We’re beyond excited to share this beautiful editorial from our current Summer/Fall 2015 “Literary Love” issue with you! The shoot draws inspiration from Romanticism, a literary movement spanning the 18th-19th centuries with such notable authors as Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters. To editorially capture the movement, characterized by a celebration of nature and passionate expression of emotion (along with, of course, romantic love!), we approached Toronto-based sculptographer Anna Church—an artist who combines forms of three dimensional sculpture with the process of photography.

With her “Insignia” series, Anna collects, composes, and arranges objects to create a sculptural form. She then captures the form through the lens of a camera, producing an image that teases and tricks the eye. “I’m a sucker for a pastel colour palette, floral and anything romantic, so when I was approached to collaborate on ‘The New Romantics’ editorial, the brief couldn’t have been more pitch perfect for my Insignia artistic medium,” Anna shares.

“When I embark on any new work, I start to imagine the interior of the room in which the piece will reside. For ‘The New Romantics,’  I imagined Victorian parlors and sitting rooms, lace curtains, painted soft lavender, blush pink, soft teal and powdered blue, starch white tablecloths and napkins with pure white crockery and polished silver, with gold and marble accents. From here I set about combining old world wedding traditions still used to this day: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Him, and Her. I matched these concepts to my chosen colour palette, floral arrangements, china, cakes and vintage pieces to depict the essence of the theme.”

Anna worked alongside a creative team of calligraphy artists, floral and cake designers to bring each bespoke Wedding Insignia to life. “This was where the magic happened! I love collaborating and I was gifted the opportunity to work with exceptional talents. It was completely nourishing and exhilarating,” says Anna who is currently working on an Insignia for a Toronto interior designer and would love to work with couples on bespoke Wedding Insignia pieces in future.

Purple Tree Photography was on hand to photograph the editorial and filmed a behind-the-scenes video that captures all of the “magic” which can be viewed below.

Behind-the-scenes video from Purple Tree Photography.