Devotee

Sweet little flapper buddist. Reefer-Madness poster girl. In thrall of dark forces!

Notice how her pearls sway in front of the open shutter while she stays still. How long did she hold her breath still? ten, thirty seconds? longer? Perhaps not even be a shutter, perhaps a lens cap or back velvet held in gnarled, shaking hands.

Her knees sink into the soft ground and she leans on the table. The black in the corner by her restless foot is turning into shiny silver with age. It means the print is decaying & we left with only pixels.

She spent hours in the darkroom and under the retoucher's brush; separating the statue from the curtain, deepening the shadows on her thighs & dodging up the glow of her back. The alchemist conjures her from apothecary.