A PARTY FOR ONE

‘A Party for One’ features a young woman on a rendezvous with a chicken - or rather, a man dressed as one. The shoot follows a woman who dreams up a fantasy date after being dissatisfied with her actual dating life. To drive this thirst for romance home, Sherif chose to go with black and white photos, to mirror the romantic atmosphere found in Classic Hollywood films.

The woman in the photos in large part lives in her own universe, with the chicken representing a partner who simply does not exist, very much mirroring her chase of unattainable perfection.  The reason why I chose the imagery of the chicken, in particular, is because I’ve always believed they possess a sort of regal quality not found in other species, and personally because I have a fear of birds.

When we see her eating fried chicken, it could be interpreted to reflect this age of consumption, where we proverbially eat our partners and then move on to the next one. Ghastly. But perhaps, more appropriate than we'd like to admit.