Night Journey - Behind-the-Scenes

Working in her Dallas studio, Susan kae Grant constructs the environments for Night Journey from fabric, props, and other found materials, photographing the resulting shadows on a large backdrop with a digital camera tethered to a monitor. She creates the backgrounds first, establishing the visual world in which each narrative will unfold.

Models are then invited into the studio, where Grant intuitively directs them through a series of gestures and poses, often working for several hours until a narrative begins to emerge.

Both the constructed environments and the gestures of the models are designed to retain a sense of mystery and ambiguity, provoking more questions than answers.

The process is intuitive, allowing the relationship between the environment, the model, light, and shadow to continually shape the image.

At some point, the original idea, or inspirational phrase becomes secondary. What matters is the narrative unfolding in the moment. The images that follow offer a glimpse into this process of transforming simple materials, figures, light, and shadow into the imagined worlds of Night Journey.