Ode to Enchantment

 

Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace. - Eugene O’Neill

 

Ode to Enchantment explores the puzzle of childhood, when magic and reality mingle in a whimsical, sometimes disquieting dance. This body of work includes both the familiar and the uncanny. Each photograph is a portal to a moment suspended in time and space, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur. The images are dreamlike and haunting, capturing a world that is both a playground and a labyrinth. I draw inspiration from literature, myth, personal memories and from the children that I photograph. These subjects, often pictured in moments of solitary contemplation or portrayed in surreal scenes, embody the tension between curiosity and fear, the ordinary and the extraordinary. The lack of color in the photographs as well as the shallow focus and quirky characteristics created by antique lenses help to make the images timeless and transport them from reality to a metaphorical realm where anything can happen. I often experience things that are beyond my understanding. I’m always seeking this invisible connection, which touches something eternal, something not man made. I think all great writing and art touches this ethereal and mystical force that exists beneath the mundane and the superficial. Not everyone will see it.

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Pigment prints on Hahnemühle photo rag baryta (315 gsm, 100% cotton) available in two sizes: 11"x11" and 20"x 20,” for edition number and to purchase, email anne.ellis.berry@gmail.com.