POPPAEA

🖤🩸true love is all about axe murder, sweetie🪓⚰️ very very belated (a year and 6 months late) but when you turn 20 in japan, you are officially recognised as an adult and there’s a whole celebration! (especially for me i don’t think anyone expected me to make it this far) I was very fortunate to be able to design my own kimono and so we took some sick pics🤘 Thank you sm to @poppaea for all the mastery behind this shoot, @m09._.f for helping me get the garms on, and Toby for lending me his precious axe 🪓

The Illusionist - Part VI: “People See What They Are Told to See”🎪💫 Swipe to see the full image and close up. Inspired by one of my absolute favourite books, the utterly magical “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, this piece is Part VI of a story sequence that illustrates my interpretation of the main character, Celia Bowen, AKA “The Illusionist”. In this part, the lower portion of Celia’s performance costume is now on show. Consisting of a full underskirt of layered crystal organza ruffles, fading from black down to white, worn under a draped overskirt of black and white striped satin. The story continues in Part VII… Model @mhairicalveyofficial Hair & Makeup @abi_hairandmakeup_ Costume, photography & retouching @poppaea Shot on a Panasonic GH5 with LUMIX lenses. Edited in Adobe Photoshop CC, using @infinitetools and @only.thecurious colour actions (Regal, Wolf in the Woods and Flickering Firelight). #thenightcircus #celiabowen #theillusionist #nightcircus #erinmorgenstern #victorian #victorianfashion #victoriancostume #steampunk #infinitetools #onlythecuriousco #costumedesign #costumedesigner #fineartphotography #photoshop #retouching #fineartphotographer #circus #nightcircusinspired #costume #corset #corsetry #costumemaker #victoriancorset #blackandwhite #ruffledskirt #organza #blackandwhite #blackandwhitestripes #velvetjacket #militaryjacket

The Illusionist - Part V: “The Finest of Pleasures are Always the Unexpected Ones”🎪💫 Swipe for full image and detail. Inspired by one of my absolute favourite books, the utterly magical “The Night Circus” by @erinmorgenstern , this piece is Part V of a story sequence that illustrates my interpretation of the main character, Celia Bowen, AKA “The Illusionist”. In Part IV, we saw Celia prepare to do a transformation illusion, her hand and jacket shoulders sparking with magic. Now we see the end result, as her feathered jacket is transformed into a raven, revealing a black and white scrollwork corset beneath. This corset represents many things that are mentioned in the ‘Night Circus’; the circus gates, the bonfire cauldron, a cage that keeps Celia trapped within, and an ironwork gown - inspired by the famous Charles Worth gown - that is referenced in the book. The story continues in Part VI… Model @mhairicalveyofficial Hair & Makeup @abi_hairandmakeup_ Costume, photography & retouching @poppaea Shot on a Panasonic GH5 with LUMIX lenses. Edited in Adobe Photoshop CC, using @infinitetools and @only.thecurious colour actions (Regal, Wolf in the Woods and Flickering Firelight). #thenightcircus #celiabowen #theillusionist #nightcircus #erinmorgenstern #victorian #victorianfashion #victoriancostume #steampunk #infinitetools #infinitetexturepanel #onlythecuriousco #costumedesign #costumedesigner #fineartphotography #photoshop #retouching #cirquedereves #fineartphotographer #circus #nightcircusinspired #costume #corset #corsetry #costumemaker #victoriancorset #scrollwork #blackandwhite

