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Alice Kiss - Crux Legend

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Jollyrei said:
Love this one. Is this a St Johnny?
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Yes Jolly, you have identified it correctly. He does these atmospheric ones rather well.
I wonder if he is still manipulating?
 
bobinder said:
During the walk, Alice looks up periodically and the screen shots (#2 - #4) demonstrate her awkward movements as she precedes Koshka. In 'Carrying' (#5) she is looking down again with her pained expression. Saintjohny has used this evocative pose in three of his manipulations. The first is a forest scene (#6) not unlike the original 'Crux Forrest' setting. Falco's crux girl and Makar's Sveta have already been crucified on the trees. Saintjohny exploits the filtering sunlight as it catches Alice's shoulders and highlights the following girl. I have not been able to identify her although this time she is not Koshka. There is a sense of inevitability as the girls make their way to their own crosses, without escorts, and in sight of the previously crucified figures.

Saintjohny uses the same image of the unescorted, patibulated Alice in the hauntingly beautiful clifftop scene, entitled, 'Alice in Wonderland' (#7.) The sun casts long evening shadows across this coastal view, evoking the end of the day as a girl approaches the end of her life. Her sense of isolation in her predicament is visually reinforced by the landscape and seascape which dominate her. A beautiful day in Wonderland is ending ominously in an atmosphere of dream-reality.

The same pose is reversed, left to right, in saintjohny's Symbolist image, 'The Endless Circle' (#8 ) which has been discussed previously in this thread. Here the dreamy atmosphere persists, but is combined with the reality of the escorting legionary. As well as Roman retribution, the lonely Alice is now dominated by ethereal visions of her impending crucifixion. Whilst saintjohny employs Alice yet again as a repeating motif, I am not aware of any other manipulators who have used her for such powerful interpretations of the theme of 'The Walk.'

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Hi @saintjohny , can you give us answers? Please!
 
Following the success of her MPL debut, Alice was again photographed by Alexander Lobanov in a second series of 61 pictures which was published the day after her nineteenth birthday on 14 May 2007. This was entitled, 'Basic Instinct' and as usual with MPL Studios, presented Alice as 'Lara'.

MPL's rather hyped introduction elaborates, 'Recently, Lara was invited back for a second shooting. This time in a new studio. She seemed a little less guarded than in her first shoot, although there's still not much known about her. A certain built-in intensity seems to surround Lara. At the same time, we still can't help but think there's a softness underneath that edgy persona. What do your basic instincts tell you?'

Makar's basic instincts told him the obvious answer, which was realised just one month later.

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P.S. MPL's English spelling let them down in the cover title.
 
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Some more examples from MPL's 'Basic Instinct', including the wonderful 'bared teeth' portrait, used nine years later in manipulations by Zapoved and myself. Little did Alice know that a month after this publication she would be making even more convincing expressions of facial tension for the camera - whilst being crucified.

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Eulalia said:
I'm sure you mean they're unconvincing if you're looking for 'realistic' enactment of the experience of 'really' being crucified,
especially if you're wanting to use them for manips for 'authentic' Roman-style scenarios, and I'm sure you're right,
if any crucified prisoner ever smiled, it would have been a grin of desperate defiance, or madness.

But I strongly defend the right of girls like Alice to thoroughly enjoy their experience,
and I'm grateful that, occasionally, male photographers put that enjoyment on the record,
for this girl it's an important part of the pleasure of this site.
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Of course, victims on the manipulations I do need to have the suitable expressions, though I do get your point about some smiling in defiance or madness, still doesn't do it for me though.

I certainly hope the girls that pose for these are enjoying it and from the way many look I would say they are, albeit painfully.
 
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Between sessions for MPL Studios, it appears that Alice was approached by photographer Valery Anzilov with a view to shooting a number of outdoor series for Femjoy. Thus began a working partnership which resulted in the publication of some of her most attractive outdoor pictures. Alice accompanied Valery Anzilov to the Crimea for these location shoots, the first of which, entitled 'Freedom', was released on 4 June 2007.

'Freedom', was shot on location on the Ay Petri plateau, with Alice posing on the rocks in brilliant sunshine, under a clear blue sky. The stunning scenery is punctuated by the bright red flowers which attract her attention. I wonder if these may be wild poppies? - I would be grateful for comments by anyone who can identify them and suggest an approximate time of year. The first two pictures are included purely to illustrate the location and are not from the shoot.

