the bee keepers
'The Bee Keepers' is an ongoing collaboration in concepts photography. We seek to highlight the connections between humans and bees, through this collection of fanciful chimeras --hybrid bee-human inceptions incorporating visual elements which speak to the intimacy of humankind’s relationships with, and within, our natural world.
'Warning' 2017
Direction, Wings, Costume Jen Raven
Body Art Jen Raven and Todd Powers
Photographer Todd Powers
Editing Todd Powers and Jen Raven
Model Breonna Jefferson
Direction, Wings, Costume Jen Raven
Body Art Jen Raven and Todd Powers
Photographer Todd Powers
Editing Todd Powers and Jen Raven
Model Breonna Jefferson
'Bee Courageous' 2017
Direction, Body Art, Backdrop, Property Art Jen Raven
Photographer Todd Powers
Editing Todd Powers and Jen Raven
Model Fernanda Llama
Wardrobe, Accessories, MUA Fernanda Llama
Direction, Body Art, Backdrop, Property Art Jen Raven
Photographer Todd Powers
Editing Todd Powers and Jen Raven
Model Fernanda Llama
Wardrobe, Accessories, MUA Fernanda Llama
'Neonicotinoid' 2016
Direction, Wings, Properties, Editing Jen Raven
Photographer Todd Powers
Model and MUA Berlin
Editing Todd Powers and Jen Raven
Direction, Wings, Properties, Editing Jen Raven
Photographer Todd Powers
Model and MUA Berlin
Editing Todd Powers and Jen Raven
'Borderline' 2016
Direction, Design, Backdrops, Wardrobe, Editing, Body Art Jen Raven
Photography, Lighting, Body Art, Editing Todd Powers
Makeup Design, Hair Styling Ande Castaneda
Model Aileth Bran
Direction, Design, Backdrops, Wardrobe, Editing, Body Art Jen Raven
Photography, Lighting, Body Art, Editing Todd Powers
Makeup Design, Hair Styling Ande Castaneda
Model Aileth Bran
Our first series in this project, 'Venetus,' is so named for “The color of our planet from far, far away,” to borrow from Regina Spektor. ‘Blue Lips’ was playing, as I was in studio one evening, sketching bees. “Blue. The Most Human Color” stuck in my mind like a mantra, as the project took shape. Our creative team began lighting tests on various body art concepts, late summer 2015, and the project began to evolve from there, producing 'Borderline,' 'Glitch' and 'Bloom.' See more on the evolution of 'Venetus' at The Raven's Nest.
'Bloom' 2016
Direction, Design, Backdrops, Costume, Editing, Body Art Jen Raven
Photography, Lighting, Body Art, Editing Todd Powers
Makeup Design, Hair Styling Ande Castaneda
Model Jessica Noble
Direction, Design, Backdrops, Costume, Editing, Body Art Jen Raven
Photography, Lighting, Body Art, Editing Todd Powers
Makeup Design, Hair Styling Ande Castaneda
Model Jessica Noble
Our 'Glitch' set is a focus on our damaged ecosystems, and the resultant experimentation with mechanized pollinators, which we might need to fill the gap created by bee colony collapse. Todd and I had a lot of fun playing with the visual elements; tilted, separated canvases to suggest a break in our ecosystems; heavy contrast paired with bleaching of colors, suggestive of interference/static; gear and circuit board body art for the robo-bees we may come to depend on, in the future.
'Glitch' 2016
Direction, Design, Backdrops, Editing Jen Raven
Photography, Lighting, Body Art, Editing Todd Powers
Model April Musick
Direction, Design, Backdrops, Editing Jen Raven
Photography, Lighting, Body Art, Editing Todd Powers
Model April Musick
Lucy, 2015
Body Art, Editing Jen Raven
Photography, Editing Todd Powers
Model Lucy Cruz
Body Art, Editing Jen Raven
Photography, Editing Todd Powers
Model Lucy Cruz
We share our planet with nearly 20,000 known species of bees. Study of these creatures continues to reveal further connections between bees and people; Humanity does not stand apart from these petite wonders of our natural world. We rise and fall, together.
Partnerships between humans and bees attest to this reality. Our symbiotic relationships with the bees has evolved over thousands of years, and it is commonly stated; if they go, we go. As pollinators, bees are vital in our massive efforts toward food production, a fact we understand only too well, in California’s Central Valley. Habitat loss, rising temperatures, varroa mites, neonicotinoids and other pesticides --such combined factors threaten the stability of bee populations, increasing likelihood of Colony Collapse Disorder, and thus threatening food production --threatening our own populations, in turn.
Partnerships between humans and bees attest to this reality. Our symbiotic relationships with the bees has evolved over thousands of years, and it is commonly stated; if they go, we go. As pollinators, bees are vital in our massive efforts toward food production, a fact we understand only too well, in California’s Central Valley. Habitat loss, rising temperatures, varroa mites, neonicotinoids and other pesticides --such combined factors threaten the stability of bee populations, increasing likelihood of Colony Collapse Disorder, and thus threatening food production --threatening our own populations, in turn.
