steven

steven

Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.

April 19, 2021

Thor of the Jazz Age

We return to designer Erin Gallagher's gender-bent Jazz Age superhero costume series with model Freja Johanson as the mighty Thor…
April 8, 2021

Painting the Kami

Distant Era is about images and stories of other times and places. Tabletop and role-playing games are gateways to immersion in fantasy, history, science-fiction, and mythology, and they’ve been a way of…
March 29, 2021

Ada and the Projection

In which we explore the thrills and challenges of shooting with digital projections with Brookelyn Hébert for The Artistic Home's 2019 production of Ada and the Engine, by Lauren Gunderson.…
March 22, 2021

The First Gig

In which we look back upon our very first photography gig, courtesy of Babes With Blades Theatre Company.…
March 15, 2021

Captain Amelia

This image of Elizabeth MacDougald as Captain Amelia from Treasure Planet was taken in May 2020 as part of a home session during the pandemic.…
March 8, 2021

The Ancient One

In which we present designer Erin Gallagher in her costume interpretation of Morla the Ancient One, the giant turtle oracle from The Neverending Story, with makeup by Michelle Rose Nobs.…
March 1, 2021

Fantasy With Friends

This week, we speak with three creators and image makers of costumed fantasy photography sessions—Tabitha Burch, Mary-Kate Arnold, and Allen Castillo—to hear their stories, inspirations, practical tips, and advice for creating fantasy…

The All Worlds Traveller

The All Worlds Traveller is an eclectic collection of thoughts, pictures, and stories from Distant Era. Illustrated with Distant Era art and photographs, these pages explore the stories and worlds of people beyond the here and now, and the people and creative processes behind such stories. This is a blog about photography and narrative; history and myth; fantasy, science-fiction, and the weird; creation and experience. This is a blog about stories.

Steven Townshend

Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.

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About a Distant Era

Distant Era creates fine art and portrait photographs of people and places from imagined pasts, possible futures, and magical realities. In collaboration with other artists, we evoke these distant eras with theatrical costume and makeup, evocative scenery, and deliberate lighting, and we enhance them with contemporary tools to cast these captured moments in the light of long ago or far away.

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