Ay Petri rises to 1234 metres, overlooking the coast of the Crimea peninsula and the Black Sea. The name, derived from Greek, means, 'St. Peter'. The white limestone of the mountain represents the weathered remains of a prehistoric coral reef. For 120 days of the year, cold winds assault the quadruple peaks at speeds of up to 110 mph. The shooting obviously took place on the plateau below the summit, in a light breeze. The mountain range forms part of the Yalta Mountain Forest Nature Reserve and is considered an area of outstanding natural beauty. Alice appears to be enjoying the competition.

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bobinder said:
Between sessions for MPL Studios, it appears that Alice was approached by photographer Valery Anzilov with a view to shooting a number of outdoor series for Femjoy. Thus began a working partnership which resulted in the publication of some of her most attractive outdoor pictures. Alice accompanied Valery Anzilov to the Crimea for these location shoots, the first of which, entitled 'Freedom', was released on 4 June 2007.

'Freedom', was shot on location on the Ay Petri plateau, with Alice posing on the rocks in brilliant sunshine, under a clear blue sky. The stunning scenery is punctuated by the bright red flowers which attract her attention. I wonder if these may be wild poppies? - I would be grateful for comments by anyone who can identify them and suggest an approximate time of year. The first two pictures are included purely to illustrate the location and are not from the shoot.

Ay Petri rises to 1234 metres, overlooking the coast of the Crimea peninsula and the Black Sea. The name, derived from Greek, means, 'St. Peter'. The white limestone of the mountain represents the weathered remains of a prehistoric coral reef. For 120 days of the year, cold winds assault the quadruple peaks at speeds of up to 110 mph. The shooting obviously took place on the plateau below the summit, in a light breeze. The mountain range forms part of the Yalta Mountain Forest Nature Reserve and is considered an area of outstanding natural beauty. Alice appears to be enjoying the competition.

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Do you have any idea how long I looked for her in #1 & 2?!?!?!?!:mad::cool::doh::devil:
 
bobinder said:
I would be grateful for comments by anyone who can identify them and suggest an approximate time of year.
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They are Mountain Peonies, for which Crimea, and especially Ay Petri, is famous.
I've not (yet) managed to identify exactly which species of Paeonia,
but they'd certainly be flowering in late spring/ early summer (about now).

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Eulalia said:
They are Mountain Peonies, for which Crimea, and especially Ay Petri, is famous.
I've not (yet) managed to identify exactly which species of Paeonia,
but they'd certainly be flowering in late spring/ early summer (about now).

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Thanks very much Eul, that is excellent information, and it confirms my reconstruction of Alice's career timeline. The Crimea location shoots preceded Cruxdreams by about a month and 'Freedom' was released very promptly on 4 June 2007, within two or three weeks of shooting. The Cruxdreams shoot followed on 20 June 2007.

I had not realised that the flowers represent such a signature for the Crimea and Ay Petri. Thanks for confirming this - it helps to reveal the story behind the pictures. Beautiful flowers - I shall always associate them with her. :)
 
Yes, I think she must cherish those shots of herself, they are so beautiful!

It's definitely Paeonia tenuifolia ('slender-leaved'), maybe ssp biebersteiniana,
that seems to be a speciality of the Crimean mountains.
 
Eulalia said:
Yes, I think she must cherish those shots of herself, they are so beautiful!

It's definitely Paeonia tenuifolia ('slender-leaved'), maybe ssp biebersteiniana,
that seems to be a speciality of the Crimean mountains.
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It's supposed to be used in Chinese medicine to improve cardiovascular health. This place is very near me, so I might go check it out. If I do, I'll let you know how it works. http://www.mountainpeony.com/home.html
 
Yes peonies have been cultivated in China for nearly 3000 years,
and are much used in modern-day Chinese medicine (not only in China),
for circulatory troubles, menstrual problems etc. The Asian species
are distinct from the European ones - there's a gap in distribution -
'Mountain Peony' is a common name for several different species,
I think the Chinese Mu Dan Pu is P. suffruticosa, the picture looks like that.
 
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