The Illusionist - Part IV: “Is Magic Not Enough to Live For”🎪💫 Swipe for full image and detail. Inspired by one of my absolute favourite books, the utterly magical “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, this piece is Part IV of a story sequence that illustrates my interpretation of the main character, Celia Bowen, AKA “The Illusionist”. As Celia prepares for her first display of magic, we get a glimpse of the lower half of her performance costume. A draped overskirt of black and white striped satin, worn over a layered underskirt of ruffled crystal organza. Part V dropping soon… Model @mhairicalveyofficial Hair & Makeup @abi_hairandmakeup_ Costume, photography & retouching @poppaea Shot on a Panasonic GH5 with LUMIX lenses. Edited in Adobe Photoshop CC, using @infinitetools and @only.thecurious colour actions (Regal, Wolf in the Woods and Flickering Firelight). #thenightcircus #celiabowen #theillusionist #nightcircus #erinmorgenstern #victorian #victorianfashion #victoriancostume #steampunk #infinitetools #infinitetexturepanel #onlythecuriousco #costumedesign #costumedesigner #fineartphotography #photoshop #retouching #cirquedereves #fineartphotographer #circus #nightcircusinspired #costume #corset #corsetry #costumemaker #victoriancorset

The Illusionist - Part III: “To Be, Rather Than to Seem”🎪💫 Swipe for full image and detail. Inspired by one of my absolute favourite books, the utterly magical “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, this piece is Part III of a story sequence that illustrates my interpretation of the main character, Celia Bowen, AKA “The Illusionist”. In this image, more details of Celia’s performance jacket can be seen, including the full design of the front braiding and flashes of the ruby red lining. The next big part of the costume also begins to emerge… A white satin corset, hand embellished with black scrollwork. The full corset, and its various inspirations, will be revealed as the story unfolds Part VI coming soon… Model @mhairicalveyofficial Hair & Makeup @abi_hairandmakeup_ Costume, photography & retouching @poppaea Shot on a Panasonic GH5 with LUMIX lenses. Edited in Adobe Photoshop CC, using @infinitetools and @only.thecurious colour actions (Regal, Wolf in the Woods and Flickering Firelight). #thenightcircus #celiabowen #theillusionist #nightcircus #erinmorgenstern #victorian #victorianfashion #victoriancostume #steampunk #infinitetools #onlythecuriousco #costumedesign #costumedesigner #fineartphotography #photoshop #retouching #cirquedereves #fineartphotographer #circus #nightcircusinspired #corset #corsetry #victoriancorset #blackandwhitecorset #costume #costumemaker #scrollwork #circus #gh5

The Illusionist - Part II: “The Circus Arrives Without Warning”🎪💫 Swipe for full image and detail. Inspired by one of my absolute favourite books, the utterly magical “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, this piece is Part II of a story sequence that illustrates my interpretation of the main character, Celia Bowen, AKA “The Illusionist”. This image focuses on Celia’s black velvet jacket, which hides many secrets, and has the potential to be much more than just a beautiful garment… Embellished with silver braiding and feather detailing, all applied with many hours of hand sewing. The jacket is fully tailored with horsehair canvas and lined with red taffeta. Part III coming soon… Model @mhairicalveyofficial Hair & Makeup @abi_hairandmakeup_ Costume, photography & retouching @poppaea Shot on a Panasonic GH5. Edited in photoshop using @infinitetools and @only.thecurious colour actions. #thenightcircus #celiabowen #theillusionist #nightcircus #erinmorgenstern #victorian #victorianfashion #victoriancostume #steampunk #infinitetools #onlythecuriousco #costumedesign #costumedesigner #fineartphotography #photoshop #retouching #cirquedereves #fineartphotographer #circus #nightcircusinspired #victorianjacket #russianbraid #feathers #tophat #velvetjacket #costume #costumemaker #costumemaking

The Illusionist - Part I: “The Circus is Coming”🎪💫 Swipe for full image and detail. Inspired by one of my absolute favourite books, the utterly magical “The Night Circus” by @erinmorgenstern , this piece is Part I of a story sequence that illustrates my interpretation of the main character, Celia Bowen, AKA “The Illusionist”. The full costume will be revealed as the story unfolds, but for this image I created a paper model circus, made from the actual book pages of ‘The Night Circus’ itself. The story continues soon… Model @mhairicalveyofficial Hair & Makeup @abi_hairandmakeup_ Costume, props, photography & retouching @poppaea Shot on a Panasonic GH5. Edited in photoshop using @infinitetools and @only.thecurious colour actions. #thenightcircus #celiabowen #theillusionist #nightcircus #erinmorgenstern #victorian #victoriancostume #infinitetools #onlythecuriousco #costumedesign #costumedesigner #fineartphotography #photoshop #retouching #cirquedereves #fineartphotographer #circus #nightcircusinspired

