“Pumpkinhead” is a collaboration with photographer Carly Fehlberg, inspired by the Jamie Wyeth self-portrait of the same name.

Creative Director & Model: Olivia Rerick
Photographer: Carly Fehlberg

It was fall, and my dear friend, Carly, and I had recently visited a show featuring the Wyeths, where we had fallen in love especially with the cheeky painting Jamie did of himself wearing a jack-o-lantern on his head. Soon after, I was at the grocery store and happened to find a gigantic, white pumpkin. The largest commercial gourd I’d ever seen. My immediate thought was, of course, “I could fit that on my head.”
I brought it home to Carly, and that night we hollowed out the pumpkin and came up with the concept for our Pumpkinhead. The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn, I threw on a coat and the pumpkin, and Carly took the five photos you now see below.

Carly and I have been friends since high school and have worked together on many creative projects over the years. We have always meshed very well artistically, and that was never so evident as with Pumpkinhead. We were on the same page from the very beginning in terms of vision and execution. The result is what we have long considered our best collaboration to date. These photos are very special to me, not just because I think they are beautiful and fun (as well as being technically wonderful - that’s all Carly) but because the memory of making them is a cherished one.