Reading poetry has always been fulfilling to me. This is a series of images I have created for the poem "Desires" by Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy.
"Like beautiful bodies of the dead who had not grown old
and they shut them, with tears, in a magnificent mausoleum,
with roses at the head and jasmine at the feet-
that is how desires look that have passed without fulfilment;
without one of them having achieved a night
of sensual delight, or a moonlit morn."
My study of the poem led to the idea of how something unfulfilled could lead to the creation of an entity powerful enough to haunt its environment even after its physical demise. The poem merges unspoiled, but restrained beauty to describe the concept of unfulfilled desires. Beauty with unrealised potential. This idea was captured in the photo shoot that follows.
After scouting for the correct location I chose an uninhabited mansion that would offer the eerie feeling I wanted to capture. Makeup, hair, choice of costume and styling, as well as the photos themselves were all executed by me.
Model: Eleni Scaliotis
