'Alice and Koshka in the Crux Forest'
20 June 2007 - Fifteenth Anniversary
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Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Cruxdreams session which brought Alice to the attention of crux enthusiasts. For Koshka, 20 June 2007 was a dramatic encore in which she was able to draw on her previous experience, albeit this was the first time she had performed in an outdoor crux session. For Alice, it was her crux debut and the catalyst for a photo manipulation phenomenon which has lasted for fifteen years and shows no signs of slowing down.
Alice continues to be celebrated in manips and story illustrations, and she also features prominently in the fundraising campaign for Cruxforums. And so the latest manipulation is presented here, in celebration of the fifteenth anniversary. The picture employs the 'Crux Forest' background with the cross and Alice's roped hands, as photographed by Makar. But her head, body and arms are derived from a Rylsky series, entitled 'Sway' for MetArt.
In publication terms, the summer of 2007 was the most intensive period of Alice's nude modelling career, with no fewer than ten series being released throughout June - August of that year. If we include Makar's contribution (since he presented the first 'Crux Forest' pictures on DeviantArt at that time) this represents the work of six photographers for six different studios.
'Sway' was released on 3 August 2007, six weeks after the Cruxdreams session. The studio lighting provides a strong chiaroscuro effect, similar to bright sunlight. The 'Crux Forest' pictures include some brief spells of sunlight, which illuminate Alice's features whilst she hangs crucified. The shadows are surprisingly dense, contrasting with brilliant highlights on her skin, and I have attempted numerous colour and contrast adjustments to approximate this effect on the inserted figure components.
I am quite pleased with the result, especially the way in which Alice's deep chin is strongly defined, with its subtle cleft in sharp relief. The pronounced arch of her upper lip complements the shape of her nose, and the face is lined by a tangle of shadows cast by loose strands of hair. These are some of the distinctive features which make her so uniquely and identifiably 'Alice'.