I began working with model Bailey Townley in the spring of 2017. I found her athletic and graceful with the presence of a dancer. She proved adept with flinging colored milk and grains and leaping about. My intent was to capture her at play and she embraced that intention during the two shoots of this series. As I settled in to process the hundreds of photographs I had taken, I primarily used the polarities intent/openness, obscure/reveal and work/play. As was usual, most outcomes were mediocre, but a minority exhibited the surprise, synchronicity and serendipity I intended.
Christopher Paul Brown identifies as an alchemist. He also sees himself as a primitive hunter-gatherer rather than a modern urban agrarian. Relying on serendipity and synchronicity in lieu of elaborate planning, he seeks to uncover the unconscious and dimensions beyond the familiar three. Brown’s career has also spanned experimental music and video. He completed a BA in Film in 1980 and his first solo photography show exhibited in 1985. He describes his approach as Radical Play and he employs polar opposites such as intent/openness and obscure/reveal to allow paradox and alchemy.
