Corrie Clark

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.

Chapter 1, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

In that last century women would call me for headshots. Corrie Clark did not. I saw her at a function and I was struck on how she looked so much younger than she was (in her mid 20s). I suggested we get together for some sessions. This we did for at least three. She told me, that while she was a well-paid actress, she longed for appearing in a film with adult makeup. She was tired of playing a teenager.

I have written before that if you bring a person to your studio; you have a backdrop behind; a camera on a tripod in front and a few lights you will be guaranteed a failure. That will change if you have a theme. For these photographs, in which I used medium format colour negative, colour slide and b+w the theme was to be Vlademir Nabokov’s novel Lolita.