In honor of my FB fanpage reaching 666 followers, I decided to revisit a shoot last Spring that was all about pursuing the darker side of modeling...
Possibly one of the most interesting weekends of my life, these photos all took place out in Ojai, California with hobbyist photographer and bird lover, Erin Koski. My initial interaction with Erin had been on Model Mayhem when I responded to a casting call about needing a female model to put frozen octopuses in her mouth. Yup, that's right. I read "frozen octopuses in mouth" and thought, 'oh hell yeah, that's something I would do.' She had several other casting calls as well, all of which were a little warped but definitely unique, and after some emails back and forth we decided it'd be best if I came out for a whole weekend so we could shoot as many concepts as possible.
And shoot we did. First up - let's get some real blood going:
Nothing too over the top, mind you.
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I was in the Koski home barely 30 minutes before I was disrobing and Erin was out back killing a guinea pig to dump some blood on me. Did that come out wrong? Hmm... Perhaps I should include a little back story here..
No, Erin is not a witch or some kind of Satanist. She's also not one of those weirdos that just really gets off on taxidermying rodents and putting the graphic pictures all over the Instagram (I unfollowed THAT shit quickly, ya sickos).
As I mentioned, Erin is a bird lover. In fact, she currently runs a non-profit known as Luzonica, Birds of the World (www.luzonica.com). Erin shares her home in Ojai with dozens of birds of all sizes, from song bird to endangered raptor. Her backyard is home to owls, ravens, and hawks, nearly of them rescued, and 100% of which need to eat. So I suppose in order to balance out the good deeds that her bird menagerie does, such as educational talks at schools and group events, there is the inevitable "dinner time" aspect to it as well. So heading out back to kill a guinea pig is not anything uncommon in Erin's life.
No, Erin is not a witch or some kind of Satanist. She's also not one of those weirdos that just really gets off on taxidermying rodents and putting the graphic pictures all over the Instagram (I unfollowed THAT shit quickly, ya sickos).
As I mentioned, Erin is a bird lover. In fact, she currently runs a non-profit known as Luzonica, Birds of the World (www.luzonica.com). Erin shares her home in Ojai with dozens of birds of all sizes, from song bird to endangered raptor. Her backyard is home to owls, ravens, and hawks, nearly of them rescued, and 100% of which need to eat. So I suppose in order to balance out the good deeds that her bird menagerie does, such as educational talks at schools and group events, there is the inevitable "dinner time" aspect to it as well. So heading out back to kill a guinea pig is not anything uncommon in Erin's life.
I said Love LIfe dammit!
My only regret is that I didn't ask if I could watch. I mean, she was gonna kill it anyway. Perhaps if I had known her for five or so minutes more....
From knives and blood, I showered & changed into a black, Lolita dress, which I of course immediately fell in love with. I happily accompanied Erin around Ojai in that dress, & eventually a blue wig too, much to the amusement of the locals.
Our bird audience was slightly antsier during this look.
We also stopped to have the absolutely best pizza in the world at Ojia Pizza. In fact, they're quite confident in their product themselves, boasting the not-too-modest URL of www.TheOnlyGoodPizza.com Of all the pizza she has had in her life, Erin lists Ojai Pizza as number one. Top second, she said, is leftover Ojai Pizza. I'm inclined to agree.
The dress was just a wee bit tighter after lunch. I cared not.
What you don't see in that shot ^^^ is the sweet elderly couple on the park bench at the end of the fountain
getting a great view right up my dress. 'I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! it's art, I swear!'
getting a great view right up my dress. 'I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! it's art, I swear!'
None of the chillins wanted to play wiff me...
I call this one, 'Pensive in the Park'.
We also stopped at Ojai Ice Cream & Fudge for some amazing, hand made ice-cream!
Since it was purely a prop, I didn't feel bad about devouring it after a dozen shots.
Since it was purely a prop, I didn't feel bad about devouring it after a dozen shots.
Strawberry.. because it's Pink and Frozen.. like my Heart.
