Cheetham's Zombie Makeover Portraits
Seasons of The Brittle Harvest Volume One: Prairie Frost was originally scheduled for release in January of 2008. Due to the delay caused by publishing and agent issues, the release was put on hold.
Feeling obligated to readers who pre-ordered the zombie genre-based series through McNally Robinson, James set out to take the idea of a zombie series one step further, by including readers and fans of the undead in the process of creating a world overrun by zombies.
“I thought it would be interesting to somehow create a world more involved with true fans of the walking dead, and decided to take a shot at manipulating photos of family and friends. The first few were terrible, but the interest from people never ceased to amaze me, so I continued on.”
500 zombies later, James has the makeovers down to a science…
“I have had the privilege and pleasure of seeing the thrill people get when looking into the face of their own personal monster. Die-hard zombie fans love it, and I love doing them. It has become one of my dirty pleasures, especially when they turn out unbelievable.”
The quality of the photo is everything, James insists.
“I can’t do anything with photos taken at a distance or low quality lighting, and a lot of people still don’t understand that. I often tell people, ‘if you send me a photo of you hiking in the Himalayas, and your head is the size of a grain of sand, I’m not going to be able to do much with it’.”
That goes for photos where people are grinning from ear to ear as well.
“Sometimes a grin can be turned into a sneer, and it makes for a rather creepy finished piece but for the most part, the ideal photo is a head and shoulders shot, no glasses, or funny colors, and a DPI of 300.”
He speaks of his fans.
“I get some strange people wanting makeovers and have had some interesting adventures, but what truly amazes me are the regular folk you would never expect in a million years to be interested in becoming a zombie. Young mothers send me photos of their children and often I get asked if I can do full family portraits, you know, the ones you get from Sears? I have to wonder sometimes just who the weird folk really are in this crazy world…”
The zombie makeovers have been so successful, James is now taking them on the road.
“I mentioned the makeovers to Doug Ritter, an award winning photographer from Winnipeg, that if I could get high quality photos of people actually posing for the camera, I could do some amazing stuff. He took some photos for me and then printed them out as 24×36 portraits and they turned out unbelievable. They are fantastic one of a kind works of dark art. I suggested we should take it on the road and Doug agreed to tag along, kind enough to take all the photos I will need. I like the idea of traveling around infecting the world one portrait at a time.”
James and Doug’s first stop will be the Minneapolis Crypticon in November 2009.
“I’m really excited. We will have our table set up and Doug will have the camera there ready to snap the photos for zombie fans. We’ll bring them home with us and I’ll get to work transforming the customers into zombies, one at a time. In return, they will receive their portraits in the mail 6-8 weeks later. It will be a hell of a surprise, because these photos are beautiful renditions, and would look great in a frame on the wall… Imagine, having a one of a kind portrait of yourself as a zombie, not another in the entire world like it. I’m psyched! This is going to be fantastic!”
If the Minneapolis Crypticon is successful, James promises more dates in the future.
“I’ve been so busy with the zombie makeovers, I haven’t had time to worry about the book, the irony is killing me, but I’m happy either way. The makeovers have been fun, and the real adventure is just beginning.”
To find out more, contact James & Doug at: cheethamszombies@gmail.com
