Woman at apothecary, 1887

Once again deviantART's senselessly restrictive naming convention has cheated me out of giving this one the correct title. The actual title of this shot is "Woman at apothecary, Elk St., Sehome, Wash. (D. Ward, 1887)."

My first shoot with Mariya. We started out in my studio, then went to a church just down the road to shoot in front of their heavy wooden doors, and finally went across town to end the shoot in our local cemetery. Mariya is a strong collaborator in that she had a good idea of what she wanted from the shoot. But she was also receptive to my own ideas and input. I really believe working with a model should, ideally, be an equal creative partnership. This shoot was a perfect example of that -- an even combination of her ideas and mine, the synergy of two creative streams coming together.