MASQUE: Photographs of Halloween by Edward Reed (1981)

From the introduction by Edward Reed:
"As a child growing up in the late 1950's the celebration of halloween was quite special. The expectation, preparation, excitement, terror and suspense, and the eventual reward all combined to give the ritual act of "trick or treating"qualities of intense experience and mystery. Seemingly unrelated stories, concerning horrific phobias of all kinds, were somehow to be attracted to this particular event. Through the use of a camera I was later to rediscover my earlier fascination with halloween.

My reacquaintance with this festival began on halloween night in 1975, in a small town near Rochester, New York. Everyone that I asked to photograph not only consented but was grateful of the attention and "importance" that the camera afforded them. After processing the film it became apparent that the electronic flash (which I had recently purchased and set improperly) had vignetted the subjects against black or obscured backgrounds. I was delighted. Children became costumed characters appearing as actors spotlit against a narrow stage or backdrop, and the pairs of photographs containing masked and unmasked figures blending together suggested a mythical drama of identity in visual form."

First Edition, 1981
VSW Press
60 pages
12 x 5.75
Black and white
ISBN 0-89822-012-2