Those that are the most skilled photographers are those that show the world in a way that makes it seem more mysterious and alluring than we have come to expect from the everyday. A lot of the time, the people that appear to live the most interesting of lives aren’t any different from ourselves; they’re just better at presenting it in a way that draws you in and makes you want to be part of it.
When I made it out to Chicago last year and hung out with Cari, I’d only known her from a mutual long-standing membership of Flickr – first and foremost from her pictures. We ended up spending some time in the abandoned buildings and landscape where she is most at home, and it was like stepping into a movie set… places I had seen and was familiar with from endless hours on the Internet.
When looking at her through my lens, there was an initially jarred juxtaposition of seeing what I was used to online in person, and the girl I was spending time with – as if she was transforming in front of my eyes.
This whole experience of having a sort of whimsical, ethereal world melt into something tangible was an interesting and pleasant one, but looking back now, there’s something even better. Now, when I look at these pictures, I don’t just see some girl in a far off world shrouded in mystery, I just see Cari… my friend… and I like that.
Chinatown – Chicago, Illnois
September 2012
Hasselblad 500CM
Kodak Portra 400VC (expired 2007)