Divergent Mirrors Of Decay

“You told me how to get myself prepared.
It’s like your freedom, but reversible.
So please, take me home again, my friend.
As long as you’re invincible
And partly not inflammable,
I thought you were convincible, my friend.

And I lie and I lie.
I’m my own believer.
Shall you burn, shall you die,
My self-conscious gleaner?
And you’re blind, and you’re blind.
Celebrating glory,
Get inside on my side.
Searching some fairy traps,
Here you kill, here you hide.
My imprisoned beauty,
You can struggle, you can fight.
And ‘cause your screams are muted,
Run away, run away.
If you’re tired to decide,
I’m afraid, I’m afraid
To lose reality.

Heroic is not what you used to be.
Sometimes you smell like you dig carefully.
So I am, you never start to change.
You cannot gain.
As long as you’re inflammable,
Convinced you’re not invincible,
You part my way to take me home again.

And I lie and I lie.
I’m my own believer.
Shall you burn, shall you die,
My self-conscious gleaner?
And you’re blind, and you’re blind.
Celebrating glory,
Get inside on my side.
Searching some fairy traps,
Here you go, here you hide.
My imprisoned beauty,
You can struggle, you can fight.
‘Cause our screams are muted,
Run away, run away.
If you’re tired to decide,
I’m afraid, I’m afraid
To lose reality.”

[ Divergent Mirrors Of Decay – Leandra ]

Here is the second work from my Morphine series and first from the Isomorphine part. Again, the last song goes first because I needed to use this table mirror, which is at my mother’s.

This photo was born as a twin sister to Inverted Mirrors Of Decay, since the titles of the two songs are very similar. While it might seem somewhat less surreal than its sister with no upside-down reflection, there is actually no way two mirrors pointing to opposite directions might actually reflect someone sitting in the middle, so it still fits into the category. And the burning reflection does as well.
Similarly to the other Mirror, the lyrics of this song are very complex and and filled with mostly obscure metaphors, so I decided to get most of the inspiration from the title itself and throw a few nods to the rest of the songs such as the fire, which also contrasts with the liquid theme on the other Mirror. Again, given the shortage of mirrors and different angles to take into account, there are about five different images blended into one, which required a massive help from DamaInNero and quite a lot of postproduction, which I handled smoothly due to careful planning since before the actual shoot. Indeed, the planning is what made this work so fun and challenging, as everything had to work accordingly in order for the whole to turn out nice. I think I’m going for such complex pictures again in the future, in the end they are very rewarding.

Inverted Mirrors Of Decay

“Two mice I saw are drowned in butter,
‘Cause neither he’s wise nor he’s wiser.
Two mice I saw are drowned in butter,
‘Cause neither he’s wise nor his parents.

Two eyes I shut to see you closer.
Why did you bath in muddy waters?
Inside I feel you’re my disposer,
Outside there’s nothing to hide from but you.

Tonight I died of my reflection.
I suddenly fell into milk and
Been kicking and screaming
To tie the ball of my projection,
So guess what a mouse had turned out to be.

And I’m drowning, I’m drowning
I’m drowning, I’m drowning,
I’m drowning…

Wake up.
Why are you so predictable?
Beautiful morning
Sounds like our minds can be so invincible.
Follow the warning sign.
It could be mine, it could be mine.

And I die for deserving a swim through your river.
I’m calling the ghosts of the certain deceiver, and I’m
Burning the hay. Oh, I will find the needle.
I drown in the water. The water is me, but I
Know that I’m eager to choke the results
Of particular cravings, of hunger, of thirst,
Of polemic embraces. Oh, comfort my tongue
While they dress and uncover and write you a song for them.
I will not sigh and I will not enchant you.
You’ve covered me blind for translations to hide to arise you.
I run from the shadow, the shadow is mine to despise you.
We’re running out of time.”

[ Inverted Mirrors Of Decay – Leandra ]

So, here is the first work from my Morphine series, specifically from the Metamorphine part. I’m starting from the last track on the album because I only have the table mirror at my mother’s house and I would have to wait until god knows when if I didn’t get the chance now.

