TO BEAR FRUIT

This project has been in the works for months now and I am so excited to be able to finally release it. Thank you to the whole team for being a part of making this vision come to life, and congratulations on our publication with Féroce Magazine!

This concept was inspired by the biblical reference, The Fruit Of The Spirit. There are nine characteristics of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Each model was paired with a characteristic and a fruit based off of it’s symbolism. 

I chose for love to be depicted with an apple, the apple is commonly used to symbolize love, for example, the well known saying, “the apple of my eye.” I specifically chose Casey as the model for this characteristic because of his amazing tattoos. If you look closely, you can see they say things like, “Have a Heart” and  “There is still more love to give.” 

Joy is represented by an orange due to it’s vibrant color being symbolic to joy, warmth, sunshine, etc.

Peace is paired with a fig due to the fig/fig tree symbolizing peace itself in many scriptures in the Bible. 

Patience is paired with a pomegranate; the pomegranate has a rich history when it comes to Jewish tradition. It is said that King Solomon had his crown designed after the “crown” of the pomegranate. I chose for patience to be represented by this fruit due to King Solomon’s lineage, his father was King David, who endured many things that required his patience to finally become king.

Kindness is represented by grapes since grapes often symbolize charity within scripture.

Goodness is represented by a papaya since it symbolizes good or bad health, and is known for its many beneficial qualities. 

Faithfulness is paired with blackberries; it is believed by many scholars that the crown of thorns that Christ wore was made from the thorns of blackberry bushes, the crown of thorns symbolizing neglect. I wanted to flip the script and have blackberries symbolizing faithfulness since Christ did not neglect his people, but rather stayed faithful, and will always be faithful. 

Gentleness is depicted by the soft sweetness of a peach, the peach often represents the renewal of life, virginity, or fertility.

Finally, self-control, symbolized by a kiwi which is a symbol of abundance and good things to come, and the hairy exterior represents the obstacles that you will face along the way in order to get to those good things, just have the self-control to endure the hard times.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23

Creative Director + Concept: Tawny Smith

Photographer: Shannon Beauclair

Makeup Artists: Hannah Girdley, Dominique Beauclair, Ashley Mendez

Models: Casey Molenaar, Michael Saunders, Nick Mutolo, Monique Ward, Jess Boyle, Michelle Green, Kiera Shipley, Iris Lee, Miriam Darcy

Retoucher: Vishal Salaria

Wardrobe: LOURDES é EVA

Published in Féroce Magazine’s Dec. Issue 1 & the Annual Beauty Issue

https://www.ferocemagazine.com/content/2018/12/16/to-bear-fruit-the-beauty-issue