Nightmarish photography w/ musician @joshbalz!

Good evening, Steemit! What a stressful day. Not going to get in to personal stuff, but rest assured, it started heavy and ended heavy. Not what I needed after getting home after two weeks on the road. There was a silver lining. Myself, @vermillionfox @iamredbar and @tarotbyfergus has a massive Magic: The Gathering block at @caffetto. Another tally of victories with the infamous Padeem deck I’ve shared in depth here on Steemit in my previous post, "King of the Assholes" in Magic: The Gathering EDH/Commander format!”.

Tonight’s photography comes from my last shoot during my recent trip to the east coast and Canada. By the end of these last two weeks, I felt broken. I just wanted it to be over, I wanted to be home in my bed and if I’m being honest, I didn’t want to see my camera until next month. Until, however, I met my friend @joshbalz […formerly of Motionless In White] for lunch at the Amber Indian restaurant in Scranton, PA. We chatted about life, art and music. He let me listen to a new solo project he was working on and I felt inspiration coming on. I purposed we shoot during my last day in Pennsylvania and he agreed. It was set. Just before Halloween, we wanted to do something dark and disturbing.


@joshbalz came up with an idea for the nondescript, almost cartoonish, emotionless skull face in a full body skeleton onesie he already had. I envisioned a ghostly creature covered in […or made up of] chalky, white, cracking plaster. Naturally, during @joshbalz’s time in Motionless In White, he had an array of black contacts and unique outfits. We discussed the details and were fortunate to have make-up artist Kasey Kochanski available and willing to help bring these concepts to life.

The shoot location we chose was outside of Scranton near a massive abandoned warehouse centered in an overgrown field. Surprisingly, I wasn’t as interested in the warehouse […as a rule I love abandoned structures for shoots], but was far more interested in the overgrown, tall, dead grass. This was one of those shoots that I had a particular picture in mind…I just had to make it.

All three of the concepts were executed perfectly, even the plaster mask, which was the most difficult. I had an opportunity to experiment with motion having @joshbalz walk and thrash through the tall hay while following him, shooting as he went. His face was white and he was covering in black lace, which resulting in the eerie image seen at the top of the page. Many of these behind the scenes photos were taken with the iPhone 8 Plus. One of the best collaborations of the year with a true visionary artist.

I post all the time! For more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here @kommienezuspadt