As I mentioned while introducing the project, there is going to be a lot of surreal imagery, and this is a primary example of that. I also wrote that I had a few ideas about the Metamorphine songs since I first listened to the album, but I never quite tried to turn them into actual photographs. Inverted Mirrors Of Decay is one of those, and one of the reasons I decided to kick off the project was the fact I could do two parallel images with this one and Divergent Mirrors Of Decay.
To be honest, the lyrics are quite surreal themselves and way too full of imagery to be wholly represented in a single photo, so I decided to stick to a more general concept and draw mainly from the title to create the image. The idea is the dear old “the mirror reflects something different” twisted in order to fit the title, so I’m basically sitting there while the two mirrors give back something totally different. I decided to add a bowl of milk to strengthen the connection with the lyrics and I had quite a lot of fun playing with the upside-down reflection, both with the hair and the spilling liquid. As I only had one mirror and had to shoot the reflections from different angles, the final image is made up of a total of about six photos put together, so the tripod and the assistance of my mother, DamaInNero, were extremely helpful to get everything right. The postproduction was quite massive, too, but as I had mapped out all I needed to do from the beginning it wasn’t beyond my abilities.
Of course, as I was handling the props I shot Divergent Mirrors Of Decay the very same day, so it’s coming soon.

Morphine: presentation of the project

I feel kind of guilty whenever I start a new project without completing any of the ongoing ones. But you know, inspiration strikes in the most unexpected moments and I have to do something before it fades.

Recently, Belarusian-German singer and pianist Leandra released her sophomore album, called Isomorphine, six years after her debut, Metamorphine. Both albums are incredibly good and the apparent connection between the two titles instantly intrigued me. Also, the songs on Isomorphine are extremely inspirational and I immediately started having a bunch of ideas about them; I had tons of ideas about Metamorphine too when I first heard it, back in 2008, but at the time I didn’t even have my first reflex, let alone any means to fully develop them. So I decided to resurrect a few of those old, shelved ideas, combine them with the new ones and and poof, I had enough material to kick off a new series rather than taking unrelated photos.

Leandra’s songs are very unique both musically and lyrically: the two albums sound different, with Metamorphine being more darkwave and classical-oriented while Isomorphine is more synthpop and dance-oriented, but Leandra’s distinctive songwriting makes many songs somewhat lullaby-ish… in a twisted way. Both her melodies and lyrics have certain qualities that give a nursery rhyme feel, but one that lulls you into nightmares rather than a peaceful sleep (she even wrote a downright hell-like song explicitly called Lullaby). This sort of dark, oneiric quality inspired me with lots of surreal imagery: many of the works will thus have some twist that makes the image unrealistic or possibly even unsettling, which will of course require a great deal of postproduction. Another stylistic standpoint which I have already clear is the colour filters I will use. I think both album covers perfectly convey the general feel of the songs, so I will be paying homage to them by adopting two colour schemes for the two halves of the project: the Metamorphine half will be greenish and the Isomorphine half pinkish. This will give a further sense of homogeneity to the series while allowing me to develop each work as a stand-alone piece, and will require me to plan everything in the photos, from the lights to the colours in them, in order for this kind of postproduction to be fitting.

I’ve started 2014 with a big shoot for two works from this project, one from Metamorphine and the other from Isomorphine. I am currently postproducing the first, which is due to be published tomorrow. I hope being so productive on New Year’s Day will bring me luck for the whole 2014, so wish me luck and enjoy Leandra’s music while watching my upcoming photos!

Black Jesus

“Black, black, black, black.
Black, black, black, black.
Black, black, black, black.

Jesus is the new black,
Jesus is the new black,
Jesus is the new black,
Jesus is the new black, ow!

I grew up in New York City,
Since I was born on Broadway, baby.
Moved downtown when I was just nineteen
To start a new life on the New York scene.
There’s no way I could be stopped,
Was taking my best shot,
I had a better plan.
There’s no way I could be stopped,
Was coming for your spot,
I met better men.

Amen on the runway,
Dressed in his best.
Amen fashion on the runway,
Work it, Black Jesus.
Amen on the runway,
Dressed in his best.
Amen fashion on the runway,
Work it, Black Jesus.”

