“A Castle in the Sky” from the photo series “Wengenn in Wonderland” by Sioin Queenie Liao

Liao makes use of movement, depth, and colour to create the fairytale-like “wonderland” of her son’s dreams. Depth is created through the use of size and space, with the castle and clouds placed in the background and of a smaller size in comparison to that of the child, helping in the illusion of depth perception. In addition, the warm-coloured light yellowish tone highlights the child and makes him appear closer, in contrast to the darker pink tones of the carpet, coupled with the vignette in the corners of the image that create the prevalence of shadows that emphasise the centre of the image, thus making the castle look further away.

The brightly-coloured castle reminiscent of enchanted castles in childhood fantasies makes use of subjective colour to emphasise the child-like, imaginary quality of the image.

Implied movement is used in the position of the birds’ wings as well as the child’s body position, which make it appear as though he is mid-air and being carried by the birds towards the castle. The fairytale quality of the image symbolises the endearing potential of a child’s imagination, and how the dreams of children are focused on the idea of flight and freedom, and reaching for goals that are seemingly-impossible.

This connects to our project and the idea that as children, we are filled with child-like imagination and creativity that propels us to aim for our dreams, no matter how absurd, impractical and impossible they may seem. However, these dreams are often stifled by our parents and their practical ideals. This image inspires our work, especially due to the fact that as a mother herself, rather than stifling her child’s dreams, Liao instead draws inspiration from them to harness her creativity, which proves that no matter how old we are, the creativity of child-like imagination and fantasy can inspire us all, and rather than suppress it, all of us, especially parents, should encourage and draw influence from it.

“Cape Flight” from the photo series “Flying Henry” by Rachel Hulin

The artist makes use of movement, depth, and colour in this image. Implied movement is present in the position of the floating cape, which looks as though it is being blown by the wind, to bring forth the idea that the child is “flying”.

Depth is created through the use of lighting as the child’s shadow aids in depth perception, as well as through the use of size and space, with the trees in the background of a much smaller size in comparison to the child.

The bright warm blue of the child’s shirt makes use of the concept of subjective colour to contribute to the overall feeling of calmness and serenity in the image as he blends in with the clouds in the background. The cape is made out of what appears to be a simple, everyday bed sheet, and similar to “A Castle in the Sky”, it symbolises the potential of child-like imagination and creativity to allow one the capability to “fly”.

This image inspires our work as like Liao, Halin is a mother, and rather than stifling her son’s dreams, she encourages and strengthens them by simulating these airborne adventures.

Sioin Queenie Liao is a freelance artist whose images draw inspiration from her love for fairy tales and the illustrations that immerse her in the stories. This series of photos portray her son, Wengenn, exploring his imaginary, enchanting fairytale-like world, making use of common household materials.

Rachel Hulin is a photographer, author, and photo editor. Her popular Flying Henry series was recently shown in her first New York solo show and is also a children’s book of the same name, released by PowerHouse Books in 2013. “I felt like the pictures could show the world that babies inhabit that is all their own.”