Fairy Tale Photographers

[Barton Ostby]

Ilooked at many family albums in my childhood, too, asking my mom about all the people in the photos. I had the opportunity to read beautiful fairy tales with even more beautiful illustrations. I also delighted in fantasy movies.

Copyrights:

All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Anna Fantazj. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.

Each of their pieces is completely unique and has its own personality, back story, and theme. An incredible amount of effort goes into the creation of each character, their outfit, mask, and pet. When you combine this with the breathtakingly stark shooting locations in each photograph it adds a whole new level of depth and meaning. The duo then creates a story behind each picture, tying them into themed collections that transport the viewer to a dark surreal reality, half in this world and half in a fantasy world.

While I could try to tell you more about their work, I feel that the artists would be able to do a far better job explaining it themselves. I took a chance and reached out to Mothmeister to see if they would be interested in answering a few questions. Not only were they interested but their willingness to contribute and the depth of detail in their answers was truly humbling and insipiring.

As our characters are morphing non-stop we wanted our alter ego to embody this endless metamorphosis. When it comes to animals, moths undergo drastic changes throughout their life-cycle so we thought that would fit our creative dna like a glove. Moths are also the unloved night version of butterflies.

Basically Mothmeister is a two-headed alter ego. We do everything ourselves: styling, modelling and shooting. On top of that we praise ourselves lucky to be inspired by a truly exciting range of artists from all over the world that are happy to collaborate with us. Costume designers, masks sculptors, taxidermists, headpiece designers, music bands, you name it. Their magic is like oxygen to a fire.

How did you get into the world of photography and design?

We guess it all started with our childhood dreams and the dark fairytales that we were told as kids. Many years ago we started collecting taxidermy, costumes, masks and other curiosa. The universe of Mothmeister turned out to be the perfect fictional realm where all these things from the past came together in a rather spontaneous way. Even though all our characters look different, they all belong to this same quirky and distorted family. They all flirt with the darker and macaber things in life.

We do feel connected to both the character and animal. The characters as such mirror our psyche. They will never face the camera. But rather look humble. Introvert. Not showing off. But in their own inner world or bubble so to say. They might look ugly, evil or grotesque, but they hide a lot of emotion.

Masks give you this carte blanche to be whoever you like. No matter how you feel inside. Masks can give you power. They express or even magnify one identity while hiding the real one which is pretty interesting. We always love to play with this juxtaposition.

But we are also die-hard thanatourists. Exploring places that are associated with death (cemeteries, cryptes), tragedy (war memorials, abandoned prisons, hospitals, etc.) or disasters (Chernobyl, Aral Sea) is very intoxicating. It triggers a bunch of things: our adrenaline rush, our lust for life, and last but not least, our inspiration. The masks we work with often are ghastly, grotesque and macabre. We love death masks, skulls and frantic sad clowns. We carefully pick the artists we work with. They share the same dark interest. In that sense, the masks reflect our inner side. Of course, taxidermy is also a way of portraying and celebrating death.

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There are many underlying layers in each track that refer to pictures/places in our book. E.G: From the actual evacuation message from Chernobyl to the letter that cannibal Albert Fish wrote to the mother of one of his victims Grace Budd. DAAP did a stellar job.

Some girls dream about their fairy tale wedding since they are kids. Having the perfect dress (like these amazing ones that Disney launched based in the style of some of the our most beloved princesses), getting married in a castle or even arriving at the ceremony in a horse drawn carriage.

But although having a fairy tale wedding is not the aspiration of every bride I know, I love when people let their imagination and dreams build the unique details of the big day. And being part of this construction makes everything super inspiring for me as a wedding photographer!

Pre-release, it had already been solidified in pop-culture history with content creators mimicking the ethereal style on social media. By the time of its release, my feed had already been flooded with dystopian elven imitations. It was lockdown 2020, fairy-core was thriving, providing escapism and a creative outlet. Users explored the darker sides of fairy life, entrapment, loneliness and survival. In 2021, the Fairy Tales photo teasers featured almost empty diners, bedrooms and hospitals; readers blending fact and fiction could imagine these scenarios coming to life in front of them.

