'Preservation' by Blake Little

March 5, 2018

At first glance, you might not know what you are looking at. Upon closer inspection, it's true beauty.

Portrait photographer Blake Little covered models in honey for his series entitled "Preservation." Caught in movement, but trapped in the viscose honey, the models in "Preservation" begin to look like sculptures in motion.

The idea was born when he used a little honey as a prop in a more traditional photo shoot. Little immediately noticed how a hand drenched in honey looked like it had been preserved in amber.

Blake Little

Little sought out models of varying ages and body types. He found the honey to have a "democratizing effect."

Here's a few select pieces of his work:

Blake Little

By transforming the individuals into living sculptures, viewers can look past traditional ways of categorizing people, and into the idea of humanity as captured in each photograph.

Blake Little

In some pictures, the honey takes on a different form. Rather than a sealant that captures life, it is a nourishing substance that gives life. Out of it, a man is born.

Blake Little

Like larvae hatching from their eggs, the struggle to be born and to find a place in life is captured in this powerful image. Blindly they grope for each other, hoping to find purpose and safety in each others' community.