Torment
She was Falcon’s first muse. Though they worked together just five times over a two month period, the photos they created together remain among Falcon’s finest. Falcon named her “Torment” because she was deeply tormented – as we see clearly in these photos. Abandoned and adopted, abused and conflicted, her torment was the occasion of incredible imagery. Some 10,000 RAW images survive from those five sessions.
Falcon recalls that as they worked together hours would pass with out a word passing between them and yet the communication between them could not have been more direct, more effective. He knew and understood what she was feeling. There was a part of her torment that touched him deeply.
Each Two of the five sessions took place in the cemetery at Buffalo Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC. The first is called the White Series – named for the white fabric from which torment fashioned her gown that day and for the material she used to hang from a tree. Evanes-cence’s first album played as Falcon followed Torment through the cemetery until nightfall and darkness ended the session.
The last session, called the Joban Series, was so named because as Torment opened a Bible on a tomb stone, it opened to the book of Job – to Job’s second lament. It seemed appropriate to Falcon that such would be the case. Torment wore black that day – a sharp contrast to the white she wore just two weeks earlier.
The Red Series took place at Battleground Park also in Greensboro and in Falcon’s studio. In the park Torment wore an out fit reminiscent of the 1930’s and the femme fatale that dominated film noir. At Falcon’s studio, she donned a red dress also reminiscent of the 1930’s. The blood of her hair, the red of her dress, were complimented by the leopard skin tones of the fabric of the ottoman on which most of the photos were created.
Most of the photos in session three were taken impromptu. Torment had stopped by the studio for no specific reason. These were the last photos Falcon took with his Canon 10D. The photos in session one were unexpected. Falcon, JD and Torment had agreed to meet in the cemetery to discuss doing a documentary project about the cemetery. Once in the cemetery, Torment lost herself in the grief and sadness that seemed to take hold of her.
Falcon’s work with Torment ended as abruptly as it began. Without explanation, without reason, Torment was gone.