Photographer #275: Mariel Clayton ~ Photography Imaging

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Mariel Clayton, 1980, South Africa, is a self-taught photographer who works and lives in Canada. She discovered the world of miniature items in a Tokyo toy shop. Since then she has been photographing dolls to tell her stories. Through the internet she buys and collects the miniature items she needs for her photography shoots. Her images are often brutal, full of sex and violence, yet display and reflect on the dark side of the western society. She calls herself a "Doll photographer with a subversive sense of humour." The first image she took with a barbie was a story in which she commited suicide because Ken had dumped her for another man. It was Mariel's wishful thinking of the end of what she believes to be "an evil influence". Over the course of several years she has taken an amazing amount of staged photographs involving the barbie dolls. The following images come from the series 25 Rooms, Fables and Hystoria.