I recently stumbled upon these images again when sorting through my archive and realised I had never shown them publicly. Ephyra and I took the opportunity when I moved studios some time ago to reflect on the way we collaborate. That collaboration culminated in this shoot. Amongst a thousand other reasons I have always been drawn to Ephyra for her physical expression, she's like my opposite. Where I am staid, heady and distant she is grounded, physical and present. She is so vital, so alive! So real!

Its occured to me that these missing links might be key to many a photographer-model relationship. Of course, Ephyra is also one of my closest friends and is so beyond the reality of our collaborations. I therefore hazard to ever reduce our relationship to photographer/model, because it simply isn't that way. Our collaborations are born of our friendship rather than the other way round.

I highly recommend the essay Between the Wall and the Floor by Eugenie Shinkle for a better exploration of this dynamic of photographic collaborations of 90s fashion photographers and their models .

This shoot was a reaction to the idea of physicality, dance, movement in images and our strengths individually. We were inspired by the 'Hexantanz' dance of Mary Wigman, better known as the Witch Dance, a touch-stone creative force for us both. 

Ephyra however, as always, puts it best here...

"Shot by beloved Ellen Rogers perhaps 6 years ago, affected by Mary Wigman’s Hexentanz. You can have your ritual tools but your body is already the elements."

Affect is of course the perfect word.