Dark Beauty, Finely Balanced: An Interview with Elizabeth Perrin
I love fashion magazine editorials. There is something exquisite about gorgeous clothes on gorgeous girls in gorgeous settings. But there is often something lacking. The girls know they’re pretty, the clothes are pristine and pretty, and the settings range from country jaunt, to urban jungle tamer, to leaping in front of a blank wall. They’re nice pictures. But they don’t pull my heart out and offer it as a sacrifice to the God of All That is Gorgeous and Frivolous.
Once upon a time photographs said something. Something like. . . this:
"Thana, the beautiful Sea Siren" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
It’s a fashion photograph, but also a story. It’s as far from vintage Vogue as you can get but it evokes timeless feelings with it’s timeless beauty. It has my heart on a stake and it’s marching it to the altar. It is with giddy delight that I introduce you to the storyteller behind this photograph.
Elizabeth Perrin was born in New Orleans, a charmed city where magic is believed and enchantments, naughty and nice, entice and where inhabitants become accustomed to seeing the magical in the mundane. Elizabeth has worked in media and film, in front of and behind the camera, for over twenty years. You’d imagine that the woman entering the small Williamsburg bistro would be blasé, beautiful in the way only a retired model can be, and toting an attitude that stretches from sea to shining sea. You’d be wrong (except for the beauty.) Far from jaded, her fascination with the magic of photography remains potent, as does her charm and warmth.
"Amy, the Sea Siren Recreating Herself" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
I think you can tell a lot about someone by her childhood memories. Elizabeth characterizes her childhood as “just like The Secret Garden.” Her neighbours had a private garden, walled-off and mysterious that, when the neighbours moved, Elizabeth claimed as her own. She held court with overgrown flower bushes and teeming fruit trees from her throne in the magnolia tree. Imagine the new homeowners walking into the deserted garden, approaching the magnolia tree, and being greeted by a young girl staring down at them with a wary “Hello.”
©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
Earlier, when Elizabeth described watching her father develop film in his darkroom, the hypnotizing “ca-clink ca-clink” of the film canisters and the gradual appearance of pictures from the wet paper, I was so transported I could smell the developer.
It would be easy to dismiss these stories as nostalgia except they offer a real glimpse at what sets Elizabeth’s work apart. The mediums might have changed, but her perception of the alchemy of photographic art remains and evolves.
“Has digital photography removed the magic?” I asked her.
“No, photoshop is pretty magical,” she responded with a laugh.
“You have to be willing to work with the mistakes. Technology is great, but you have to find a balance. Some of my favourite photographs came from mistakes. First, I make sure that I have the shot that I want. Then I play around with the mistakes. For example, the series of photographs where the number is superimposed at the top came from a mistake. The ink printed on the film leader got tangled in the emulsion and bled through. The photograph of Amy recreating herself also came from a mistake. Working with the mistakes rather than trying to erase them ensures that the technology doesn’t overrun the artistry.”
"Sleepwalker in Time Zone, Spacial Shift Zone" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved
Narrative plays a central role in Elizabeth’s photographs. There is a large does of Southern Gothic sensibility in her work. There are beautiful women who look proper but feel dangerous, chivalrous men whose eyes are anything but gentlemanly, and a constant, gorgeous tension between the beautiful image we see and the story we want to hear.
"Hollie with Coffee Prepares for the First Scene" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
I assumed that it would take a lot of preparation to get the model in the right mood. “How do you ensure that the models and stylists are on the same page as you, narrative-wise? Do you give them mood boards, play specific music, or give them some sort of homework?”
She laughed. “I don’t do a lot of preparation for the models. If they get too into the story and show too much emotion it actually hurts the photo – it’s no longer a fashion photograph. With the stylists and make-up artists, however, I provide mood boards and extensive preparations to make sure we’re on the same page. If the stylist pulls clothes that I don’t like I don’t have the luxury of not using them. I have to make it work. But I also have to make sure that the story doesn’t become the focus. Fashion photography is about the clothes – most editors actually prefer editorials shot in front of a plain background because it allows the clothes to pop the most.”
"Hollie Beauty" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
Part of what makes Elizabeth’s photographs interesting is this tension. There is not only the tension from the narrative (“I am very intrigued by mythological characters, especially the idea of the good girl vs. the bad girl”) but the tension from allowing the photograph to tell a story without compromising its viability as a fashion photograph. Her work finds this balance – it tells a story beyond another pretty woman in pretty clothes.
"Hollie as Hollie" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved
Elizabeth started her career in Los Angeles working in film and advertising. Her background behind the movie camera is apparent in her photographs. She cites Fellini and Krzysztof Kieślowski as inspiration and their influence is apparent in her tongue-in-cheek compositions and use of visual metaphors. But her experience making a reel of work provided her an even more important, albeit less glamorous, lesson: She learned to trust her own instincts.
“I spent thousands of dollars and many years working on a reel of clips that I thought reflected what other people wanted – the kind of work I assumed potential clients would want. And then I realized that I had a reel of work that didn’t really reflect who I was as an artist and wasn’t the type of work I was really interested in doing. I spent $60k on a reel of work I didn’t love. I learned that that wasn’t the way to work.
Florian. ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
“When I started taking photography seriously I decided to focus on what I wanted to create. I didn’t show anyone my work for a year. I just worked and learned as I went along and kept my photographs very private. I gave myself the space to explore what I wanted to do. I only told the stories and took the pictures that I wanted to capture, the pictures that I loved. It was freeing.
“People will hire me based on the work that I’ve done, so it might as well be the work that I am interested in and love doing.”
Florian. ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
As the talk turned to films, I asked Elizabeth about the main differences between film and photography.
“They are both ways to tell a story, but film tells a story over time. Most of my favourite films aren’t story-based so much as they’re composed of images that wash over you to give an impression. Film is about capturing images and building a story or mood with the images over a period of time. In photography you have only one instant to capture a story. In photography I plan out the story, the mood, so that I can capture that single instant. In film I capture images; in photography I capture instants.”
"Jana Classic" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
"Jana Abstract" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
"Kate the Evil Witch Lifts the Veil" ©Elizabeth Perrin. All rights reserved.
The Yell Softly Questions
What are your necessities? keys, cell keys, lip gloss, bed & board, nutritious food, friends, family, good health, cash, and a camera.
Nothing smells better than. . . night-blooming jasmine
Nothing tastes better than. . . soup dumplings
Nothing feels better than . . . love
I’d rather live than die.
If you could live in any other epoch, which would it be? The 30s or the time of Atlantis
What work of art or literature (a book, song, poem etc.) changed your life? T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets
If you could jump into any painting, à la Mary Poppins, which would you choose?
Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” It’ so mysterious, like the beginning of a story. You could start a whole book with the scene. Start by going in and sitting down next to the single man at the counter. . .
"Nighthawks" (1942) by Edward Hopper. Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved.
Elizabeth’s portfolios and bio can be found at her website, www.ElizabethPerrin.com. I highly recommend setting aside a good half hour where you can sit, breathless. Please contact her before reproducing any of these photographs. Many, many thanks to Elizabeth for her time and photographs.
***UPDATE: Elizabeth has started a blog, Perrin’s Pix, featuring more of her work.***
awww Elizabeth, that was lovely.
Another great piece, but those photos are what really grabbed me. They blew me away….gorgeous!