“Hart of Gold, 2022” 🦌🍁🍂 Final updated edit (for now) from my 2017 “Hart of Gold” shoot, featuring the gorgeous Rebecca Van Cleave. This shot was one of my personal favourites from our shoot, as I just love to power in Becca’s eyes. There are several other shots from this shoot that I’d love to share, including never-before-seen ones, so I hope to put more of those out in the future. 👉 Swipe for full length image Model / MUA @rebeccajoean Costume / Photography / Retouching @poppaea Shot on Canon 7D / EF 50mm Edited in Lightroom / Photoshop Toned with @the.colorlab  (Black Gold / Vermillion) Textures by @infinitetools #fineartphotography #fantasyphotography #fantasyportrait #fairytalephotography #costume #costumedesign #costumedesigner #richmondparkphotography #richmondpark #colorlabcollective #infinitetools

“Hart of Gold, 2022” 🦌🍁🍂 Another updated edit from my 2017 “Hart of Gold” shoot, featuring the phenomenal Rebecca Van Cleave. Shot on location in beautiful Richmond Park, my aim with this concept was try and capture the majestic beauty of the wild deer that roam there, set against the backdrop of the golden light of Autumn. 👉 Swipe for full image Model / MUA @rebeccajoean Costume / Photography / Retouching @poppaea Shot on Canon 7D / EF 70-200mm f/28 L IS II Edited in Lightroom / Photoshop Toned with @the.colorlab  (Black Gold / Vermillion) Textures by @infinitetools #fineartphotography #fantasyphotography #fantasyportrait #fairytalephotography #fineartphoto #fineartphotographer #costume #costumedesign #costumedesigner #corset #richmondparkphotography #richmondpark #richmondparkdeer #autumn #Autumnal #fall #fallvibes #colorlabcollective #infinitetools

“Hart of Gold, 2022” 🦌🍁🍂 Updated edit from a shoot I did back in 2017, with the magical Rebecca Van Cleave. Shot on location in beautiful Richmond Park, my aim with this concept was try and capture the majestic beauty of the wild deer that roam there, set against the backdrop of the golden light of Autumn. The costume consists of a layered tulle skirt and embellished golden lace corset. 👉 Swipe for full length and close up. Model / MUA @rebeccajoean Costume / Photography / Retouching @poppaea Shot on Canon 7D / EF 70-200mm f/28 L IS II Edited in Lightroom/ Photoshop Toned with @the.colorlab (Black Gold / Vermillion) Textures by @infinitetools #fineartphotography #fantasyphotography #fairytalephotography #costumedesign #costume #corset #richmondparkphotography #richmondpark #goldenlight #autumn #colorlabcollective #infinitetools

My website is now live! Keeping it simple for now, while I’m creating new work, but eventually I’ll be adding my complete costume archive, a blog and more! Watch this space… LINK IN BIO (poppaea.com) #fineartphotography #costumedesign #costume #fantasyphotography #artistsoninstagram

NEW WORK✨”The First Awakening”✨ Model: Raquel Suarez Hair / Make-up: @abi.lawrence.makeup Design / Photography / Retouch: @poppaea This image is Part 2, of Phase 1 (“Birth”), of this very special project. This is a close up version of the previous image (“The Infinity of Birth”) featuring my lovely client Raquel. The painted stones were all done by myself, Raquel, her kids and a few other helping hands! Also massive shoutout to the incredibly talented @abi.lawrence.makeup for her amazing work on the makeup for this shot. She absolutely nailed the ‘tribal goddess’ vibe I wanted! Shot on a GH5, edited in Photoshop, using @the.colorlab actions and @infinitetools . #fineartphotography #fantasyphotography #fairytalephotgraphy #colorlabcollective #infinitetools #photoshop #retouch #photography #fantasyphotographer #fineartphotographer