I Killed the King With My Lies

At this point Tracy and I had been shooting for years. I shot this in my downstairs apartment on a huge canvas. It was the second attempt at this project. The first attempt was one of the few times we didn’t connect in the years we had been shooting together.

We’ve shot in remote places, shot at sunrise in deserts where they tested missiles, shot in the smelliest alleyways in Venice, 12 hour car rides to find covered bridges, brought wedding dresses and Venetian masks to the Valley of Fire….But this shot we found down a flight of stairs from my apartment.

Originally intended to be more punk inspired. It just didn’t work out that way. We produced something more unique. Was a mess cleaning up the wig after. We’ve gone through about 50 wigs through the years. All different wigs started to show up when I got bored of photographing her as a blond.

She re-invented herself and her characters with the wigs. Her green eyes become more intense with a black wig. Seeing her with a black wig created a different personality to me. Something more wicked than I knew her as…….

This was the final edited shot used Striptease Burlesque. But we could also exhibit this session as it’s own series. We both were caught by her finger covering the mouth. It was one of those moments not planned for. The next frame has no finger over the mouth. It has a very different feeling. The curve of the body looks beautiful. It’s one of the best shots we’ve done. I remember shooting this frame. A moment I will not forget. I immediately looked for this frame on the contact sheet when I processed the negatives.