Chad Michael Ward

JULY PHOTO SET: Caitin Stickels

Added 2017-07-24 15:57:16 +0000 UTC

I first "found" my muse, Pacific Northwest-based Caitin Stickels, while on Instagram.

Fascinated by her appearance--Caitin was born with "cat-eye syndrome"--and the imagery she was creating, I admired from affair until a mutual friend, Mika Mae, put us in touch.

When I made plans to visit Seattle in April 2016 for the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival (SEAF), Caitin was the first person on my list that I wanted to photograph while I was in town.

While SEAF ended up being a huge letdown, my shoots with Caitin were absolutely amazing. We hit it off immediately upon meeting, shooting first in my rundown motel room then the next day out among the lush forest outside the city.

Caitin would make it down to LA a few months later for our third shoot at my studio for a series of dark, provoking images.

Earlier this year, Caitin was approached by famous photographer Nick Knight for a series of editorials that brought Caitin into the mainstream fashion media where she became a huge hit and garnered some much-deserved attention.

Caitin returns to LA this week for our fourth shoot and I absolutely cannot wait to see what beautiful darkness we create again this time.