Photographer Karen Jerzyk has transformed one room into a world of colours. In her previous work she explored old, abandoned buildings as backdrops for her photos, which ended up getting her into trouble with the law for trespassing — but she didn't let it slow her down. Determined not to stop creating, she decided to build her own photography sets from scratch for this series, entitled Colors.
Blue
It took Jerzyk between eight and 15 hours to construct each room and make it exactly how she wanted. "Some of the scenes took way longer than others because they were either more elaborate or my original idea had to be tweaked," she says. "The weather started coming into play once summer hit (I did the series from April 2016–August 2016). Because of the heat and rain I painted most of the furniture in my backyard."
Most of the props used in her sets were vintage and it was difficult for her to "ruin" the furniture for the purpose of the shoot, she says, but in the end was completely worth it. "Everything was pretty makeshift, including the room I used. (I loosely call it a studio room, but as I said before, it's literally just a wooden box that almost anyone could construct themselves.)"
Black
Brown
Green
Pink
"Each photo mirrors certain traits of the subjects or is a symbol of a story they've shared with me – almost as if I made a caricature of these real-life people and took the caricature and plopped it into a whole other world," Jerzyk tells BuzzFeed. "As with all my photos, my ultimate final goal is for people to be able to associate their own stories with the images. There's no right or wrong concept to the images. If the photos are able to project a story to the viewer, then I am completely content."
Grey
Orange
Yellow
Purple
White
Red
To see more of Jerzyk's work, visit www.karenjerzykphoto.com.