Once Upon A Time
These images take a cue from children’s storytime to playfully hide the cautionary tale within the fairy tale. They emerge from the dark magical, brightly colored, and candy-sweet. Or like realities we push to the background but nevertheless persist in glowering at us with haunting stories that should never unfold.
Once Upon A Time is, in its surface, a fantasy of place — magical, brightly colored, and candy-sweet. The images emerge from the night like comforting, faraway memories of childhood innocence.
Past the glossy images, though, captions lurk — as the darkness in the scenes depicted. Those texts derive inspiration, sometimes literally but most often not, from the games, campfire stories, rhymes, fables, fairy tales, and tall tales of childhood.
Children’s stories are always meant to entertain, but at times also to instruct, and even warn, by spotlighting humanity’s more lackluster side — its seemingly endless range spanning from the cluelessly hurtful to the diabolically annihilating.
This series operates within that same duality: beyond the joyful, vibrant hues and playful titles oftentimes lies a cautionary — albeit oft-delightful — tale. A story being told that should never unfold — or shouldn’t have.
----
The de Young Museum of San Francisco included an image from this project in its The de Young Open juried exhibit of 2020.
Two images won a Juror Award from photographer Judy Dater at the In Focus: Current Photography exhibition of the Richmond Art Center, CA (2018).
The project twice won a Portfolio Award at the San Francisco Bay International Photography Exhibition (2018 and 2020, 10 different images in each).
The project consists of 50 images. For a complete catalog, email us at info@sylviaparetphoto.com.