Fairy • Gelfling • Fashion Angel • Umbrella Girl & Katoy Fashion Angels

Fairy • Gelfling • Fashion Angel • Umbrella Girl & Katoy

Fashion Angels

© by Richard D. Fisher

sunracer2@hotmail.com 

Usually associated with "tweens gifts" in a web search.

China sunset fashion angel Dungchuan “Red Earth” Yunnan. This Photoshop painting was made
to the lyrics of “I Want You” written by John Lennon of the Beatles.

China is today experiencing many experiments with fashion and glamour and will soon be
the World leader in this field as they are in so many other areas of human endeavor.

A warm summer afternoon in Tengchong China.

Two Korean Fashion Angels at the full moon party Koh Phangan Thailand. Just cruising the beach.
I was really impressed with their fashion selection which I have not seen anywhere else in the world,
but they were so into themselves that I couldn’t get a sunset photo with a nearby fishing boat.
 It was a pity because here on this website, I could have given them the attention that they so desired.
They had excellent creative taste in clothing and I was able to only get this one photograph.

Vang Vieng Laos used to be the best river party on Earth. So much excitement, so much fun but ultimately way too dangerous to survive.
It was a beautiful scene for about a decade where freedom and hedonism ruled. There is a big demand to bring it back
so maybe they will look at a well run party like Kazantip Ukraine on the Black Sea or Ibiza Island in the Mediterranean.

In Yunnan China on the border of Tibet and Dulong, fashion angel “Serena” meets motorcycle transport man.
Two very contrasting lives and lifestyles. Notice the license plate.

Fashion Angel in marigold field at Dungchuan, “Red Earth” in north central Yunnan, 2012

China Wedding Fashion Angel in eastern Yunnan.

Fashion Angel “Julia” near Tengchong Yunnan autumn 2010.

Kherson Ukraine Fashion Angel “Mona Lisa” September 2005

Vietnam Umbrella Girl and Fashion Angel does a whirlwind photo tour of Angkor Wat.

Fashion Angel on Tuk Tuk drive at sunset in Siem Reap Cambodia February 2013.

Waimea - the Grand Canyon of Hawaii Urkrainian Fashion Angel 2006

Paria Plateau Vermillion Cliffs Arizona Fashion Angels in the amazing red rock of the Rainbow Plateau.

My Fashion angels come from the concept of "Beautiful People in Beautiful Places" which is usually, in my case a selection of special fashions modeled in nature by surreal appearing young women displaying a range of emotions including the pure joy of lively and playful awareness.

Rural lifestyle and cultures of southeast Asia accommodates a rainbow of nature as well as natural people
in one of the most harmonious human environments on the planet found, in this case, in Vang Vieng Laos.

Umbrella Katoy

My Umbrella Katoy is inspired by the concept of "a woman of a second kind."

There are several different spellings for the concept of "katoy."  I chose this spelling as it was the closest to  my concept of "Beautiful People in Beautiful Places"  when Katoy images are searched on the internet.  The other spellings often do not display the same feeling as my intention of visual art communication, but rather exploitative or disrespectful treatment, of the Katoy spirit which is healthy, natural as well as attractive.

Katoy

Exactly woman of a second kind. Vang Vieng Laos

Katoy Laos Fantasy Girl – Beautiful People in Beautiful Places no matter where they occur on the rainbow she’s beautiful in any language.

While a significant number of Thais perceive katoys as belonging to a third gender, including many katoys themselves, others see them as either a kind of man or a kind of woman.^[1] Related phrases includes ao (or phuying) praphet song (Thai: สาวประเภทสอง,"a second kind of woman") and phet thi sam (Thai: เพศที่สาม, "third gender"). The word katoy is of Khmer origin.^[2] It is most often rendered as lady boy in English conversation with Thais and this latter expression has become popular across South East Asia. The term phu-ying praphet thi sorng, which can be translated as "woman of the second kind", is also used to refer to katoy.

 (in part from Wikipedia)

Richard D. Fisher photographer at work in the Angkor Wat Temples Cambodia.

Bye Bye for now friend!

Remember that we mystical creatures are awaiting you

in peace and beauty in natural harmony hidden in mysterious canyons worldwide.

Please come back and see us again real soon.

Ethereal Feminine Beauty all from the deep canyon lands of western Yunnan China on the Tibetan border.

