Kirsty Mitchell Exhibition at the SW1 Gallery in London - photo shot through the window of the gallery with London skyscape reflecting in glass

This is a blog post about a beautiful fairytale world and their storyteller.

Once upon a time there was a girl who created a beautiful and magical fairytale world and then captured them forever in a photograph in the memory of someone she loved and so was born Wonderland.

Last Friday was a very exciting and much anticipated day for me, as I got the opportunity to go into London and visit Kirsty Mitchell's Wonderland Exhibition.
For anyone that has not yet had the pleasure of discovering her breathtaking and awe inspiring work, please please go and check it out.

It has now exploded globally over the last few months and thousands of people have taken her story and her images to heart.
When I first saw one of her images (Gammelyn's Daughter, A Waking Dream) my breath literally caught in my throat and my body was suddenly covered in goosebumps.
Her images just take me away to another place, the magic and the secrets and beauty and darkness and joy and sadness and possibilities just make me feel free. I can't stop staring at them.

On Friday I was so excited as I got off the train at Victoria, as I had been counting down for 3 weeks to seeing the exhibition. It was only on for a week and I couldnt make it at the weekend, so Friday was my one shot to see the photographs in real life, large and rich and I was sure even more incredible in real life.

I climbed the stairs to the SW1 gallery and there it was! I took some photos to prove I was there, and then rushed over only to find out that the gallery did not open for another half an hour! Doh! They were so close, I could see them all beautifully framed lining the walls. I pressed my face to the glass to take it all in like a child, and just pondering finding a coffee shop, when the curator obviously taking pity on me, suddenly appeared in front of me on the other side of the glass.
Feeling embarressed at being caught I started telling him that I was going to come back, when he opened the door and told me that I could come in before opening time!!! Joy.

So resulted in me having my own private viewing of Wonderland. Having the whole space to my self so I could just wander and gaze and drink them all in made it feel even more private and special.
I was in love. 
They were just amazing, and even though they were right there in front of me they still didn't feel real, and it was as if I had actually opened the pages of a story book.
Knowing that all of these had been created as a homage to someone she loved and lost. Instead of letting  her loss and grief eat her up inside killing her creativity it gave her an outlet and from it she made something unimaginably fantastic. It has made me feel so humbled, and inspired and embarrassed.

Embarrassed because it had not even occurred to me stupidly, until that moment in time standing there, that instead of turning your hurt, and stress and worry inwards and keeping it deep inside slowly poisoning and crushing your creativity, to push it outwards, setting it free. Turning negatives into positives,and turning ugly into beautiful, concentrating on all the things that were good and right and wonderful about the time that led you there.

But, but wait! My story has not finished.
I had wondered round the gallery for an hour by that point, and was just signing up for the Gallery mailing list, and the nice gallery man did me one more favour.
He told me that Kirsty was coming to the gallery in half an hour!! So excited! I would meet her!

She came and introduced herself to everyone in the gallery and said that she would be happy to answers questions and talk through her images if anyone wanted to know anything! How exciting!!!

She was so lovely, and friendly and down to earth and open and honest and just real. It was such a revelation and a weight off my shoulders to listen to her talk.

The way she came up with the ideas, the love that drove her to make it the best it could be, her worry about not being sure if it would work, the creating of the pieces, making friends along the way, and just all the worries on the shoot of whether it would work, what happened if the light suddenly changed, what if the models and the guys she was working with thought she was crazy and couldn't see her vision.

She told us about some of the crazy things that happened on the shoots, the mistakes, the eureka moments of something shifting in the frame ever so slightly and suddenly this whole magical world coming to life in front of her. The hours of sitting on the floor of her house making the props, and then driving or walking for hours to get to the right spot with the right weather.

The more I asked and the more she talked I could suddenly feel something shifting inside me, and I started feeling crazy amounts of different emotions, excitement, humility, relief, wonder, grief, and for a while could just stare at the floor while she talked about her mum, with tears burning my eyes and a lump that hurt to try and swallow.
I could relate so much, and I have never told anyone apart from the few that are close to me, how it feels, and her story was so similar to mine in the way that she was telling it, it was if it was me back in that time again, and I suddenly felt laid bare in front of a gallery of strangers.
I guess I had made myself forget how raw it felt to think about the people who are not around anymore. Just writing these words out in public for anyone to read and get a glimpse into a bit of my life that I have chosen not to reveal scares me, and makes me feel a bit sick. But standing there with her, while she did the same thing made me want to change and be brave, and remember, and love.

It is an amazing thing that she created, and I feel blessed that I got the chance to witness it, but at the same time I feel sorry for her. This was something that she made as a small project for herself and for her mum, and it was never really meant to be seen. I'm sure she never imagined it would be seen on a global scale, and now suddenly her private ideas and memories are public property, and everyone knows about her loss. She has been thrust into the limelight, with press interviews, agents, legal teams, and it must be unimaginably daunting, but she has remained charming and friendly and humble.

She spoke to us for an hour, walking us around the gallery telling us the different stories about the shots, and how they were made, and the special moments they all experienced; and it made us feel that we were part of it too.

Thanks so much for taking the time, and for being so honest and making me realise that all photographers worry about the same sort of things, before, during and after shoots. I feel that I have less to fear now, and lots more to gain, and all the notebooks I have crammed full of strange and crazy and beautiful ideas and worlds that I want to create are really possible after all.


Wonderland is now being exhibited at Quaglino's in London so you can eat yummy food and look at her amazing art http://www.quaglinos-restaurant.co.uk/photography

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Always Asmartartz x