Altered Whimsy is a self-portrait photo series that strives to visually and critically idolize a sustainable lifestyle by creating a fantasy world based around this premise. All items in the shoots were produced with second hand, repurposed, recycled, or zero waste materials. The making of the project was recorded in the planning, discovery, creation, and process of fabrication for each item and is displayed on the website. Nick Hilden defined surrealism as an art form that “implies big questions about the nature of accepted reality, and urges viewers to redefine themselves based on their own internal worlds”. Ultimately, the goal of creating this capstone project is to promote the notion of living an environmentally conscious lifestyle, by defining it as approachable and desirable through a surrealist lens. Surrealism has been proven to promote personal interest and thought, specifically in terms of revolutionary means and societal values.

Photography, although beautiful, can oftentimes be pretty wasteful. Making it 100% sustainable was a fun challenge that allowed me to really dive into the thrift store hunt, which I love a lot. With the COVID-19 pandemic in full force, my original idea to pose models for these shoots was shattered. As a photographer who generally captures others, I have never experimented with self portraiture. Although there were many obstacles in the way, I ended up really happy with the final results and learned a lot along the way.