Molly Strohl: Among the Stars

Molly Strohl celebrates the human form and celestial wonderment in intimate photographs of light.

It is an often unrecognized fact that humans are made of the same matter and atoms as stars.   Our fragile human bodies are so much more connected with the universe than we commonly believe ourselves to be, and I want to re-establish that connection with Star Dust.  I had originally intended the series to be fashion driven, but as soon as I started taking photos, it was clear to me that the emotion was more important to me than the clothes. I also chose to shoot the images indoors because I wanted to capture the subtle haunting feeling of being closed off from the world.

For this series I did not want to digitally alter the images, but rather experiment with the process of the physical print.  I first used colored gels and a flashlight contraption to create initial light spots.   After printing postcard-sized prints, I spent hours poking holes through the photos where the spots of light appeared to conceptualize how we are just as unique as a bright star thousands of light years away.  Finally, I shot the prints while shining a flashlight through the holes to make them appear more like stars.  The starry patterns and the original photos then became one and bound the human with his or her celestial counterpart.

Featured Image:  Molly Strohl, Star Dust 8, 2013