HomeFamilyPhotographer Honours Late Mother Through Amazing Wonderland-Inspired Photography Project

Photographer Honours Late Mother Through Amazing Wonderland-Inspired Photography Project

Not only is Kirsty Mitchell’s six-year-long photography project – which pays tribute to her late mother – one of the most beautiful things you will ever see, but also one of the most funded in the history of Kickstarter.

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Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Titled The Wonderland Project, the series has reached a whopping £224,638 in pledges, well over its £70,000 target.

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Mitchell, an award-winning Fine art photographer from the UK, lost her mother Maureen to a brain tumour in 2009. The project was Mitchell’s way of honouring her, as well as a way for her to come to terms with her grief.

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

She started the deeply personal photographic project with hair and make-up artist Elbie Van Eeden on a shoe-string budget, making all the costumes and props by hand.

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

But within months of the project’s beginning it had gained a huge following, with people connecting with the underlying emotions from all over the globe. What began as a small summer project suddenly grew into a journey spanning half a decade.

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Last week Mitchell added the project on Kickstarter, in the hopes of turning the series into a book. She met her £70,000 deadline in less than 10 hours, and was overwhelmed by the response.

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Talking about her mother, Mitchell said: She was an English teacher and her life’s great passion was literature and storytelling.

“After I lost her I struggled greatly, I was unable to remember her without being haunted by the memories of the hospital.

Slowly the concept of creating an unexplained storybook without words, dedicated to her began to form. It felt like the perfect way to celebrate who she was as a person and the legacy she left behind.”

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The narrative of the series was formed through faded book illustrations, mixed up with Mitchell’s dreams and experience of mourning. The end results are a stunning yet surreal fantasy world that captures the heart and imagination of viewers everywhere.

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Take a look at more of this fascinating project below.

Gammelyn’s Daughter, A Waking Dream (2012)

Gammelyn's Daughter, a Waking Dream'
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The Pink Saint (2010)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The Beautiful Blindness of Devotion (2010)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Spirited Away

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Danaus – The Butterfly Queen

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

While Nightingales Wept (2012)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The Garden of Whispered Wishes (2009)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The Fade Of Fallen Memories (2014)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The Fox Glove Fairy

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

The Journey Home (2013)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

Let Your Heart Be The Map, 2013

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell

She’ll Wait For You In The Shadows Of Summer (2013)

Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Via facebook.com/Kirsty Mitchell
Sophie Lloyd
Sophie Lloydhttps://culturepoppress.wordpress.com/
I’m a freelance journalist and general arty person. I love anything creative and I have a degree in Fine Art as well as a Master’s in Arts Journalism. I’m passionate about fashion, feminism and bacon, and have a morbid streak that can only be satisfied with pizza and horror films. Follow me on Twitter for more of my random ramblings.

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