Thematic Photoshoot #1 — Samhain (Part 2)
Samhain – not to be pronounced ‘Sam-hane’, but ‘Sow-wen’ (as in ‘sound’) –, literally translates as (‘summer’s end’). This ancient Celtic pastoral / harvest festival marks the midway point between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.
The festival originated with the Gaelic-speaking Celts of Ireland, and from there our modern holiday of Halloween was spawned.
Samhain was celebrated on the evening of October 31st and into November 1st, and is described as ‘an intensely spiritual time, for it was the period when the Otherworld became visible to mankind and when spiritual forces were let loose on the human world’. Or, in other words: ‘the veil that separated this world from the world of the Others grew thin’.
This thinning of the membrane between worlds meant that ghosts and fairies and all manner of otherworldly creatures could cross over on Samhain and wreak havoc.
Samhain was a dangerous time in the Celtic mind and numerous rituals evolved as protection. Our ancestors might have left out food and drink as a gift for the Others, or worn masks to frighten them away. Skulls with candles in them might have been hung in trees either to invite the Others, spirits of the dead, or to scare them off.
Christianity took over this pagan festival as a harvest festival. The feast became All Saints’ Day (i.e. All-Hallows) and the evening prior was Hallowe’en, still celebrated as the night when spirits and ghosts set out to wreak vengeance on the living and when evil marches unbridled across the world.
On November 1st the year was over, and the sun’s life cycle for the year was done. The Celts thought that at this time the sun fell a victim for six months to the powers of winter darkness… From the idea that the sun suffered from his enemies on this day grew the association of Samhain with death.
Alternative model Cidaq and I tried to recreate the ceremonial offering of food and drink, as well as inviting and scaring spirits, in an interior setting — to honour the ancient traditional Samhain rather than our modern-day Halloween with its emphasis on gothic horror. Our previous photoshoot attempt had taken place in the woods — fittingly so on Friday the 13th — and had to be discontinued because of the rain that kept pouring down all day (fairies wreaking havoc?).
With this thematic photoshoot, I want to show what it might look like when Cidaq’s ancestors performed Samhain rituals of their own — let’s say, in a mid-19th century setting. The daguerrotype technique (and hand-colored photo postcards) seemed perfect to recreate a glimpse into the past. Without having to suffer from mercury vapors to develop the plate, yours truly photographer used Photoshop (not AI!) to recreate a 21st century daguerrotype photoshoot. Both a tribute to photograph pioneers of olden days, and a manifestation of that thin line between today and yesteryear.
No electric lights were used, just daylight and candles.
Photographer / creative director / retoucher: Fred Baggen
Model / make-up artist: Cidaq van Leiden (alternative model / public transport driver / voice actor)
Reeuwijk, 13-10-2023 & Bodegraven, 29-10-2023
