Pennywise Playtime – a personal project by Ivy Brog of Photography by Ivy.
Who is Ivy Brog?
I am a creative, I am an empath, I’m a natural introvert. Day to day, I am a wife, a mother, and a grandmother, and serve as a minister with my husband. I feel and love big, even when there’s risk-ESPECIALLY if there’s a risk-because life’s too short and love is worth fighting for.
Tell us about your photography journey and how you landed on your specific style.
As I stated before, I’m a creative. I started off with visual-arts pretty young by drawing and painting. Honestly, I think it was my exposure to my grandparents National Geographic collection that first open my eyes to the power of a photograph. By the time I was 11, I received my first camera for Christmas: a Polaroid. I took pictures almost everything with that first cassette and then quickly realized that I needed to capture things that were truly worthy. There was an economy to each photo. I still believe this.
I continued to learn both stylistically and technically until High School where I participated in both yearbook and the newspaper as a photographer. I think this experience helped me to focus on the experience of the photograph versus just the subject being captured. It helped me to understand that a photograph could tell a story if you captured it correctly.
Since that time, I would say that I have developed the style of being a storyteller. Whether it is a wedding, a senior shoot, family session…each tells a story.
Where do you find inspiration for your sessions?
I think a lot. I journal my thoughts and ideas and collect them for the opportune time. Sometimes I will do series, such as a horror villain shoot. My inspiration is largely what comes out of my imagination. I also love to create and environment where my clients are able to express their authentic selves and a very organic way. Sometimes I will give him challenges for ask them questions that they need to respond to while I’m shooting just to bring that out.
What was your motivation behind the Pennywise Playtime project?
Honestly, I do enjoy a bit of creep factor. I grew up reading Stephen King and watching paranormal in horror movies. That’s probably the largest inspiration behind the photoshoot itself. I was probably most motivated by the oncoming fall season. I love nearly everything about it other than winter follows it. I’ve always loved Halloween a simple fact that you can spend time and resources to become whoever you want to or whoever you’ve always wanted to be. And as a photographer, I have a handful of favorite horror homies that I would want to photograph. Pennywise would definitely be one of them.
Did you worry that the little girl in the photos might be afraid?
When I presented the idea on my Facebook page and did an initial shoot with just my son in the Pennywise costume, a longtime friend reached out to me and said that she was definitely interested in doing one of the clown sessions with her daughter. I trust that she knew her daughter and because her daughter knew me and her uncle was going to be in the costume, I really wasn’t too concerned. Ironically, on the day of the shoot the oldest daughter decided that she really didn’t want to do it and got super creeped out. The youngest daughter is the one that stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park!
Describe the perfect client for a creepy clown photoshoot.
I would say that the perfect client for a shoot like this would be someone who is adventurous and has a great sense of humor. I think if someone is family high-strung, this photoshoot with creep them out to no end. I’m pretty laid-back and I was creeped out!
What was your favorite part of this shoot?
I would say that my favorite part of this photoshoot was at the very end when the young girl’s uncle took off the mask. She immediately grabbed the mask, placed it over her head and wanted to take pictures with it on. It was exactly the type of comedic let down that needed to happen because the content of the shoot was both creepy and disturbing.
I know that you used Summerana products in some of your work. Can you explain what you used and how you feel that it enhanced your photo?
I have used both the smoke bomb overlays as well as many of the Lightroom presets. I have absolutely fallen in love with creating a mood through editing with both light and color.
Discovering Summerana and the vast amounts of resources and tutorials was a treasure for me. I definitely feel like it’s renewed my desire to stretch myself artistically and push boundaries in both content and editing style so that I can keep telling stories that move people. Even if they’re creepy ones!
All right, let’s end with a fun question: What is your favorite quote?
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” –Helen Keller
Ivy Brog is the creative genius behind Photography by Ivy. She is based out of Northeast Wisconsin. You can find more of her work on her website or by following her Facebook page.