Defective Stepford Wives
A photo series about malfunctioning Stepford Wives.
I’ve always been fascinated by people who go to great lengths attempting to create a facade of normalcy and perfection to present to the world. Growing up in suburbia, I came face-to-face with this garish disguise of perfection. What were they hiding? What was the real story and why were they so afraid of the truth?
In the original movie of The Stepford Wives they took it a step further, not only did the men desire the window-dressing of perfection, they also wanted to live in the world of the empty box, where unchallenged thoughts and actions could fester unencumbered by the hassle and nagging needs of someone else. Where another’s feelings need not be considered. Where a man could place himself in the center of the universe and create a life of maximum comfort and convenience. True freedom was not having any responsibility to another human being.
What would it look like if their plan failed? If the robotic duplicates they replaced their wives with blew a fuse and there was no way to reboot them?
Defective Stepford Wives is a photo series about malfunctioning Stepford Wives. When you order a Stepford Wife you expect certain standards will be met. Quality you can count on.
They’re supposed to be subservient, obsessively focused on domestic duties and physical appearances and lacking of independent thought or ambition.
Unfortunately, sometimes you get a lemon. And there’s no customer support number to call. No returns or refunds. This series features these lemons.
The two models, Austyn Vovos and Gleveen Octavia were great to work with. We kicked around a lot of ideas regarding wardrobe and location and settled on hitting the vintage shops on Magnolia Blvd in Burbank and found some 1950s/60s pieces.
Check out my other photo series here.