
'We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.'
Charles E. Schaefer, American psychologist considered the "Father of Play Therapy"
When I am working on a portrait project, this is the ethos I like myself and my models to embrace. 'Let's just play and see what happens.'
During my most recent project The Art of Play, that's exactly what occurred and I couldn't have been happier with both the process, the people, and the result. What a hoot!

How did it come about? Glad you asked.
My Canadian photography teacher, renowned street and travel photographer, Mark Hemmings, along with myself and a few of his other students, are part of a private photography group. One of the monthly challenges set was Accidentally Wes Anderson.
If you're not sure of the AWA movement, take some time and check out the images on socials and website. In the nut shell, it's where photographers have come across scenes or people which appear to be out of movies directed by the talented Wes Anderson. (Fantastic Mr Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Darjeeling Limited, etc.)
Something struck a chord within and there ensued my next portrait project - it had been a year since my last. The muse had arrived. I dressed myself and my husband up in zany colourful costumes and invited my friends to join in the fun.
The brief was simple enough - come as a colourful actor who might be cast in a Wes Anderson movie. I allowed the models to make up their own stories of who they might be and changed the background according to what I thought might suit best the personalities they presented.
The collaboration resulted in a Top 6 finish in the Australian Photographer of the Year (People). For my folio, I could only submit four images as a series, so I pulled together four which had the most cohesive qualities, yet were diverse enough to show the range of what I'd produced.

Some of the characters the models came up with were: bored school student, adventurer, faded rock star, boozy floozy vamp, teacher, Palm Springs designer, golfer, hippy, business man, artist, traveller, and New York upper class. I even got my mother involved wearing her original jumpsuit from the early 70s!
Beautiful moments of laughter echoed across the studio floor as each person discovered something inside, often hidden away from their public persona. It was also a chance for each of them to stretch their imaginations, drop their inhibitions, and immerse themselves in playing dress-ups - possibly something they hadn't done since childhood.
The energy, love, commitment, and unwavering support for this project is something I'll never forget. I'm so grateful for everyone who took part and let down their defences to play.

Technically speaking, I used a Nikon D850 with a Nikkor 50mm lens. A large window was the main source of lighting from the left with a secondary small LED lightbox on the right.

Post edit I did tweak the colours to represent more of a Wes-Anderson-type colour palette, either muting colours or saturating them to suit the personalities of the characters. My backdrops consisted of whatever I had around the house - tablecloths, curtains, lamps, cases, books and glasses with an array of props either supplied by me or were the model's own.
For this blog, I've mostly include images which were left out of the final essay but worthy of an airing. To view the final project, click here.
Hope you enjoyed my fun little project.
Remember, even as an adult, you have a right to play. You are never too old.