Fairy • Gelfling • Fashion Angel • Umbrella Girl & Katoy

Fairy • Gelfling • Fashion Angel • Umbrella Girl & Katoy

 © by Richard D. Fisher

sunracer2@hotmail.com

In my quest for the most beautiful canyons and natural cultural setting I have had many ethereal experiences with mystical creatures that are best described as Fairies, Gelflings, Umbrella Girls & Katoys  as well as Fashion Angels. These beings are for me a form of a spirit that is light, airy, delicate, refined and from the upper reaches of space or celestial existence in

my poetic imagination expressed in visual forms of supernatural beings with exotic powers. I have experienced these creatures in temples, canyons and waterfalls in as far flung places as Cambodia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Australia, Venezuela,
Europe, China, Laos, Vietnam and the southwestern USA.

Fairy Spirits exist in canyon fantasy landscapes worldwide

The Little Colorado River near the confluence in the Grand Canyon. The travertine blue water of May is offset by the
 red cliffs of the Red Wall Limestone which contrasts to the “Maxfield Parrish Blue” sky.

This is my concept of the Ethiopia Fairy set into a painting by someone named Rossetti who we have not been able to find out who this painter was. I found this painting hanging in an ancient colonial era hotel in Addis Abba. The painting may actually be by Dante Gabriele Rossetti whose father was Gabriele P. G. Rossetti who was an Italian poet and scholar in exile in England 1783-1854. The Italians have a long standing and deep relationship with Ethiopia so perhaps Dante Rossetti actually made it to Ethiopia or took this imaginative scene from other Italian painters of that time. The original painting that I photographed is a romantic treatment of the Simian Mountains of north central Ethiopia and the Gelada Baboons are quite recognizable as realistic. I added the waterfall which is from the Tara River in Montenegro Europe.The fairy model is my daughter Mariah and her image was taken on the beach in Thailand at Christmas 2012. 

Fairy Cambodia Temple and Kunlun Canyon Waterfalls Ouk Rany.

Fairy spirits throughout history have be closely associated with nature

In our artistic fantasy world, these fairies spirits are always associated with some of the

most spectacular canyons of the earth

Here they are the quintessential mother earth presence

Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions. Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature. A fairy or also faery, faerie, fay, fae; euphemistically wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural. The word fairy derives from Middle English faierie (also fayerye, feirie, fairie), a direct borrowing from Old French faerie (Modern French féerie) meaning the land, realm, or characteristic activity (i.e. enchantment) of the legendary people of folklore and romance called (in Old French) faie or fee (Modern French fée). This derived ultimately from Late Latinfata (one of the personified Fates, hence a guardian or tutelary spirit. (edited in part from Wikipedia)

Antelope Canyon Fairy

Was she really there in Antelope Canyon? Yes she was! In the low lighting she only held that pose absolutely still for
that fortunate one or two seconds. In April 2013 we added the wings that were made for us by our good friend Martin Mancha.

Shira Fairy Tara Canyon Bosnia – Montenegro
Design and concept by Martin Mancha
Photography by Richard D. Fisher

This place is called Cherry Canyon Hot Springs, I am not kidding you.

It is far southwestern China, near Tengchong Yunnan close to the Burma border.

After this photo shoot, the model told me I had to pay extra because there were a lot of stairs.

“Faeries dwell in the Twilight, between day and night, between spirit and matter, between the conscious and unconscious…where all things are possible, where the past and the future meet, where we meet ourselves coming back. When we dance with the faeries, we dance with the reflections of our true selves and the true inner self of the world.”  Brian Froud

Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist.

The landscapes in his paintings are frequently inspired by Dartmoor.

Victoria Secret bikini modeled for the first and perhaps last time in southwestern China.

Hot Springs Valley Tengchong China rice terraces fairy.

Kukenan Tepui Venezuela Fairyland 2005

The Venezuela Tepui are lands of wonderment that have perhaps many mystical spirit creatures.

My Gelflings are inspired by Jim Henson and this work is in tribute to his creative genius.

