At the top is a new picture out this month in W Magazine. The idea was originally based off of an ad I remembered from the 70′s for Nacona boots. I also wanted to shoot on a Martian-looking surface. This was pre-movie (which I thought was awesome by the way) but after I saw some high-res NASA photos of the Martian landscapes. The project was moving along nicely until I saw some great photographs by Robbie Fimmano in Interview Magazine that were way too close for comfort. I called the magazine to tell them we had a problem: “W, we have a problem.” So we quickly regrouped with different snakes and a setting that was inspired partly by the Walter De Maria Earth Room at Dia and even more so by a pile of snow I saw last winter inside a subway station. Elizabeth Press worked hard to recreate the cracked earth look which unfortunately got cropped out in the final piece but she did a hell of a job. Fleurie Rose (whose repertoire is extensive and is here only ‘the tip of the iceberg’) did the manicure and Elisaveta Stoilova supplied the great legs and the fearless snake handling. ‘Cat’ Long from All Creatures Great And Small supplied the snakes.