With a little imagination you can create a whole story around a single image. Karen’s letter to her mother offers a little insight into the workings of this family.

My tendency is to look at things with a bit of humor. So when I read an article in a magazine (honestly can’t remember which one, but it was captivating) about a convention for people who suffer with Obsessive Compulsive disorder, I started imagining who the participants may be. And as it often happens, once you start thinking about something everyone around you seems to be talking about it too! Thus came up the idea of a guy who eats his chocolate bars with knife and a fork. That visual got stuck in my head and the only way to get it out was to create the character and photograph it. I admit, I am obsessive compulsive that way too! So I had the idea, but I thought it would be so much more interesting if he had a family as well and the real work began.

I was so incredibly happy when one of my favorite models Jerald agreed to work on this with me! He is great with creating characters and playing them out. He brought so much to the shoot, just amazing! And he brought along his beautiful daughter Sage, who I can honestly say has a great career ahead of her! She was so delighted when I asked her to spill ice cream onto her dress. She wanted to giggle, but stayed in character and gave me some fantastic shots to work with.

The always beautiful Karin made our perfect mother of the family. I’m always happy to provide a challenge for models. Each character in the dessert shot is photographed separately and the image is a composite. We worked with expressions and ideas and later on I edited the images down to get the true moment and the tension at the table between the family members.

This image and the other two in the series worked out better than I had imagined!

At long last! Haha! Here it is, the Yoga Dominatrix!
I have been telling my yoga teacher, that I have this visual of her walking around the class in leather gear with whip in her hand, as she is teaching the yoga class. It’s not that she is bossy (well, maybe just a little!), it’s more about me subjecting myself to this pain under her direction. Pain that actually feels really good and is the reason why I keep coming back for more. The pain that makes me feel, like maybe I may be a bit of a masochist.
Here is a little video by the amazing Amanda Lowe

And here is the finished product:

© Henrieta Haniskova Photography

I hope you love it as much as I do! Thank you Josie Houpt for being such a fantastic yoga teacher and friend and for being a sport and putting on the leather outfit!, You looked hot!!!
Chrys Muszka! Thank you so much for playing along and letting me put the dog collar on you! And holding those poses for EVER like you did, so that I could get a shot!
Thank you Terri Dacquisto for the wonderful styling job and playing along even when I come up with the craziest ideas! Thank you Mila Veronica! The hair and make-up were PERFECT!
And no small thanks to Kula studio, for letting us use the fantastic space for this!

Do I need to say more?

Thank you Amanda Lowe for this video! Thank you to Persilia Caton for the great curating work and Contact for giving me this fantastic opportunity. Thank you to Adam Scott, Bruce Stewart, Will Thompson, Lance Dobinson, Thane Dunn, Christopher Ayotte, Thor Bonfig and all other  Elvis Tribute artists who helped me make this happen. As well as Adam Coish and David Larraguibel for giving me a hand!

I haven’t been too active on my blog recently for a good reason. I have been busy shooting even over the holidays. I don’t mind, I love it and I really enjoy the people I work with. I love a good team and it shows in the results.

Last year I was lucky duck and won the Contact Festival Portfolio Review Competition. Thank you to everyone who was there and believed in me and as a result gave me this amazing opportunity to create a body of work that would be shown in the beautiful Contact Gallery in Toronto. Vistek has pitched in as well with amazing offer for equipment rental, which may I say made a huge difference for me!
I do have to admit, I felt that the opportunity was amazing, but the time line I got was so tight! 3 months in total made me fell panicked!  I managed to submit a grant proposal, review and edit over 4 thousand photographs and photograph 4 Elvises in their homes in a matter of 2 months. Now it’s onto the retouching and printing! The opening is only 3 weeks away!

I feel like I’m in a race, but also feel like I work well under pressure and managed to create something worth seeing. But right now here is a little taste of what I have been up to in the last several weeks!

I Am Elvis – Henrieta Haniskova from Amanda Lowe on Vimeo.

Huge Thank you to Adam Scott and Adam Coish and Amanda Lowe for this beautiful video!

If you enjoyed it, let me know! I love to hear from you!