Skulls, Bones and Belly Dancing

I started my career shooting covers for heavy metal music magazines, and one of things I loved about this was the sheer unbridled visual creativity. Many metal bands are keenly aware of the power of image and have very strong visual identities, and it was always a pleasure to work with a band like Slipknot or Behemoth who brought such strong imagery to the table and understood the power of a really good shoot.

So when I had the chance to work with dancer and performer Leah Debrincat it was like going back to my roots. Leah has created a series of amazing costumes and headpieces, intricately detailed, that have ribcage-like chest pieces and skull-like face coverings, and I loved the imagery and the feelings it conjured up.

It felt fitting to keep the images looking quite dark and mysterious almost as though the viewer had stumbled across the priestess of some ancient god, and so for her red costume I lit her with quite moody, red tinted lighting, but also projected a big bright circle onto the wall behind her to frame her, and create tonal contrast. I also played with having her emerging from clouds of smoke, partially obscuring her. I guess I was subconsciously channelling Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, with it's evil cultists lit by undegound lava pits.