28/09/2020
Over the years I have photographed DOLLY BING BING numerous times, and over the years our friendship grew stronger and stronger.
Dolly was born out of an incredibly dark time, but Dolly and her family let me in. I was witness of the hardships, pain and sadness, but also of the love, tender care, devotion and strength.
In 2018 we did our last shoot together, but we never used them. Then recently I started working on this one below, as a small tribute to Dolly and her family.
DOLLY in VENUS VANITAS
💔🥀🐚🍌
Almost two years ago, some weeks before my husband died, in the deep dark of one of the most horrific periods in our lives, where our hearts and souls got fully crushed by desperation and the imminence of death, I somehow still had some courage and energy to do a very special photoshoot in our apartment where we then lived. The plan was to shoot a cover for my very first DOLLY EP. My dear friend, artist and photographer / .photo, shot the pictures, with her usual aesthetic sensitivity and deep eye. We ended up not using the stunning pictures because soon after the shoot the painful waves of turbulence, grief and change kicked in.
As a very personal tribute to the brutal contrasts and extrimities defining my life at that time, Rachel now revisited the pictures and created this very moving piece as a gift for me (and my husband). It's called DOLLY in VENUS VANITAS. If you look close, all its details and colorful beauty really expose the dark yet sexual foam where DOLLY was born from: a vulnerable scream for the juices of life and blossom in the hour of sickness and death.
Thank you, Rachel.