[ Black Jesus † Amen Fashion – Lady Gaga ]

I don’t really know how to consider this photo in relation to Amen Fashion – if it’s a sequel, a prequel, if they are related at all or go on their own, but here it is. Taking two separate photos for the Black Jesus and Amen Fashion halves of the title was my plan from the beginning, and I can say the two photos turned out two polar opposites: monochrome vs colour, indoors vs outdoors, dark vs light, long-pondered concept vs sudden gust of inspiration… maybe this is what well make them go along eventually.
There is a bit of an inside joke on this photo, because once I was out spotting a rather neglected beard, but was dressed quite well as usual. On a bus, a little girl was staring at me, then all of sudden asked her mother: “Mom, is that boy Jesus?”. I don’t know what kept me from replying: “No, sweetheart, I’m too well-dressed. I’d rather be the Antichrist.”, but that’s basically how I got the idea of a fashionable Black Jesus with a bramble brooch on the beret instead of the crown of thorns. And here we go: the brooch was the hardest thing to come by for the shoot, but at least it’s done now. I had a lot of fun both thinking and actually doing it because, for some reasons, I bloody enjoy twisting christian imagery. Maybe because it’s so morbid and perverted on its own and appeals to my murkiest side.

I really wish I could speed up this project, but for some reasons it turned out to be slower than I expected. I guess that’s because many songs are about couples, which are scarce to find (especially couples where both partners are photogenic), and a lot because I feel more committed to my other projects. Besides, I have most of Born This Way and the whole The Fame Monster mapped out, am working easily on Artpop, but most of The Fame songs just stay silent. I just have no chemistry with most of that album. So, I guess I will take one step at a time without trying to rush this project out. I don’t know, let’s see.

Aura

“I killed my former and
Left her in the trunk on Highway Ten.
Put the knife under the hood;
If you find it, send it straight to Hollywood.

Aura-ah-ah,
Aura-ah-ah,
Aura-ah-ah,
Aura-ah-ah,
Aura-ah-ah,
Aura-ah-ah.

I’m not a wandering slave, I am a woman of choice.
My veil is protection for the gorgeousness of my face.
You want to pity me ‘cause was arranged one man to love,
But in the bedroom, the size of him’s more than enough.

Enigma pop star is fun, she wear burqa for fashion:
It’s not a statement as much as just a move of passion.
I may not walk on your street or shoot a gun on your soil.
I hear you screaming: is it because of pleasure or toil?

Dance.
Sex.
Art.
Pop.
Tech.

Do you wanna see me naked, lover?
Do you wanna peek underneath the cover?
Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura,
Behind the aura?
Do you wanna touch me cosmic, lover?
Do you wanna peek underneath the cover?
Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura,
Behind the aura, behind the curtain, behind the burqa?
Oh!

Artpop!”

[ Aura – Lady Gaga ]

Here we go: Artpop has been around for a month now, and I couldn’t miss to draw some inspiration from it to go on with my Lady Gaga-inspired series. Despite my initial less-than-warm reaction to the album, with a few listens I started to get into it and discover the magic of most of its songs, with the result that I’m already full of ideas for related photos.

On the other hand, as I mentioned on Facebook, I’ve decided that whenever I feel too depressed I’m going to take some self-portrait to raise my mood. I started this week, and I decided to shoot Aura first.

Now, the problem with many of Artpop’s songs is they’re very specific about Gaga and leave little space for personalisation and re-interpretation. I can still relate to many of them, but not to the level I did Born This Way or The Fame Monster. Well, Aura is somewhere in-between too personal and relatable. Despite being written about a woman (well, about Gaga herself), I can still see myself in its lyrics. Let’s just say I know well the whole idea of hiding behind a mask (even a negative one as a burka) to protect myself. If we wanted to twist the key-line I used as a starting point for my photo, “my bitchness is protection for the gorgeousness of my heart”. So, here I am modelling for this photo.

Of course, given the feminine subtext of the song, I opted to go back to looking as androgynous as I haven’t in ages – the last time I wore sharp eyeliner must have been around 2011 – but I decided to keep my beard on because, well, I’m not a woman after all. And because I wanted to point out how songs written from a feminine point of view can apply to men as well.

