Renee Robyn; the “impossible” shoot. I first met Renee at the laced up Cabaret, put on by a local corset company called sweet carousel. At first, I had no idea who she was- just a really awesomely dressed woman at this cool event. I was 19 at the time. At the time, I had no idea how much of an inspiration she would end up being in my life. Eight years later, I approached her with an idea only she could help me pull off; a rope suspension shoot based on orginally a harpie warrior. She agreed with the idea, provided I could pull off making the wings, anything else needed for the set, and that I could meet her in time before she took off to eastern Canada. Over the lockdown that ensued, I moved into my Aunt’s spare room, gave myself a deadline to make my best freinds wedding gown, then began cracking out the design and measurements. this project quickly began rearing its daunting head. With a little under a month to go, I started cutting out the wings, working at night while my aunt worked her nightshifts. Through a few trial and errors in the overall creation, especially towards the end when I had to adjust the fan mechanisms of the wings to compensate for the extra width of the build, installed one wing completely backwards, causing me to think I completely somehow messed up. I was so close to quitting, with less than a week away before I caught my flight to Edmonton. A part of me refused to give up; whether it was a part of me knowing how far I had one, to re-thinking about how I had already bought myself luggage specific to carry these wings, to promising Renee, one of my role models for years, that this would get done. I spent about 24 hours straight fixing the few trouble spots before I finally came out with a pair of Icarus wings. At that point, and with only a few days to go before I caught my flight to Edmonton, I decided that the wings being perfect was not worth burning myself out further. I packed my wings, and prepared myself for the second half of the task. When I flew out to Edmonton, and confirmed with Renee for the shoot. Renee asked me if I knew any safe rope artists that I could work with. Of course, being too preoccupied with the wings, I completely spaced on that significant detail. Thankfully, Renee had one in mind. She introduced me to Heidi, a woman who I practiced, and shot my set with. When setting up our first suspension meeting, I was given some introduction to rope suspension websites, told to stretch my body and be well fed before we met up. The first practice was rather brief. I was not prepared for the intensity that is rope suspension. After figuring out what areas could not be a suspension point due to previous injuries, we figured that my knee was the best point for my first rope hang. As the deadline approached, I felt my body get more used to the ties; don’t get me wrong, the suspensions are still very intense, and not for everyone. You almost have to enjoy pain and be able to breather your way through, and not panic as you are tied and suspended. The big day came. Of course, so did a massive storm, making conditions almost impossible to see from. Thankfully, my partner is a very competent driver, and actually enjoyed the drive...I, on the other hand, was gripping the seat. I forget how intense the storms in Edmonton can get. When we goth there, I quickly prepared for the setup; we had four poses planned, and only a set amount of time, as I did not want to keep everyone on set for hours on end; we all had the experience to quickly shoot the set. The first few ties went quickly and smoothly, thanks to the co-ordination of the skeleton crew we worked with, due to the overhanging cloud over everyone’s head that was the pandemic. Towards the end, I was starting to get a bit faded. After everyone agreeing to two more ties, I quickly got into position, and Heidi tied me quickly. Up I went, but only for a few seconds, before I started calling it from the pain and exhaustion. after a few minutes break, and agreeing to try again, up I went. I focused on breathing through the seconds to too to get the photo, then thankfully was set down for the final shot; the hanged man with the gravity boot tie, the knots being the bottom of my foot. I went up, shot, and came back down. It took me a few hours after, before realizing that I did it; I managed the “impossible” shoot Idea I had come up with. Despite the few setbacks, the pandemic, and that freaky rainstorm we were driving through to the set; with the help of the small team coming together for a few hours, the impossible set become possible.
Thank you to the small team that came together that made this big idea possible
Renee Robyn
Shaunna Paine
Heidi Marie
Nathan Kidd
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