Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s brilliance and his most charming creation Cthulhu – Here is a series of photos created with my friend Adam for the holidays.
Eggnog
Group Action
Mistletoe
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Krampus _ photographs by AndyToad
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My friend Adam and I recently got together for a photo shoot with the goal of depicting Krampus.
Krampus? You remember – the figure from Germanic lore associated with winter solstice, season change and fertility. Krampus chases away wicked spirits, assures a bountiful growing season, symbolizes a right of passage. Realize he comes from a pre-Christian time before pagan iconography was assimilated, adapted, and sometimes demonized… Eventually as different belief systems came and went, and sometimes tried to get along, Santa Claus and Krampus started playing the roles of good cop – bad cop. Krampus bears a switch and a basket/sack to carry off naughty children. In modern times there seems to be a resurgence of interest in the idea of Krampus. Austria has some fantastic festivals in his honor. Someday I have to make it to a proper Krampuslauf!
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Some old European Krampus greeting cards
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Some more of our Krampus below. (Photographed in Akron, Ohio, November 2012)
Rebekah as a Death Bug _ Photo: AndyToad
Chimeras, a photography project that I helped my friend Felipe Vasquez with, is featured in Dossier Journal : http://dossierjournal.com/look/photography/chimeras/
Felipe shot these photographs in Chile earlier this year. He and I worked together to realize the look of the characters which are based on ritual costume and supernatural figures of the world.
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Salamander
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Mandragora
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Lilith
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Some photographs in front of the apartment.
Yellow Two … photo: AndyToad
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Yellow Four … photo: AndyToad
Some photographs in the backyard.
Dark and Stormy Spring … photo: AndyToad
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Little Fly … photo: AndyToad
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Betty’s Birthday Portrait
Strange things happen in the back yard. _ photo: AndyToad
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Photograph by Kevin Knight
from his Heroes, Villians, Jedi series
