Allerleirauh | Grimm Fairy Tales | Fort Bliss, El Paso Stylized Portrait Session Photographer

Books were a major part of my childhood.  I could lose myself in the pages of a good story.  I would read beloved novels or short story collections over and over until the covers were falling off and the bindings loose.  I had quite a few books with a lovely brown masking tape spine.

Perhaps the most loved and tattered of my books are my collections of fairy tales.  Hans Christian Anderson and, a bit later, the brothers Grimm are likely at least partially responsible for my sense of responsibility.  After all, many of their writings are cautionary tales concerning the consequences of the character's actions.  As an aspiring artist, many of their tales resonated with me and instilled in me a desire to create.  The imagery in some of the lesser known stories stayed with me for years; I wanted to be able to spin a likewise enthralling thread.

Allerleirauh (known by several names, among them Manypelts) was one of the first Grimm tales that I read that did not have a Disney adaptation.  It likely never will.  There are elements of it in the beginning that would have to be very skewed to be considered child-friendly.  But the visual elements in the story beg to be brought to life, from the mantle to the gorgeous gowns to the three golden items (a ring, a reel, and a spindle).  I had to do some improvising, and quite a bit of modernizing, to bring this last minute session to life, but with the help of my amazing model and oodles of determination, we got it done.  And I couldn't be happier with the results.