Barn Mouse
by Sam Davis Johnson
Title
Barn Mouse
Artist
Sam Davis Johnson
Medium
Photograph - Unretouched Photographs
Description
In the darkness, we struggle aimlessly. Stuck in a place that we know as the only reality. And every once in a while, even through closed eyes, we see a light.
Curiously, we fight to break free of that which holds us, to see a glimpse of what might be possible.
Yet we don't understand, and are afraid, and we withdraw into darkness, where we feel more confined and alone than before.
But we have now also heard, and know there is something more. Through courage, we seek to take a leap of faith.
And now, in the light we can see that we were misled by the darkness and are not alone.
With God, all things are possible.
"BARN MOUSE'
UnRetouched Photographs
� 1988 Sam Davis Johnson
"Barn Mouse" Get the high resolution version below.
Do mice come from eggs? Well no, but we'd like to think anything is possible in the studio. Additional credit goes to Brad Hulett, a good friend and excellent photographer himself. I needed help on this one - since mice are hard to control.
Here's how we did it.
First we built a miniature set within a cardboard box with backdrop paper. We tried to isolate the surroundings so the mouse wouldn't freak out and do something unexpected and we didn't want to scare the little guy. We positioned lighting through holes cut in the box, and camera through a hole in the front.
Then we took an egg and a dremel mototool and cut an opening in the back of the egg and drained and washed it. We sprayed matte lacquer on the egg to cut down on the reflection. Then we contact cemented the egg down to the base and placed a few eggshell chips around.
Later we made a trip to the pet store. We picked a white mouse who was a little over inquisitive(there's always one in the cage with nose to the glass). We brought him into the studio and let him roam a bit to get used to his surroundings. The we needed to turn him yellow.
First we mixed a little yellow food coloring in water and gave him a bath. Well I had never given a mouse a bath and I soon realized his oily fur was water repellent. The color wouldn't stick as much as I'd hoped. So in the process of blow-drying him(with an airbrush at a low psi) I sprayed yellow photographic dye on his fur. It worked like a charm, funny how well he like it!
Once he was yellow and fluffy we let him crawl into the back of the egg. Then I put a small piece of tape to keep him in, cracked the front of the egg to get him started, then let him chew his way out.
Within about 5 minutes I shot a 36 exposure roll of VPS100 in a Nikon F3 with a 105mm lens. The result I was looking for came through in this timid little creature. Inquisitive of the great big world, once he's seen the outside, he wonders, should I come out or not, am I a mouse or.... well.
Uploaded
September 8th, 2015
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