Getting Ready with Erica

Erica is a true artist. She labors over her photographs like a mother tending to her children. She creates images from her dreams and a rich bank of strange and timeless ideas that float about her beautiful, bright head. When I asked if I could photograph her getting ready for the day, she generously accepted and mindfully spent the morning with me tidying up her quirky apartment.

Objects were found in curious, new spaces moved from their rightful positions by a rambunctious toddler the weekend before. Her giant cats (99% soft fluffy fur) lounged comfortably among the treasure trove of collectables, warming themselves in the ever-evasive Seattle sun that peeked through the thick-glass windows. She made me a cup of tea, put on her makeup, tousled her hair up into a perfectly, imperfect curly tower. Also a dancer, it was hard to capture her unposed and perfect. But I persistently followed her about till the end of the day.

The more Erica relaxed, the more candid the photos became. She even shared photos of her former teenage self with me. Somehow every photo looked like it might have been from a 20's erotica notebook, tarnished and fading. And none of them even bared a small resemblance to her and it occurred to me, "Some people are ever-changing." Good then that I was recording this capsule of her life. These are the photos that we took.