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After Lolita came the next concept - A quick dip in what was possibly the smelliest, mudiest, slimiest pond I have ever seen in my life. Everything in my body told me not to get in that water.. but attaining great photos does not come without certain sacrifices. Besides, we'd already used up the rest of the blood on my head bandages. I was committed. And of course, the final product was worth it. Afterwards, Erin drove me back with the windows down...
'Do I hafta..?? There's strange, loud noises coming from the reeds...'
In hindsight, I should have taken off the push up bra. What that padding soaked up... *shudders*
Back to the (lovely, lovely, HEAVENLY) shower before a quick experiment with fire...
If this makes you think of "The Hunchback of Notre Dam" ... I want to be your friend.
..... and then it was finally time for the concept that had started this whole weekend adventure.
The Cthulu
Stop staring at my tentacles.
Erin did so many great edits on this shot that I couldn't make up my mind and asked her to make a collage. Would be a neat poster, don't ya think?
..and as long as we're all having fun here...
Octo-tittays!!
By the way, Erin's casting call asked specifically for a model that was at least 21. Why? Well, because Octopussi are best kept in the freezer soaking in vodka, silly! You know, so it's sanitary! Don't want to get any raw-seafood sickies. Now there's a taste I am sure I'll never forget...
I've never had so many showers in my life....
This did NOT have a snooze button That night I slept like the dead. Erin was kind enough to leave a, 'special alarm clock' in my room for me though, and sure enough at the ass crack of dawn I woke up to chirping and squawking coming from the cage in the corner (not to mention the cages in the living room.. the cages outside... etc.). This was the shoot I was really excited for though (as dreamy as putting dead sea creatures in my mouth is). Erin had emailed me prior about the different colored walls spread around Oija that she wanted to shoot in front of.
The Idea: 6 different colored walls, 6 different black dresses, & 6 different "high fashion" poses.
Heeeeeyyy... 666.. get it? By the way, which color is your favorite?
The best part of this concept for me, besides getting to wear six different sexy dresses that is, was that at the final wall I got to work with Zike.
I'm gonna FLY, baby.
Zike is the exception when it comes to Erin's larger birds. While the other birds of prey are all rescued, Zike is purely pet. Well.. "pet" is putting it quite simply. As Erin says, he's more "trained wild animal." Zike is an Augur Buzzard, native to North East Africa. "Buzzard," by the way, simply means a large hawk everywhere except the U.S. - Zike is in no way a Vulture. Erin adopted Zike when he was only a couple of months old and has had him for about 11 years. Getting to handle Zike required a little bird training prior (and yes, Erin did make me sign a waiver saying that if her bird killed me, my corpse would not come back to sue her)...
Bird Training:
1. Never look them in the eye. From a bird's perspective, a creature with eyes on either side of it's head is prey (like guinea pigs!). An animal with forward facing eyes though, is a fellow predator.
(This one was difficult for me, since he was sooo pretty! When Erin initially pulled him out I had already forgotten this rule ... until I noticed that he was staring back! Whoops!)
2. Don't reach for him with your hands. Birds use their feet and claws for attacking. Reaching out with my hands looks to Zike like I am preparing to scratch his eyes out. This means no petting =(
3. Having a bird tethered to your wrist is not like a paddle ball. If he takes off, simply follow his lead & then 'scoop' him back up. Think of it more like Ball-In-A-Cup.
Also, this isn't a rule or anything, but birds are very light (for obvious reasons). Take a guess on how much Zike weighs..
After 24 hours of running around and shooting like mad, Erin treated me to one more amazing meal at the incredible restaurant and bakery, Ojai Cafe Emporium, before I headed back to Bakersfield. A week later I had a CD arrive of the weirdest, darkest, most badass photos I have done to date. Not to mention all the memories (some a little odd, but all fun) connected with them.
*Vodkapus Kisses*
JNT
And a few more photos.. just for fun ;D
All photos are copyright Erin Koski Photography 2012
www.ErinKoski.com
Wardrobe Provided by Erin Koski
Hair, Make up, & Accessories by JNT
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