Retelling childhood stories, Petra Collins and Alexa Demie play with juxtaposition: dark and light, violence and kindness, delicacy and tension. The soft focus and dreamy photography depict the truthful chaos and survival of mythical beings in a mortal world. The soft padding of the pillow-like book encases dark nightmares and escapist fantasies. Featuring illustrations by Evita Flores, deceivingly innocent, coloured-pencil drawings show butterflies in trees, witches and flying mice, a cottage in flames, and rope-wrapped mermaids accepting their fate.

This book is for lovers of dystopian tales, for anyone interested in modern interpretations of folklore, femxle representation and hyperfeminine aesthetics. I think this book is a great signifier of the zeitgeist and the challenges womxn face today, particularly on social media and image-based communications.

Step into a scene filled with wonder and delight. Our captivating Fairytale Adventures photography experience features all things magical, including gentle sounds of an enchanted forest, lush greenery, and a reflection pond for children to peer in.

Our fairy costume include fairy wings, dresses, flower crowns, and headbands. Dresses are available in sizes 9-12M, 2-4T, and 4-7T. For the fishers, wardrobe includes corduroy overalls in sizes 2-3T and 4-5T. For our adult participants, this is the perfect opportunity to showcase your own costume alongside these enchanting props! Fairy and fishers costumes are provided but may not be available in all sizes or in all instances.

Complement your images with our collection of enhancements, designed exclusively for the Fairytale Adventures experience. Our designs can be used to create custom canvas and metal prints, standard prints, desk plaques, and magnets.

Prior to the wedding, I was given a pretty detailed list from the bride, who is blogger, Insta- lady! And the groom, who is a Insta-guy! It was a little intimidating! Instantly I was relieved of this pressure. Even though, I know the bride had spent hours and hours, organizing her day, she was relaxed and calm.

To have a successful Instagram wedding, I noticed she had put someone in charge of all the content and organization of the day. Her maid of honor was running the show and making sure all details were in place to assure what needed to be done. In addition, this alleviated the bride whom had NO PRESSURE because she was in good hands with a like-minded friend, who knew her goals. Many friends and family surrounding them, were helping the process.

Getting ready happened in two locations, girls and boys got ready separately. A blind-fold groom and groomsmen, came together for prayer. It was fun and exciting trying to keep the bride and groom from the reveal to soon!

Jesus is important to them. For example, Christ-centered focus, there were many times where more than one were gathered praying around the couple. They also did a feet washing, as Jesus did for his disciples.

Speeches were about this, the family was about Jesus and it was a repeated theme throughout the day. Guest activities included a Bible out for people to highlight verses that were dear to them. I appreciate that they are all so open about their faith and also share that in their everyday lives on social media and with real relationships.

Many times I heard Madison say this is going to be her FairyTale day, or something along that. Insta, Prayerful, Fairytale day, accomplished! Relaxed, kept a smile and joy in their hearts, the couple looked like they were in a fairytale. Tears of joy and hope and love, even the sun would hit the right spot at the right time. The barn weddings bring in some cool, sun rays to give it a mystical mood. Her dress was beautiful!

This wedding was the best boho wedding from last year. It looked straight out of a fairy-tale full of feelings and emotions of their loved ones.

The colour palette was a combination of neutral earthy and warm colours, the perfect pairing for the luscious ambiance that The Acre provides.

Kathy and Jack are a super cool and lovely couple. They have known each other since they were teenagers and practice kickboxing together.

She decided to enter the ceremony with her brother, who was very excited throughout the wedding.

I was honoured to be their photographer and even more honoured to call them friends!

wohoooo! congrats to the couple! what a reaction of the groom awesome!

Very helpful blog and is very well explained,

And also you made it amazing and easy to read by highlighting and adding subtitles.

It was an awesome blog that helped me gain much knowledge.

wohooooo! congooo to the couple it was an amazing blog just so awesome!

from cake to pictures everything was perfect!

Very helpful blog and is very well explained

And also you made it amazing and easy to read by highlighting and adding subtitles.

It was an awesome blog that helped me gain much knowledge.

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