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Darlene & Me: Dramatic, cinematic photo series based on complex relationships

Darlene & Me is like every great movie duo rolled into one, with the glamorous protagonists a tribute to Hitchcock's leading ladies. Bleached hair sculpted into neat victory rolls, matching Hollywood attire and a white Cadillac, the photographs ooze old school sophistication.

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Two figures with bleached blonde hair in victory rolls sit in a white Cadillac convertible, gazing towards a desert landscape with mountains in the background

Alongside the styling, the dramatic scenery lends itself to the Golden Age of cinema. And although the series doesn't particularly have a storyline, humour and tragedy seem to be prominent features. The scenes leave room for interpretation, with almost all context removed.

The photographer behind the series is Anja Niemi, recently described as ‘one of the most compelling contemporary artists of our time'. She explains: "Darlene & Me started with the content of a suitcase from 1959, that left me thinking about the relationship we have with ourselves. The case belonged to a beauty counsellor named Darlene and contained makeup samples, brochures and the receipts from her sales. Most of the samples appeared to be untouched, but there were clear traces of her fingers in the two lipstick colours Strawberry Festival and Princess Pink.

"In August 1960 Darlene sold a jar of Liquid Beauty and one Temptress’s Hairspray, both were to herself. After that she made no more sales. The case left me with a feeling of a woman’s failed attempt at success, and a strong sense of who got in her way. The woman I envisioned became the only character of my next series, Darlene and Me. Isolated in a rented house in the Californian desert, I took on the part of Darlene to tell the story of my fictional characters intricate relationship to herself.

"Darlene & Me portrays two women, photographed together in displays of conflict or simply in each others company whether in agony or comfort. The two are, of course, the same woman."

Niemi is from Norway. She studied at both the London College of Printing and Parsons School of Design, New York. As well as being a photographer, Niemi undertakes all of the modelling, styling and post-production.

To see more, visit www.anjaniemiphotography.com.

All photography © Anja Niemi

A woman in 1950s Hollywood attire stands beside a white Cadillac convertible in a barren desert landscape under a hazy sky
Woman in white dress and victory rolls stands among Joshua trees in desert landscape, evoking classic Hollywood cinema aesthetics from Anja Niemi's Darlene & Me series
Two women in 1950s-style navy outfits sit in a sunlit modernist room with mid-century furniture, potted plants and expansive windows overlooking trees and landscape
Two figures in white dresses sit facing each other in a lush courtyard garden beneath a pink awning, surrounded by potted tropical plants and climbing vines
Two figures in 1950s-style clothing stand outside a modernist white house surrounded by desert vegetation and trees
Two figures dressed in white 1950s-style outfits and victory rolls stand before a bright doorway in a minimalist white room with a geometric patterned floor
A woman in a white dress sits on a suspended swing beneath a modern poolside pavilion, overlooking a turquoise swimming pool surrounded by desert rocks and vegetation
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