For years I was also deeply inspired by the paintings of Brian Froud but had no idea, until recently,

that Henson and Froud worked as collaborators on the fantasy movie Dark Crystal.

his strange mystical creature girl is just casually walking home from school late in the afternoon in the autumn of 2010. She stopped just for a moment to have her photograph taken and then she disappeared into the forest. Tengchong Yunnan China

   Gelfling Princess Cherry Canyon Hot Springs Tengchong Yunnan China

The Gelfling Tattoo Queen of Dulong China on the Tibetan border 2009

Gelfling Outdoor School in the Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge eastern Tibet, September 1992

Real Gelfling Grandmother southeastern Yunnan China 2010

My original photography and choice of models, as well as the photoshop wings and colors continue to be much inspired by the creativity and vision Froud and Henson. Gelflings are a race of elf-like creatures native to the planet of Thra. The term Gelfling derives from the term "Ghel-lflainngk" roughly translates to "those who live without knowledge of the future", according to The World of the Dark Crystal. They love music, dancing and creating joy in their lives. Ages ago, Gelflings could fly. However, the female Gelflings have developed wings that allow them to glide and flutter. Males do not have wings and free flight is not possible.

The female's wings retract and can be concealed under the clothing.

On the west Baray in Siem Reap Cambodia a beautiful young and mysterious Gelfling takes a ride in a sky skiff.

The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 American-British fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

It tells the story of Jen, an elflike 'Gelfling' on a quest to restore balance to his alien world by

returning a lost shard to a powerful but broken gem. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than the creators' previous material. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the fantasy illustrator Brian Froud, famous for his distinctive faerie and dwarf designs. Froud also collaborated with Henson and Oz for their next project, the 1986 film Labyrinth, which was notably more light-hearted than The Dark Crystal. (in part from Wikipedia)

© all photography and text by Richard D. Fisher

April 14, 2014

  

Crazy House Cosplay

Crazy House Cosplay

Dalat Vietnam

©by Richard Fisher
sunracer2@hotmail.com
Summer 2014

Crazy House Dalat Vietnam was made for the Cosplay Game! Cosplay first came to Dalat and Crazy House

in 2013. Now in 2014 we have an excellent theme with an Elf, added to Umbrella Girl in this web site update. 

Who and what will appear next year or even tomorrow at Crazy House?

Exploring mysterious nooks with a Cosplay elf into the unque portals in the maze of

hidden and sectret passage ways that is Crazy House Vietnam.

One of super colorful ​gift shops and art gallerys of Crazy House Dalat.

Crazy House Cosplay Dalats first cosplayer Ms. Duong.

Cosplay Umbrella Girl in one of the many anthropomorphic doorways of Crazy House Vietnam.

Cottage Crazy House Cosplay new cosplayer Ms. Nga June 2014. The cottage is the first feature on the right as the visitors float into a mysterious maze.

Crazy House Cosplay Garden Elf

Stairways to Heaven?  Cosplay Dalat Vietnam Crazy House with cosplayer Ms. Nga!

​

Cosplay in this photographic presentation at Crazy House Vietnam is one word for Costume Play. It is also a performance art in which young ladies love to practice modeling and play out

their fantasies for the camera at Crazy House. It is especially popular in Japan, South Korea,

Taiwan and most recently Vietnam and perhaps following on more slowly Cambodia and Laos.

As these Cosplayers interact in any cultural contest but the two most popular are on the internet and at costume shows and conferences now in Vietnam and Cambodia.

There are also Cosplay video games, movies, comic books, based on themes of anime and manga.

Cosplay is catered on youth culture and attendant sex appeal featuring their attractiveness and

revealing costumes.  Cosplay on the internet creates social groups, clubs and networks

where cosplayers share photographs, news, costume information and stories.

Cosplay has become so popular to qualify as Asian Youth pop culture.

Cosplay Crazy House Umbrella Girl navigating the passage stairways throught a maze of wonder.

Cosplay Dalat Crazy House. Cosplay is the game to play!

Dalat Crazy House archway Cosplay.

Child Cosplay Crazy House. This little girl just ran up

and grabbed the wig right off the cosplayers head.  At first

I was a bit annoyed but then we just said "Go Cosplay!"

and went with the flow. The wig was a bit of a tangle

the rest of the photo but who noticed?

Crazy House Roof Girls 3 stories or more up! They forgot to put in a drain in the stairway low point, so on this day there was a "water hazard crossing" for the Cosplay model high up in the sky... so funny, really Crazy! hahaha...ah!

Cosplay on the roof of Crazy House just before the storm.

First Cosplay at Crazy House Dalat Vietnam 2013. Almost exactly one year later we did it again with similar astounding results, EXCELLENT COSPLAY!​