Accessory to Murder

This film photography project combines collaging, photograms, and double exposure with unconventional materials such as glitter, red embroidery string, and paint marker. The theme plays on the phrase “accessory to murder,” combining violent motifs with a glamorous aesthetic. The victims of the scenes are either wearing various accessories, being harmed with accessories (choked with a scarf, gagged with a belt, stomped on by someone wearing heels, etc.), or both. There are specific references along with the general aesthetic of the photos, having been inspired by the horror, true crime, and psychological thriller genres. Some examples are the red string (commonly used by old-timey detectives in movies to connect the clues of a crime), the chandelier (reminiscent of the one that falls in the 1985 movie Clue), and the word REDRUM (murder spelled backward, specifically from Stephen King’s The Shining).

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Models: Luke Treiber, Mackenzie Swaim, & Rebecca Wickert