Cemtery Girls, the Buffy Connection...
I've been wanting to write a bit of a formal paper explaining the influences that Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) has had on my Cemetery Girls project for some time now, but have floundered every time I've tried to start it. Part of where the desire to write this "paper" comes from was in wanting to offer an explanation to Juliet Landau (Drusilla, from BtVS) in my attempts to attract her into becoming a participant in the project. I probably misfired some of my ideas to her though in my personal communications because I vaguely referred to "her" as a subconscious influence on where my original inspiration for this photo project came from, when in reality, it is the "many girls" of BtVS that float around in my subconscious inspirational playgrounds and drawing boards. I would like to have an opportunity to photograph, not only Juliet but also any of the other actresses that were involved in Joss Whedon's masterpiece of pop-cultural reflections on why girls are fascinated by cemeteries.
Ok, I've taken that a bit further into a personal interpretation than Joss probably originally intended, but this is my point in why I want to write out a "letter of explanation" of how Buffy influenced my choice to make this art project a lifelong obsession. Right now, this blog entry is only an attempt to stir the waters of my ideas. I've been wanting to write this "letter to Juliet" for over a year now and every time I sit down and start it I choke because I'm frightened about trying to impress her. And then when I met her in San Francisco in November, well, that was the last time I had any communication with her. I gave her a copy of my Cemetery Girls book, thinking that would make her a little more interested in possibly working with me, but she never made further communication with me either.
Since then I have pretty much lost all my juice about working with models in Los Angeles. Earlier last year I had also made an approach to the actress Amber Benson, another BtVS alum but she gave me zero response. Never even received an acknowledgement letter that she had read my proposal about wanting to photograph her. At least Juliet has professional decency to respond to private messages, even if they are one line affirmations that she has read your letter or looked at your photographs.
So I don't know. It takes a lot of energy to build up an ambition to pursue a goal. A lot of mental energy, a lot of energy of spirit, and a lot of physical energy. I spent a lot last year going after those ideas and with the little or zero feedback response I got, I don't have much reason to believe that trying with any of them anymore is worth my time. Hell, I still go through frustrations of trying to get local girls to model for my project. There are so many potential models right here in the town that I live in but they just won't commit to doing a shoot. 30 miles away though, girls from Oakland are so easy to schedule. A new model just wrote to me this morning and we have booked a shoot for her two weeks from now. And I know she'll be great.
I'll keep kicking this idea about writing this BtVS proposal. Maybe I'll get it into the right hands and someone will "get it". Eliza Dushku has been kicking around a lot lately on Facebook and Twitter. Maybe I should go to her.
Ok, I've taken that a bit further into a personal interpretation than Joss probably originally intended, but this is my point in why I want to write out a "letter of explanation" of how Buffy influenced my choice to make this art project a lifelong obsession. Right now, this blog entry is only an attempt to stir the waters of my ideas. I've been wanting to write this "letter to Juliet" for over a year now and every time I sit down and start it I choke because I'm frightened about trying to impress her. And then when I met her in San Francisco in November, well, that was the last time I had any communication with her. I gave her a copy of my Cemetery Girls book, thinking that would make her a little more interested in possibly working with me, but she never made further communication with me either.
Since then I have pretty much lost all my juice about working with models in Los Angeles. Earlier last year I had also made an approach to the actress Amber Benson, another BtVS alum but she gave me zero response. Never even received an acknowledgement letter that she had read my proposal about wanting to photograph her. At least Juliet has professional decency to respond to private messages, even if they are one line affirmations that she has read your letter or looked at your photographs.
So I don't know. It takes a lot of energy to build up an ambition to pursue a goal. A lot of mental energy, a lot of energy of spirit, and a lot of physical energy. I spent a lot last year going after those ideas and with the little or zero feedback response I got, I don't have much reason to believe that trying with any of them anymore is worth my time. Hell, I still go through frustrations of trying to get local girls to model for my project. There are so many potential models right here in the town that I live in but they just won't commit to doing a shoot. 30 miles away though, girls from Oakland are so easy to schedule. A new model just wrote to me this morning and we have booked a shoot for her two weeks from now. And I know she'll be great.
I'll keep kicking this idea about writing this BtVS proposal. Maybe I'll get it into the right hands and someone will "get it". Eliza Dushku has been kicking around a lot lately on Facebook and Twitter. Maybe I should go to her.
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