Friday, January 30, 2004

hey,
i am going to maine for 4 days, i have no idea what my internet situation will be, so if i don't recieve or answer mail in that time dont worry, its just because i am even deeper in the sticks than i am now.
posted by Ms_Bunnie 4:35 AM
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Thursday, January 29, 2004

by the way i really wasnt being snarky in that last post, i just wanted to get things cleared up about who take the photos, and then honestly just share the process. so many people want decent photos of themselves to put on the web and don't know how to get them. i mean really, arent we all sick of seeing the digital camera in the mirror? here's a trick i know, if you dont have a screen that flips out so you can check your shot while you are in it, just set a mirror behind your camera and use it to look at the screen and frame your shot. hit the timer and you are gold. thats how i used to shoot all of my early ones, before i started hooking them up to televisions for the big screen effect. woo, that tv connection sure does make my life easier.

i admit i do get my feathers a little ruffled when people think someone else took the pictures here. not because i am desperate for credit, but just because i think the idea that i would PAY someone to take these kinds of photos would be really wierd. its strange enough that i do it to myself, how much worse would it be if i paid someone? too creepy and self obsessed even for me...ick.

ahh yes, and i would like to give a big hello to jason scott of birmingham. he sent me a lovely minidisc of his house music and we have been enjoying it around the house. anyone in the area (or not) interested in his stuff can email me and i will pass it on to him...thanks jason!!!
posted by Ms_Bunnie 3:31 PM
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Wednesday, January 28, 2004

i am not sure where all of the confusion is coming from, i keep getting emails from people asking me who took my photos, and where i had them "done".

i take the photos.
i take the photos of myself, by myself.
i also take the ones of everyone else on here, most of whom are friends or family.

i will be happy to deliniate the process for anyone who gives a fuck or wants to try it themselves. some happen on a whim and are completed in under a day, the recent man drag photo happened in 2 hours, the outdoor vacuum cleaner shot was done in 20 minutes and it is one of my favorites. others take weeks to get correct and i have others that have been in production for months and are, for various reasons, still waiting to be shot. anyway here you go:

i come up with an idea (this is both the easiest and hardest part)
i sketch out what i want it to look like
i make a list of the costumes/props i will need to execute the idea and then track them down.
i set up the scene, usually in my bedroom, though i occassionaly borrow friends homes.
set up the tripod, attach camera and frame the shot.
get dressed, get in frame and hit the self timer.

voila.



posted by Ms_Bunnie 8:30 AM
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Sunday, January 25, 2004

i get a pretty decent amount of mail, most of it is full of praise and encouragment, and whoo boy i love that, positive feedback keeps me going when i want to throw in the towel, but this morning i got an email of a sightly different variety. not critical, not mean, but he definately wanted me to explain a few things. his questions were relevent so i have reposted (most) of our correspondence.

Hi

I read your \"about me\" page and I read some of your blog.

I\'m sorry to read about your fucked up life when you were living in NYC. I\'m glad you outta that - but I just don\'t get why you maintain ties with it by dressing up and having photos taken of yourself in prop clothes/heroin chic/etc.

I\'m as open minded as the next person, but if you\'re pleased your out of that scene, why not cut all links with it entirly? Leave the heroin chic and the mind fucky attitude?

I\'m not implying you should do the above by means of asking questions, I\'m generally unsure as to why you are like what you are like.

Anyway whatever you do I wish you all the best for the future.


B

my response:
hi b
firstly, let me thank you for writing me the first really interesting email off my site ever. 99.9 % of the mail i get is from people telling me how much they like what i do, and hey, i am certainly not complaining about that, but a little dissenting opinion is good. it forces you to look at your work and your words with fresh eyes. debate is good, it keeps you sharp.

now on to the topic at hand.

please please please do NOT feel sorry for me about my "fucked up life", because i certainly am not. i cherish every experience i had, i have seen and done more in those years than a lot people have their entire life. i do not make that statement out of left field either, i know from the mail i get from some people at the middle/golden years of their life telling me how many regrets they have for the things they wish they had done. i regret nothing, not even the most painful bits, and there were plenty, but there was also more than my share of fun. we are talking studio 54 sized fun.

but i digress. you wanted to know why if it was all so horrible i do not just cut ties...the short answer is because it wasn't so horrible. and besides, there was really nothing to cut ties with, i was mind fucky before i got to nyc so it stands to reason i would be after i left. i was born like this, you can even ask my mom. in fact, if you reread my bio you will see that i deliberately went to nyc to find other like mind fucky individuals. my time there with them allowed me to experiment and develop what has become my personal vision/aesthetic. some people go to university, i went to nightclubs. the end result is essentially the same.

i am slightly confused by your repeated reference to heroin chic. that was a real 90's look and i think i can safely say there is no evidence of that in my photos. heroin chic is based on uber skinny hollow eyed fashionista junkies, which i may have resembled somewhere in 1996, but as the size of my ass will attest is no longer the case. i do not promote or reflect the use of heroin in my photography, i do not wax nostalgic, it was a dark time in my life, but i report it because it happened.

i take the photos in the prop clothes because...well, mostly because i enjoy it. i like being able to indulge my imagination and play out little mental scenarios. it's fun. besides, i have all these clothes and things lying around, i might as well use them. taking photos of myself is a way to reinvent myself on a regular basis, i can be anyone i want, the bored 60's housewife waiting to meet her lover, the washed up show girl about to get murdered, a day in the life of my ex boyfriend...whatever i want. some of the photos aren't for me, many of them are private messages to people in my life, its a way to express humor and affection. for example, i started the pin ups as a means of sending visual love letters to my (now) husband when we were dating long distance. my photographs can serve any purpose i wish them to, the possibilities limitless.

so you see, i am not tied to my past, my history liberates me, it has taught me how to be free both as an artist and a person. i don't know why i am the way i am, a combination of nature and nurture just like everyone else i guess.

sorry for the excessive length of this letter, but you asked some big questions so you got some big answers. i hope this clears thing up a little but if not i am happily here for further dialogue.
i wish you all the best in return
bunnie

posted by Ms_Bunnie 9:44 AM
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