On a side note, at first, I had thought of quoting some famous painting too, which I’m going to do in some other Artpop photos, but I eventually scrapped the idea and just turned Aura on full volume and let it inspire me there and then. I find the result very satisfying and I’m glad this is how I’m opening Gaga’s new era, photography-wise.

Taurus

“When you touch me, I die
Just a little inside.
I wonder if this could be love,
This could be love.”

[ Venus – Lady Gaga ]

Sign of the Muse
Element: Earth
Secondary element: Soil
Planet: Venus
Alignment: Dark

A Dark-aligned Earth sign which represents the fertile Soil, it comes from the constellation of the Bull. It is called the Sign of the Muse because a Taurus often behaves like a blank canvas on which people project their own wishes and inspirations. Its ruling planet, Venus, makes is a sultry seducer in touch with its feminine side. Hedonistic and usually very physical, it is something of a serial collector: of food, of beautiful things, of beautiful people.

The second work for The Zodiacs is also the second sign of the Zodiac, Taurus. As for Gemini, I suggest that you go and read the entry on The Gay Boy’s Guide to the Zodiac for a much more insightful descritpion of the sign, and to see where I drew inspiration from to create the symbolism for this sign.
With this said, Taurus was one of the first ideas I had for this series, basically because it was the first entry I read on the blog. Indeed, it was Knajfer who sent me the link in the first place (after we had a conversation about the position of Lilith at our birth). So I could blame it on him for having the idea and I single-handed hired him for the project. Physically speaking he perfectly fits the modelesque-but-not-too-though Taurus bodyframe, his character totaly epitomises the Taurus boy, he is a very sexy person to be around and we could easily reach a wood-like park, so who better than him? That was an easy choice.

As for the symbolism, Taurus was another sign that presented me the challenge to give a visual rendition including a person (and not an animal) and no photoshop. Given I wanted to shoot it in the middle of a wood, at first I simply figured out I would find something to hang or lay in the background which, with the right perspective and amount of bokeh, could recall horns atop Knajfer’s head. Once we got to the location and started exploring it, were blessed to find a huge dead tree lying on the forest floor with those horn-like roots (and we also found it very quickly). The only catch was that it lied some five meters from a path with little bushy coverage in-between, but the funny thing is, despite several joggers and random people with dogs passing by, no one noticed us.
One thing I’d like to point out is the earring, which I crafted myself with seven pearls shaped as the Pleiades: it is a nod to the Taurus constellation, which features that amazing cluster.

On a side note, despite choosing a Lady Gaga song for this sign (the choice was quite obvious, given Venus is Taurus’ planet), this photo is not part of my Artpop Generation series. It’s just coincidence.
Also, I unfortunately doubt I’m going to progress with this series in the next few months because, as bad a bitch as I am, I can’t ask my models to pose naked outdoors in winter (I mean, I would, but no one’d comply). Knajfer and I were lucky enough to shoot in an all in all warm day, but I doubt this will happen in December, January or February. So just wish me luck in finding models for a couple of signs I can do indoors, or... well, see you next spring!

The Infernal Lords XXV: Murmur

“Melodic stanzas symphonising their way
Through your weary head.

Leaning over your fourtieth masterpiece,
You must have loved the colour of these violins.

I wish you knew your music was to stay forever.”
[ Travel – The Gathering ]

