"D"

Photo session with Desiree Akyurek on December 22nd, 2024. In the late weeks of the summer of 2024 I was working on a TV production as a scenery painter; it was there that I first saw Desiree who was working in the prop department. And the moment I saw her I thought she would be a great subject for a photo session. One fine day she came into our shop bringing with her some props to be aged, and as I was listening to her explanation I noticed some really beautiful tattoos in her hands and forearms, and like in an epiphany I pictured her in my head standing in front of some elegant architectural elements all painted black, reminiscent of the work of the Ukrainian-American artist Louise Nevelson. That same day I approached her and asked her if she would be willing to do a creative portrait session, and I explained to her the vision I just had. The answer was positive! I also asked Desiree about her tattoos and their cultural provenance, more particularly to the iconography of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, her father's hometown. She explained that they were based on decorative designs of Turkish origin with which she identifies given her family heritage, more specifically with the decorative style of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, were her father is from. The weeks that followed I spent collecting scrap molding from the sets that were under construction and also visiting the thrift store in search of little figures that I could use on the three panels I wanted to build (foam balls; two little ceramic angels; necklaces, a little figure of Bastet, the Egyptian god; two low-relieve tiles with grapes motive; an ornate mirror and a letter “D”; a chandelier). It was the incredible coincidence of the finding of the “D” letter and the fact that Desiree’s initial is a “D” that I decided on the spot that this album would bear this letter as a title. Four weeks after we first spoke the scenery was ready and all it was left to do was to wait for Desiree to have an open slot in her busy schedule and for me to move the couch and other furniture out of my living room and setup the three panels which were to be mounted on three 4’x8’ flats, set the five strobe lights I used on the session and do test shots until I was pleased with the look. For this last I also created an adjustment preset on Adobe Lightroom so as the photos were arriving on the hard drive they would show on the computer monitor with these adjustments. I really want to thank Desiree for her commitment to this project. She drove two long hours north from Brooklyn to Beacon in order to take these photos! Many thanks also to Joe Kupillas, Rob Woolsey and Eric Leinwand for their support.