'Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever he went out, the little boy wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called him Little Red Riding Hood. One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked his mother if he could go to visit his grandmother. 'That's a good idea,' his mother said. So they packed basket of goodies for Little Red Riding Hood to take to his grandmother.'
When the basket was ready, the little boy put on his red cloak and kissed his mother goodbye. 'Remember, go straight to Grandma's house,' mother cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers! The woods are dangerous. 'Don't worry, mommy, I'll be careful.'
'But... when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, he forgot his promise to his mother. He picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more. Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that he hadn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind him...'
'What are you doing out here, little boy?' the wolf asked in a voice as friendly as he could muster. 'I'm on my way to see my Grandma who lives through the forest, near the brook,' Little Red Riding Hood replied. Little Red Riding Hood realized how late he was and quickly tried excused himself, rushing down the path to Grandma's house. The wolf, in the meantime had other plans....'
'The Wolf grabbed red legs with such force, he dropped his basket full of goodies and fell to the ground. The Wolf grabbed him by the feet and dragged him off the path and into the woods out of site of any passerby's'
'Although shocked and little frightened, the emotion dominating Red's thoughts was that of excitement. He'd been skipping through these woods for years trying to attract the Wolf's attention, but until today, had always been ignored. Red wasn't sure what drew the Wolf on this particular day, his mother's baked goodies, or his own basket of goodies, primed and hungry like the wolf.'
'What big ears you have,' said Little Red Riding Hood as the wolf edged in closer and closer.
The better to hear you with, my dear,' replied the Wolf.
What big eyes you have," said Little Red Riding Hood.
'The better to see you with, my dear," replied the Wolf.
'And what big teeth you have," said Little Red Riding Hood his voice quivering slightly.
'The better to eat you with, my dear,' roared the wolf as he tied Red to the tree
'The Wolf quickly realized the ropes weren't necessary, Red was biting back with a lustful force and energy of a pressure cooker in need of release. The passion and animal cravings flowed both ways with Red's pent up longings to be taken by the beast, far surpassing his fantasy's and expectations.'
'When both Red and beast were satisfied, and the basket of goodies completely empty, they lay in each in each others arms for hours. Red soon realized his grandmother was waiting and jumped up and grabbed his basket. 'I must go, my grandmother will be worried!' The Wolf stood up and took his hand. 'Let me walk you the rest of the way, you ever know what dangers might be lurking along the way.'
'I’m working to build a homonormative narrative for fairy tales and legends, intent on reclaiming my childhood. I’m trying to imagine a world where the stories are naturally and normally queer. This particular shoot worked so well because all of us felt so natural and real in the story telling. It didn’t feel like a fantasy, it felt like we had unlocked a key to a better reality. The chemistry between our Red and the Wolf felt very real and very erotic. All of us began living the story as we documented it on camera.'
Photographer Richard Rothstein's imagery have always felt to me like colorful, modern, urban fairy tales, but recently Richard been focused on putting his own creative spin on some well known stories. If you checked out my features with Richard's Merman images (HERE:) earlier this month on FH, you know part of Richard's goal is to challenge the heteronormative narrative that dominates our society and dominates so much of our history and art. After enjoying Richard's take on Red's journey through the woods, you'll never look at the fairy tale the same way again...
For Richard's Basket of Goodies, the New York photographer again utilizes the beauty and talent of Sergey. Sergey has been a part of some of my favorite shoots from Richard and is not only a natural beauty, but a natural story teller when in front of the camera. For this fairy tale telling, Sergey' is joined by Dee Whitt as the Wolf, a beast who's met his match with the lust filled hood wearing Red. If you want to see more from this shoot, some behind the scenes shots and to find out if Red met any other strangers along the path, (he did) check out more on Page 2 HERE:
1 comment:
Woof!
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