Lady Knight and Hare Faerie: A Sapphic Photo Set in Celebration of a Story

The journey to these pictures on the moors started many miles away on the Oregon coast, on a cozy March morning curled up on sofas in my friend Bryonie’s living room. I had just read my forthcoming novelette to my friend Alessandra, and she casually said “you know who I was picturing when you described the hare fey? Gilly.” (Our mutual friend.) I gasped and immediately agreed with her.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if you two could take pictures on your trip in May as the characters from your story?”

The bee was henceforth in my bonnet.

I vaguely recalled seeing a photo of Bryony (yes, Bryony and Bryonie are two dear friends of mine, and they also are friends!) wearing a piece of armor, so I asked her about it. She still had it, and she also volunteered to take the pictures: A fact I was thrilled about since she’s a fabulous photographer. (See her work here, and join her new Substack here!)

I brought the hare ears with me, and Gilly borrowed a beautiful gown from our friend Anna. I borrowed a leather tunic from Gilly. And everything just came together so smoothly. Naomi assisted and took fantastic behind the scenes photos, one of which I loved so much, Bryony edited it up along with hers as part of the finished set.

We drove to the stunning rocks of Bridestones Moor, scrambled about looking for the best angles of so many options with the formations, and received a few amused reactions.

I’ve been involved in fine art photography modeling for 16 years or so now, and this is the first sapphic set of photos I’ve done. (My friend Ellie and I used to do some photos together I’m really proud of, but their intent was never to appear romantic.) As a proud queer person, I was thrilled to be able to explore this part of me through photos.

And Gilly. Whoosh. Gilly knocked it out of the ballpark into the stratosphere. She truly embodied the hare fey as I suspected she would.

And I discovered that day that playing a very different role, that of the knight, didn’t feel masculine. I simply felt….strong. Strong and feminine simultaneously. It was quite enticing. I have shopped for shoulder pauldrons since I got home.

Bryony of course did a masterful job with the photography and the editing. I am absolutely thrilled with the way these turned out.

Thank you to everyone involved in these photos!!

And of course, if you want to know more about the characters we portrayed, the chapbook will be out June 6th.

Cover illustration at right by Greene Spiro