Stories from the Crossroads
Dedicated to God, Creator and Father of all people.
Storytelling is a universal art form that has been practiced and passed down for thousands of years in every culture and civilization. Regardless of where a story comes from, the heart of it remains the same: it is a tool to teach valuable lessons. In today’s world, individuals’ differences are constantly pointed out, with claims that these traits make it impossible for certain people to coexist. This photographic project depicts scenes of stories from all over the world, exploring the art of storytelling and how it belongs not to one culture, but to all people.
For this project, I read ancient folk and fairy tales from six continents, staged, photographed, edited, and printed these stories in historic printing processes. I was inspired to create this work by my growing up in a family of storytellers, and by the international influences in my childhood home. I grew up in a multi-cultural home in the Washington D.C. area, where fantastical creatures and characters were constantly present. When my family is together, we share old anecdotes, narratives we’ve heard from other people, as well as plots of the most recent books we are enjoying.
This pastime is one that has helped bring us closer with one another. Being surrounded by so many cultures at home and in the community, and having a natural affinity for stories, I developed a deep appreciation for narratives from other countries. With this project I hope to celebrate and represent various cultures from around the world and bring people together through the universal art of storytelling.
Photogravure
East of the Sun West of the Moon (Norway)
After agreeing to marry a large white bear to help her family, the youngest daughter of a poor peasant went to live with him in his castle. For the first year of their marriage, she was forbidden from looking upon him at night as he slept. Breaking her promise, she looked on her husband one night and found him to be a handsome prince, cursed to be a bear when awake. But by gazing on him she broke the spell that kept them together and he was taken and forced to marry his evil stepmother’s daughter. The girl sets out to find him, following his directions to find the castle east of the sun and west of the moon.
Read the full story: https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Norwegian_folktale_1.html#gsc.tab=0
On the night of the Savior Jesus Christ’s birth, La Befana, an old witch in a small village of Italy, was cleaning her home when she was visited by the Three Wise Men. They invited her to join them on their search to find the Christ child. Awoken in the night after her refusal to go with them, she tries to follow the Wise Men but loses their trail. Now, every January 5th, she flies around on her broom, bringing gifts to all the children as she searches for Christ.
Read about the legend: https://orderisda.org/culture/la-nostra-voce/the-story-of-la-befana/
Platinum Palladium
La Befana (Italy)
The Golden Spear (Ireland)
Platinum Palladium
Brother and sister, Connla and Nora, live near a magical mountain that the locals call “The Golden Spear.” On a series of mystical nights, Connla and Nora follow some pipers into the world of the fae, going on a series of adventures, like meeting mermaids and the Queen of the fairies, then return home to their poor, old mother, as a man and a woman.
Read the full story: https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Irish_Folktale_4.html#gsc.tab=0
Pigling and Her Proud Sister (Korea)
Platinum Palladium
The beautiful Pear Blossom, later renamed “Pigling” or “little pig” by her wicked stepmother and stepsister, became a servant in her own home. In order to keep her from the festival, Pigling’s stepmother and sister gave her impossible tasks to finish before she can go to the festivities. Each time they give her one of these tasks, a miraculous event happens: birds coming and eating a bag of spilled rice, a cow coming and eating every weed in the yard, and so on. Eventually her fortune changes when she catches the eye of a kind and handsome man from the south.
Read the full story: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/67180/67180-h/67180-h.htm#ch15 (scroll down a bit to find the story)*
There once was a Tsar named Tsar Berendey, and he had three sons. Over a series of nights, some of his golden apples were being stolen by a mysterious thief. His two older sons fail to catch the thief, but his youngest son, Ivan, manages to stay awake and see that the culprit is the magical and legendary Firebird. Ivan is only able to grasp one of the bird’s magnificent, glowing tail feathers. Tsar Berendey is fascinated with this Firebird and orders his sons to go out and capture it. After being betrayed by his jealous older brothers, Ivan is set on a series of other quests where he befriends a large gray wolf, steals a golden horse and falls in love and marries Princess Helen, all of which lead him to the Firebird.
Read the full story: https://www.russianamericancompany.com/firebird-and-tsarevich-ivan/
Silver Gelatin
Ivan and the Firebird (Russia)
In Search of the Magic Lake (Inca/ Ecuador)
Silver Gelatin
There once was a young, poor girl named Ampata, who lived with her parents and two brothers near the capital city of the Incas, Cuzco. When the Sun King’s son was sick, the court magician claimed that the only way for his son to heal was by drinking water from the Magic Lake at the end of the Earth. The Sun King promised jewels and riches to whoever could bring water from the Magic Lake to his son, and Ampata’s two older brothers took on the challenge. When being presented with water, not from the Magic Lake, the Sun King imprisons her brothers. To free them, Ampata sets off for the end of the Earth, facing panthers and other dangers, and receiving help from three macaws whose feathers take her to the Magic Lake.
Read the full story: https://www.worldstoriesbank.org/story/search-of-the-magic-lake/
Long ago, during the times of the Tang Dynasty, there was a count who lived in the camp at Ludschou. When wronged by the Count of Webo, a young slave-girl of the Count of Ludschou goes to him and offers to sneak into the Count of Webo’s chambers and kill him. When the moment presented itself to her, she decided not to kill the Count, but to steal his golden canister which was set out at his bedside., the Count of Webo called off his armies which he had prepared to go against the Count of Ludschou, as thanks for sparing his life. The slave girl is celebrated and praised by the people of Ludschou.
Read the full story: https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_82.html#gsc.tab=0
Silver Gelatin
The Golden Canister (China)
Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes (Nigeria)
Silver Gelatin
There once was an old woman who was very poor, who lived all alone on the outskirts of the village with no one to look after her. The moon was very beautiful and round, full of meat and would often travel down from the sky to Earth. One night she took compassion on the old woman and told her to find a knife and to carve out a supply of meat from the moon every day. As the woman took her daily supply of meat, the moon became very thin. One night when the old woman went to get her supply of meat from the moon, the villagers ran out, frightening the moon who retreated to the sky, where she remains to this day, waxing and waning, just as she did when the old woman was carving her for meat.
Read the full story: https://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/Nigerian_folktale_26.html#gsc.tab=0
Long ago, near the Yukon River in Alaska, a band of the Gwich’in people lived and traveled. There were two old women who were very weary and slow. During a particularly harsh winter, with bitter cold and a shortage of fish and meat, the band makes the hard decision to leave the two old women behind so they can continue onward. Hurt and betrayed, the two old women band together and defy all odds by calling upon their old strengths and teachings, finding a way to survive the harsh winter and rejoin their band.
Read the full story: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Old-Women-Betrayal-Survival/dp/0972494499?tag=ustxtaddt-20
Platinum Palladium
Two Old Woman (North America, of the Gwich’in People)
The Fisherman’s Wife (Germany)
Photogravure
There once was a poor fisherman who lived with his wife in a tiny, old shack near the sea. One day when out fishing, the fisherman caught a fish who told him that he was not just a fish but an enchanted prince, and that the fisherman should not kill him and put him back in the water. The fisherman did this and when recounting this tale to his wife, she scolds him, telling him he should have asked for something from the prince. The fisherman returns to the sea and calls the prince, asking for riches and power to please his wife. This continues until the wife asks for too much, and a storm comes and takes away all of the wealth and riches they asked for.
Read the full story: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm019.html