A tiny paper house perched inside a hairy arse crack; a ghoulish glove slips down the stairs. When it comes to creating any kind of imagery with a skewed, slightly dark sense of humour, chances are the trusty Rottingdean Bazaar boys have played a part in it.
For Halloween, the regional design duo teamed up with long-time photography collaborator Annie Collinge to create a mini series of pictures inspired by everybody’s favourite spooky holiday. “We have a bit of a ritual where Annie comes down to stay with us in Rottingdean, and we make pictures using things in our flat and nearby,” designers James Buck and Luke Brooks tell us. “They’re like quick sketches that often go on to inspire other, more planned projects.”
On this occasion, the starting point was James’ schoolboy (and ongoing) obsession with sorcery. The series opens with a scanned poem he wrote as a kid (“I wish I was that sorcerer man / I’d do the magic things he can”) before playing with paper cut outs, smoke and kitsch tablecloths fashioned into invisibility cloaks. “We wanted to try something different this time so chose to work in black and white,” they say of the final selection. “We were thinking about early 20th century surrealists.”
Imbued with mystique and magic, you can check out the whole collection of images below exclusively on i-D, alongside some spooky season-related questions James and Luke answered for us. Trick or treat!
When was the last time you were scared shitless?
Walking down The Twitten in Rottingdean.
Toffee apples: yay or nay?
Neigh.
Would you rather live life as a severed head (on a skateboard or something) or a severed hand?
Severed heads on Simon Costin’s mantlepiece.
Haunted houses: do you go inside or steer clear?
Apply for a mortgage.
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘costume’?
SALE
Should we dress up for the other 364 days of the year?
At a recent car boot, we bought a handmade clown suit from the collection of a 97-year-old clown called Kerby Drill. We also found his autobiography on Amazon and there are pictures of him wearing it. We only plan on wearing it at any moment except for Halloween.
Orange, green or black?
Brown.
Have you ever seen a ghost?
We’re only haunted by our own mistakes.
Credits
Images by Annie Collinge and Rottingdean Bazaar