Following a successful first set of photoshoots, rising sophomore Sarah Johnson is preparing to continue her project in which she hand makes costumes and then photographs students from the theater department in them.
During the spring semester, Johnson completed several shoots of various Disney characters at locations around Nashville. The characters included Alice, the Mad Hatter, Belle, Ariel, Tarzan, and Jane.
“The first round went really well. Johnson said “I was blessed with actors willing to give a lot to the characters and work very well with an amateur photographer to create magic for a few moments, enough to capture and share with others.”
Johnson faced several challenges along the way, including hand sewing costumes after her sewing maching broke and photographing Lacy Hartselle underwater as Ariel. Johnson purchased a waterproof camera case, which had a built in floatation device.
“I had to physically push the case underwater and hold it down while trying to take pictures and not resurface. Johnson said “Each time we went under, we only had about a 7 to10 second interval to get pictures before I was pushed to the surface again. [Lacy] worked equally hard, trying to swim with her legs in a tail and keep her wig on, all while looking like a princess.”
An additional challenge she faced was directing the actors about what to do and how to pose. She often gave them free reign as their characters and captured the moments as they happened.
Despite the challenges involved, the end results have surpassed Johnson’s expectations.
“I’ve loved every one thus far. Johnson said “Each character or set of characters has come to life, beyond my expectations. Belle and I, for example, went to the Opryland Hotel and wandered about in the atmosphere. Many people asked to take her picture and kids gasped quietly as she passed. That’s just one of the many moments that were unexpected results of following through with this project”.
Following the completion of the photoshoots, Johnson sold some of the costumes to the actors and has repurposed the others for future projects. Doing so helps cover the cost of making the costumes, which she spent over $80 on last semester.
She is currently working on the preparations for a second set of characters that she hopes to photograph within the first couple of months of this fall semester. The characters will include senior Andrew Johnson as Kronk, senior Scout Pittman as Maleficent and junior Bekah Purifoy as Yzma.