SARA URSUA PHOTOGRAPHY | BLOG

Valentine’s Day.  A day of clichés.
Longing hearts, roses as red as blood dripping from every corner. Gluttonous chocolates wrapped in pretty boxes and luxurious gifts seducing you to unwrap them.

Valentine’s Day, A day filled with love.
The hope of romance, the chance of a spark, and the kindling of old flames.
Ideas of glitter and pretty pinks and reds with floating paper hearts and sparkly lights, that’s what you usually see when photos are stylized for Valentine’s Day photo shoots. With the Deviant Valentine shoot, we wanted it to be unexpected, and a little dark. We wanted to capture those typical commercial elements of Valentines; things like roses, chocolates, hearts and diamonds and focus more on their darker, more provocative side.

What is this holiday day really about?

Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine, a martyr who was killed for marrying the persecuted and helping those tragic, forbidden loves of his time.
Underneath all of the frill and amorous Hallmark-ridden sentiments of the holiday, the real sentiments lie.
Angst. Tragic love. Forbidden passions. Blood and tears and hearts shattered on the floor. And a murdered man, who as his last act, penned a note to his love that simply read, from your Valentine.
Dark.
Provocative.
A deviant valentine.

And there it was. A morbid twist on the typical commercial elements of Valentine’s day:
Hearts. Roses. Chocolates. Luxury.
Or, as we wanted to portray it, a type of “deadly sins” of the holiday.
Broken hearts. Roses like blood. Gluttony. Frivolous overspending, drowning in luxury.

We present to you,
A Deviant Valentine

TEAM:
Other Photographer: Photography by Jami Leavitt (to check out her amazing work on this shoot click HERE)
Model: Elyse Beard
Make-up & Hair: Lacy Scherf
Stylist: Amanda Hill
Location: Recycled Consign and Design Cedar City Utah

I had a blast doing this shoot and was on cloud nine working with such talent. Please take the time to check out how lovely their work is :)