For some reason Night Circus, despite being about a possible future, had a very old fashioned feel to it for me. Certainly the whole "Mr. Dark" thing had crept into my psyche. But it was very "turn of the century". I didn't realize it at the time but other information was trying to work its way to the surface that had to do with that time period- in many ways it's what Night Circus is really all about. So when Marilyn and I did this shoot, I had a costume idea and a few location ideas. The majority of it was done at the bridge behind the Teen Center. The Center was a very important place for me, personally, even though in a way I couldn't quite grasp. But it was where Night Circus was conceived and nurtured for 3 1/2 years. We shot at a couple of other places that had this turn of the century/Victorian feel- something I felt was really important but didn't know why. One place had an old train caboose, hoisted high off the ground. I climbed onto it and Marilyn clicked away. While I really enjoy most of the photos we took, I was never fully happy with the costume I chose. And most of the time I just looked at the pictures and saw...me. Which might scare somebody else (or not!) but it didn't satisfy the artist in me. I wanted to show someone supernatural and instead I saw me, wearing a costume. But there was a happy accident at this particular location. Marilyn used her flash and obliterated my face but left just about everything else looking as it should. Which fit the character and the concept very well. When we first looked at the proofsheet, she was apologetic. But the more I looked at it with the magnifying loop and just saw...me, over and over, the more I appreciated what we accidentally had. As has happened so often...not what I'd intended but what was best, under the circumstances.
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