CARO VAN DOE

Maureen & Brittany at the Wildlife Reserve, 2022 Portra 400 35mm Pentax Polaroid 600

Maureen playing her idol game at the Wildlife Reserve, 2022

I had dreamed of a photoshoot like this with friends for a while. Beautiful, ethereal "picnic at hanging rock" dresses and an arboreal picnic. Of course, I've struggled since I started my photography journey as a 14-year-old with the flora of Florida, always wishing for more moss, soft grasses, and less plants with spikes! Alas, this was one of my first shoots embracing my love for the native plants of my home alongside my love for fashion and the friends I've made through my passions. It was nerve-wracking going to by first Lolita meet (now called "EGL" due to internet misunderstandings & censorship, but that's a story for another time). Showing up time after time eventually did initiate me into a group of people with similar interests, values, and gripes---things necessary to life I didn't have since leaving college. Brittany and Maureen did their best to be serious shooting this scene, which of course turned a wee sapphic, in-line with Lolita's heritage rejecting traditional gender expectations and being a subculture embracing LGBTQ+ community in Japan and worldwide. Brittany & Maureen at the Loxahatachee Wildlife Reserve, 2022

Love-hate relationship with my homestate of Florida. It was February and the temperature rose from 70 degrees up to 82 by midday shooting (not considering the layers of wigs, legwear, and poly-chiffon). Brittany & Maureen at the Wildlife Reserve, 2022

EGL in Florida!

Brittany at the Wildlife Reserve 2022

Brittany at the Wildlife Reserve 2022

Valentine’s Day EGL Meet, 2023

In case you didn’t know, EGL stands for Elegant Gothic Lolita and has been an easy way to group the subculture fashions. The South Florida Lolitas do require wearing lolita style at formal meets which entails a certain modesty, color/accessory coordination, and dress shape. 

We went to Vienna café in the Davie area, a place we have held meets twice before. It is unassumingly located in a Publix plaza with décor completely contrary to its name: that of the British monarchy, complete with cardboard cut-outs of the Queen (RIP).

It was a great turnout with a few new faces and members we hadn’t seen in a while, including a new gothic lolita! (I have a long fascination with Gothic subculture, long before I got into EGL. Plus, I’m selling a sweet style dress so I can buy a Baby gothic JSK or OP soon...).

I opted to take only a few photos as the cafe is small (I need a wider lens) and I wanted to enjoy our high tea and conversation! I edited these photos a tad to give them a dreamier look while sticking with a journalistic style of documentation. 

The old farmhouse we stayed in for Kaddy's weekend in Stowe, VT.

The heating hadn't been turned on since the end of the previous Winter so the first night we froze at 40 degrees. A single heater in the bathroom and our cooking heated the house up a tad, but thankfully, a maintenance man came the next day to fix the boiler asap!

Nevertheless, the house was wonderfully old wood with creaky floors and low ceilings: a well-worn and story-filled place (not to mention the occasional "this could be haunted" feeling).

Lightroom editing after and before. I wanted the photo to feel dewy and like it was taken during twilight. I took this around 10AM on a hike in Stowe, VT, so it was under a lot of shade and had been moist already.