The Shrouded Maidens of Helen Warner’s Surreal Portraiture

Helen Warner, White Mischief - woman blowing smoking wearing white fur and crown

Helen Warner is a Belfast-based photographer who composes ghostly and surreal images. She describes her work as a type of “frozen theater,” where arcane events occur in unknown landscapes. Featured here is a collection of her headshots, which pair feminine features with symbols of mourning and death: flowers, shrouds, and snow adorn the faces of the pensive maidens, some of which appear to be descending into a long, fairytale sleep. You can see more of Warner’s stunning explorations of femininity, emotion, imagination, and myth on her Flickr.

Helen Warner, Conceptual Identity - woman with strange headdress

Helen Warner, Farewell Ice Queen - sleeping woman shrouded with smoke

Helen Warner - Helichrysum bracteatum - woman with cloth over face

Helen Warner, Preservation - melancholic head among flowers in a bell jar

Helen Warner, Love's Last Gift - woman's face surrounded by flowers

Helen Warner, Self Portrait - woman wearing roses with shroud

Helen Warner, She Sleeps Until the Snow Falls - woman sleeping on forest floor in falling snow

Helen Warner, Winter's Whisperer - woman with pale skin wearing fur

Images © Helen Warner