Foxes are very present in folklore, and are often represented as mysterious, intelligent and trickster creatures. Among the most famous depictions is that of Kitsune, in Japanese folklore, in which the fox is a shapeshifter entity that takes the form of a young woman. In Slavic mythology, foxes are related to Devana, goddess of forests and hunting. She’s married to Veles, god of the underworld, herds, music, trickery and, according to some sources, poisonous mushrooms (come on, I had to mention this!). Devana is portrayed as a rebellious goddess who had an unrestrained love for her freedom, wearing her hair down (which was unacceptable for an unmarried woman). She was always accompanied by a fox or a wolf.
Foxes also play an important role in several fairy tales and fables. I am fascinated by foxes, especially the red ones (Vulpes vulpes), so I took some of these popular stories as inspiration for this photoshoot. When I immerse myself in the forest, walk barefoot and feel the nature around me, I easily dive into the creative process, adding elements of my favorite fairy tales/myths into my photos.
I also wanted to portray the loneliness of a human-fox hybrid that wanders through the forest in order to contrast the loneliness of a human living in a big city to that of a fox in the forest. From my perspective, these environments make us experience loneliness in different ways. For some reason, the loneliness in crowded cities feels much more overwhelming.
