villains – Daru Photography

Adventures of Daru Presents: In The Studio

Episode 1, Bad Rabbit

Hello one and all. I thought it was about time to give a glimpse into some of my conceptual work. This is the work where I get to just be free and create whatever random inspiration flows through my mind. One great part of being a photographer is being able to create characters and images that tell stories. These are photos from a series I’m currently working on. This series features various masked characters. Some from popular media, some born from the mind of a photographer that also reads the occasional comic book. Ok… a lot of comic books.

The Concept

I think there is something powerful about masks. They don’t just hide. They reveal. They reveal a persona that lies within. I think masks show the truth of a person. They give the wearer a certain fearlessness. Or maybe I just think masks are cool and fun to create from.

During this shoot I got to let my inner comic book geek run free. I knew that I wanted to create a villain. A female villain to be precise. She would be a woman that definitely means trouble for anyone that crosses her. What makes this character so interesting to me is the odd combination of contrasting content. Her slight frame, bunny mask, spike earrings, baseball bat, and her almost lifeless skin and dark lips gives a very eerie appearance. Nonsensical. It is the absurd combination of these elements that makes this image unsettling.

Another goal was to find a way to build even more suspense. I wanted create a sense of place without using an actual location. The absence of a background gives a certain tension, giving the viewer a feeling of coming across her in some dark alley. Her stepping out of darkness, lit only by neon signs and a street light. We were able to pull this off with the use of lighting. A few colored gels emulates the glow from neon signs at night and a beauty dish creates the look of light shining from a the street lamp.

The Team

What’s also great about being a photographer is being able to work with other creative and cool people to bring concepts like these to life. Especially a team that gets your vision. Our model for the shoot, Alicia, completely got the character. I think this character very much came from a place within her as well. She channeled that inner bad@ss. Hey it also helps that she has a bit of comic geek in her as well. Yup. Nice!

Model: Alicia Raye (thanks for making this so much fun, you’re a bad@ss)

Makeup provided by the great and talented Ronnie of Blush Bijou

Let’s Hear From You.
What kind of comic book villain would you be?