THE FINAL GIRLS - An 80s Horror Photo Series by Mitzi Starkweather
WHAT A FEELING Self Portrait (2021) by Mitzi Starkweather
I am so excited to share my 80s horror photo series with you. THE FINAL GIRLS series is inspired by my love for horror movies - especially the genre defining features of the 70s and 80s - and the way they serve to help me ritualistically confront my fears. It is also inspired by the women I photograph in my studio every day, women who have faced real life horrors and come through victorious. I share it with you now because when I create and share with others, I have hope.
DON’T YOU WANT ME (2021) by Mitzi Starkweather
Your beauty cannot keep you safe.
I’ve photographed hundreds of women, and many of them have shared their stories of abuse, assault, and similar horrors. Their stories of strength and survival inspired this portrait series in which terrors of the female experience - as relevant today as they were in the 1980s - are represented through the “Final Girl” trope (referring to the girl who makes it to the end of the horror movie). Each portrait expresses all-too-common ways women are reminded that we are never truly safe.
Yes, even beauty - the beauty standards women are praised for setting as a goal above all else - cannot keep us safe.
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Photo 1/5 in “The Final Girls” series - Exploring female tropes in horror that are just as relevant today as they were in the 80s.
Special thanks to:
Jordan Starkweather (Production + Bad guy)
Elijah Ochoa (hair styling)
Natalie DeMint (makeup)
Tamara Willoughby (assistant)
Natalie Tischler (The Beauty Queen)
GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN (2021) by Mitzi Starkweather
Your safe spaces are not actually safe.
Whether it’s 1980 or present day, no woman is safe from a man who wishes to harm her. And this horror can only be overcome when women find the courage to share their stories.
Over the years I’ve heard and shared many stories of abuse within “safe” spaces: friend’s houses, churches, family gatherings, etc. When we share our stories we empower other women to speak up and do the same.
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Photo 2/5 in “The Final Girls” series:
Exploring female tropes in horror that are just as relevant today as they were in the 80s.
Special thanks to:
Jordan Starkweather (Production)
Elijah Ochoa (hair styling + bad guy)
Natalie DeMint (makeup + “legs”)
Tamara Willoughby (assistant)
Traci Nash (Slumber Party Girl)
I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW (2021) by Mitzi Starkweather
Even women who partner with women are not safe from predatory men.
I’ve heard and shared so many stories of instances where a woman’s actions were assumed to come from a desire to be sexually appealing to a straight man. But the thing is, women are complex human beings. Some women partner with women. Some women choose seasons (or a lifetime) without romantic partnership. And sometimes a woman says, wears, or does something simply because they WANT to. The general assumption that a woman exists to appeal to a man sounds outdated in theory but is still prevalent in practice.
I watch horror movies to confront my fears from the safety of my popcorn covered couch. I am inspired by the women, both fictional and real, who stand up to the forces nightmares are made of... and win.
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Photo 3/5 in “The Final Girls” series - Exploring female tropes in horror that are just as relevant today as they were in the 80s.
Special thanks to:
Jordan Starkweather (Production)
Elijah Ochoa (hair styling + bad guy)
Natalie DeMint (makeup)
Tamara Willoughby (assistant)
Liz Gathright and Leah Parrott (Couple in the woods)
TAINTED LOVE (2021) by Mitzi Starkweather
Marriage sells an idea of safety, but are you safe or trapped?
Once during a photo shoot, I watched the client hide her hand. “Let’s show my other one,” she said, as I noticed her missing finger. “Has it always been like that?” I asked. “No,” she said, “my ex cut it off when he was mad.” Stories of strength and survival like hers inspired this project in which terrors of the female experience - as relevant today as they were in the 1980s - are represented in this series through the “Final Girl” trope. Each portrait expresses all-too-common ways women are reminded that we are never truly safe.
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Photo 4/5 in “The Final Girls” series- Exploring female tropes in horror that are just as relevant today as they were in the 80s.
Special thanks to:
Jordan Starkweather (Production)
Elijah Ochoa (hair styling)
Natalie DeMint (makeup)
Tamara Willoughby (assistant)
Anna Donnel (The Bride)
LIKE A VIRGIN (2021) by Mitzi Starkweather
Even your “good” behavior cannot keep you safe.
To face a fear is to take back power, and with power comes hope. For most of us, the world will never feel safe, but hope gives us the courage to fight even when we are afraid.
This photo reflects my own story the most, and I didn’t realize that until someone asked me more about it during the premiere last week. That’s the most stunning thing about art that comes from the deepest places of your intuition: you make it before you realize why, and it expresses your story before you’re able to see it.
No, I’ve never been pursued by a man with a butcher knife. But I have felt the terror of the rule abiding “good girl” who realizes one day that she can never be safe from a system that’s been built on her oppression… and that she’ll never be “good” enough be able to please everyone after all.
Thankfully some terror is followed by relief, and freedom.
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Photo 5/5 in “The Final Girls” series- Exploring female tropes in horror that are just as relevant today as they were in the 80s.
Special thanks to:
Jordan Starkweather (Production + Bad guy)
Elijah Ochoa (hair styling)
Natalie DeMint (makeup)
Tamara Willoughby (assistant)
Mataya Cook (The Girl Next Door)
ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT 2021 MITZI STARKWEATHER PHOTOGRAPHY
DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION.
Inquiries email mitzi@mitzistarkweather.com
This project was so much fun, and I am endlessly thankful for everyone who was a part of it:
Jordan Starkweather
Tamara Willoughby
Elijah Ochoa
Natalie DeMint
Natalie Tischler
Traci Nash
Liz Gathright
Leah Parrott
Anna Donnel
Mataya Cook
