WONDERLAND behind the scenes: A Different Kind of Rabbit-Hole

Though I don’t really remember what initially drove me to do the WONDERLAND photo series, I distinctly remember becoming obsessed with showing Alice falling down the rabbit-hole in a wholly modern and unique way. As it often is with creative work, the “why” doesn’t matter once the “how” starts asking its questions. And so “Alice Falls” (aka “The Spiral”) became the first shoot I did for WONDERLAND.

I knew that I wanted my rabbit-hole to be all in Alice’s mind, but not in the same dreamlike manner that the original Alice fell into Wonderland. This wasn’t going to be that strange but generally pleasant journey into the imagination. I wanted to show the disintegration of her mind as she fell into herself, like a snake swallowing its own tail. I wanted to see what was left of her sanity devoured by her thoughts. What better way to show that than a whirlpool of words?

We had a blast creating absurd and imaginative phrases for the rabbit-hole, but it proved to be quite tricky getting the phrases to form into the perfect spiral. We painstakingly spiraled the characters inward, diminishing the size of the letters in each concentric circle. My assistant Nicole Dziedzic and Brooke (Alice) each helped to create the writing. I remember writing the big “W?OND?ER?LAND?,” but I believe that was the extent of my writing. I was having too much fun up on the scaffolding watching it come to life through the lens of my camera!

So for anyone who is interested, here is the complete final text used to create the rabbit-hole spiral:

HOW CAN (DO) i RETURN TO W?OND?ER?LAND? LeAVE ThIS HelL IM tRaPPEd iN REaLiTy [prison bars drawing] I fELL THROUGH a hole iN The EartH Eat ME [cake drawing] HOW MaNY MilES Did i FALL? DiNAh iS Dead [dead cat drawing] ChAsInG that daMn WHITE RAbbit [rabbit ears drawing] DRinK Me PoisoN [skull and crossbones drawing] PREtenD to BE tWO PEOPLE! [blue and pink stick figure drawings] (NOn)SEnsE WHO iN THE FUcK aM I? A Great PUZzle [puzzle piece drawing] That’s What i AM I aM so VERY tiRerED of bEing aLL Alone HERE shouldn’t have cried so much [teardrop drawing] OU ESt MA CHAttE? Oh SHES DEAd! THOSE ANNOYiNG birds! nEvEr to LoSe YOUR tEMPer BLUE CATERPiLLaR… Who AM I? SMOKE FroM tHE HOOKA [hookah pipe drawing] JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS! IM SURE I doN’t WANt to StAy iN HERE ANY LONGer! I wish I WiSH I NEVER Said THAt! CRASh tHE Tea PARTY [tea cup drawing] CAllED ME A PiG BiTcH HAttERS INHALEd MERCURY?! WERE All Mad hERE IM Mad You’re MAD [tea cup drawing] DrAW MuchNESS????? PAINTING ROSES CARD SolDiERS [diamond drawing] KNAVe oF HEARTS HUSVAR CUT OFF THeIr Heads UGLY Hag DUtchESS…SUCKiNg UP

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