Count Murmur is a Second-level Demon who was formerly the Second-in-Command of Cherubim. He is the Demon of Music and therefore, along with Count Kobal and Count Naberius, one of the three Demons of Art. While still in Heaven, he was assigned the duty to direct the Angels’ praise of Yahweh’s name through Music. Initially, Music was indeed supposed to only exist in Heaven and have no other purpose than to please Yahweh, but when Count Murmur was cast out of Heaven for following Emperor Lucifer in the Great Heavenly War, not only did he bring Music along to Hell, but in retaliation he taught the Mortals how to create instruments and play them, totally spoiling their holy dimension and making them mundane. When Duke Azazel realised the potential of inspiration as a trigger to have Mortals sell their souls to Hell, he and Count Murmur refined a plan to include the Arts in the Goetic Scheme, opening a way for Mortals to summon the three Demons of Arts and be granted their protection in exchange for their souls.
Although not quite as much as Count Kobal, Count Murmur, too, often takes care of Mortals even when not summoned. Contrary to his two friends and colleagues, though, when he does so he occasionally lets go of his unaware victims, especially when they’re particularly bright, leaving them to lead a normal and still inspired life. Nevertheless, if his protégés turn out to be unworthy of his gift, he’s quick to turn their life into a living hell.
Count Murmur’s Elemental power is Sound and he’s able to create both music and noise without any instrument; as his sound waves need Air to spread, though, his Element is subject to Duke Astaroth’s jurisdiction. Beside their elemental connection, another reason for the close bond between them is the Duke of Terror’s love for Music, which makes Count Murmur the perfect companion to loather time with. In addition to his Goetic duties, Count Murmur is also appointed the Conductor of the Infernal Orchestra, which makes him part of Emperor Lucifer’s close entourage and one of the main entertainer of the Court of Pandemonium.

Murmur: development and symbolism

Credits:

Photo, concept, manipulation, frame design: GothicNarcissus

Model, hair, make up: Knajfer Wintermere

Styling: Knajfer Wintermere and GothicNarcissus
Assistant: Dani Foca
Additional resources: Princess-of-Shadows (texture), Thy-Darkest-Hour (wings), sxc.hu (wallpaper)

Apparently, in these last few weeks I’m finally up to shooting a bunch of photos whose ideas are now years old, both outside and inside the Infernal Lords project. Murmur is one of those. I recall he was the first Demon of the Arts I came across and he gave me the idea for summonable Art-related Demons, which also include Kobal and Naberius. A Demon with the power to teach music to mortals was just too fascinating to be left out. I also remember having the very idea you can see in the photo as early as summer 2010, which was also when I met Knajfer and decided he was the perfect fit for the role. What on earth kept me from doing it earlier, then? Honestly, I don’t know. There were some organisation issues to be handled with care, since my idea involved several persons at one time, but nothing really impossible to overcome. Perhaps, given the importance of music in my life, I just wanted to make sure this work turned out perfect, so I kept waiting until I felt ready. Surely, this paid off, as in three years I’ve become much better both as a photographer and digital artist, and Knajfer’s fashion sense has improved remarkably.

Modern depiction of Murmur as described in the Lesser Key Of Solomon.

An important thing to say, which influenced the aesthetics of this work quite heavily, is that when I started planning this work, I was just in the middle of my most gothic phase. I was going to do a music-related, gothic-looking Demon, so what was the trendiest musical instrument in the scene? Why, the violin, of course; you know, Vampire Lestat, Victoria Francés and all that stuff. Well, that was the first instrument I decided not to use, as I was fed up with it even then. The best thing I could think of for the subject was a harp, and I happened to have a friend, Dani, who used to play it and still owned one. With such a beautiful and important instrument in my image, I could have both an immediate yet not worn-out symbol and spectacular aesthetics in one single move – amazing!
That was perfect, except for several months I just couldn’t schedule a moment when all three of us could be there and shoot. I eventually shelved the idea for a while because I was not in a very Infernal Lord mood for most of 2012, then there was the 2013 hiatus until I finally decided to round everybody up and go for it without further delay.
The shoot went extremely smooth and I had the right photo after just a few attempts. Indeed, the hardest part was to find a way to set the black background in the room, so you can imagine how well everything went. I’d like to especially thank Dani for being so kind to lend me her harp for the photo and give us some advice about how to make Knajfer look like he was really playing (which he “did”, the vibrating string you can see is real). It wouldn’t have looked the same without it, ‘cause blending a stock photo would have been difficult and surely not as good-looking as the real one.

As for the rest, I took Murmur’s seal directly from The Lesser Key Of Solomon with no changes. Although it is an image with a rather wide chromatic range, especially if compared to the other works of the series, brown is the main colour because I wanted a frame which recalled the wood of the harp. Travel by The Gathering was my first, immediate choice for a theme song, because it has some of the most amazing lyrics about music I have ever read.