Girls and Houses
Punk Girl and House // Midjourney 2023

Girls and Houses

In order to learn Midjourney, I figured I would create a series of images that place a subject in front of his or her house in a certain year or decade. I imagine a photographer working throughout history—maybe one with a time machine—who then takes similar portraits of subjects, showing the styles of the time. Does that make sense? The idea is to get a photo and a portrait that feels like a particular decade.

The first decade I tried was the 1980s in suburbia. I made another alt girl and a couple of fashionistas.

But I was mainly looking for realistic photos that provide a snapshot of the times and typical people. These should be images you’d see on your grandparents’ hallway wall and might not look twice at.

I think these came out well using a pretty simple formula. MJ nails the hair and the weird layered clothing. To me, they feel like photos taken in the eighties by a photographer who knew what she was doing. These are composed like portraits rather than candid shots.

These images also use Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 film stock, giving them a greenish or cross-processed look. I’m pretty impressed at this lot which encourages me to keep trying this theme on other times and locations.