Milk and Coral — anievesdesign Portfolio

Milk and Coral

May 4th, 2023
Canon Film Camera, B&W film
11 in. x 8.5 in.

Milk and Coral came from an assignment given by Hans Gindelsberger in his B&W Film Photography class. The objective was to create a narrative that could be understood through a series of photos. I had the idea to make a story based on identity theft. Often, people at a younger age try to borrow certain aspects of their personality from others, trying to embody those they may gravitate to or look up to. While this is normal to an extent, at a certain point, people become independent individuals. I thought about those who may struggle to find themselves and instead take this embodiment to the extreme, and how emotions of jealousy, obsession, and a desire to replace the other person could arise.

My story follows two women with almost identical outfits and styles. The first girl (Milk) is being stalked by the second (Coral), as seen in the first three photos. Coral then murders Milk in the fourth photo and replaces her in the fifth. Originally, there were multiple shots of Milk going about her day, with Coral hiding in the background. After Milk is murdered, Coral is seen recreating every step of Milk’s day, essentially replacing her entirely. However, most of the film was accidentally exposed to light, leaving me to only be able to convey my story with about a third of the photos taken.

My girlfriend and her best friend have very similar styles/wardrobes, and would tell me how they’d often get confused for each other by people on a number of occasions. Given this, I found them both to be the perfect models for this project’s concept.

The title, “Milk and Coral,” comes from the Milk and Coral snake species, respectively. While Milk snakes are virtually harmless to humans, Coral snakes have the second strongest venom of any snake. The two species are nearly identical to each other.