Rachael arrived with her staggeringly long and lush, blonde mane. She’s beautiful and fresh-faced and smiley and I knew at once these were the things I’d concentrate on. She’s an artist and pretty quirky. She liked my idea to go completely off-piste and revisit some of the surrealism that I’ve explored in my sculptures. Her long braid reminded me of an eel and so I shot it like that. Then I spread out her hair in tendrils to make the octopus. Her flowing hair looks like it’s underwater so that whole effect works really well. I took loads of shots of her face in each pose until I got just the right expressions. The chasing Octopus mischievously smiles, her stare fixed on the Eel’s tale. The Eel, seemingly oblivious, swims and smiles innocently, staring upwards as if in thought or a daydream. It’s such a fun, whimsical piece. It makes me laugh.
