I shot Gabby’s portrait on a large format film camera, which I chose for the sense of formality and ceremony it demands. After developing the negative, I saw that the final image would need the foliage in the background to be darker while Gabby’s face needed to be brighter. I wanted to echo the physicality of the large camera while correcting the image, and that led me to the idea of using a physical object placed on the negative while scanning to create an effect similar to dodging and burning in the darkroom. I was in a hotel room, so had very limited physical materials available to me. I did have tissue paper, though, and because the negative was so large, I was able to tear the paper to fit where it needed to go. Torn and layered tissue paper worked for contrast, and the jagged edges and rough look of the paper give this image the dreamlike quality I was hoping for.