Creative Residency: Sleepover Portraits
RESIDENCY PORTRAIT COMMISSIONS
For nearly two decades, I have been creating photographs that live somewhere between portraiture, intimacy, and storytelling.
My Residency Portrait Commissions are the fullest expression of the way I work: an immersive collaboration that brings together my life as a portrait artist with the relational, intimate, embodied, erotic, and creative work I have developed through Aerosha.
These experiences are designed for people who want more than a traditional portrait session. They give us enough space to wander, experiment, move, talk, change clothes, follow whims, travel between places, include the people you love, disappear into a private creative world for a while, and document the textures of a life as it is actually being lived.
Depending upon what you are drawn toward, our time together may move through collaborative fine-art portraiture, documentary photography, family and relationship imagery, movement, personal branding, the body, sexuality, intimate or erotic portraiture, home, landscape, ritual, celebration, friendship, parenthood, partnership, work, pleasure, grief, transition, play, or the ordinary moments that become precious because they belonged to this particular chapter of your life.
And sometimes the camera is only one part of what is happening.
After many years as the creator of Aerosha and as a mentor working deeply with intimacy and relationship, I naturally bring that way of seeing into these experiences as well. When it serves the work, I may help you notice how you inhabit your body, where you disappear or become self-conscious, how you receive attention, how you allow yourself to be witnessed, how a couple moves toward or away from one another, where polarity lives or has gone quiet, how desire and tenderness move between you, or what becomes possible when a familiar relational pattern is gently interrupted.
With couples, this can become an especially rich collaboration. We may explore closeness, distance, devotion, play, tension, polarity, tenderness, erotic charge, vulnerability, power, receptivity, pursuit, surrender, or simply the particular physical language that has developed between two people over years of loving one another.
With individuals, the work may become a conversation with identity, visibility, sensuality, creativity, age, transition, self-perception, the body, or the experience of allowing yourself to occupy more space.
None of this is prescribed. You do not need to arrive wanting to “work on” anything. I follow what is actually present.
Sometimes I am actively directing, mentoring, moving your body, asking questions, creating an elaborate image, or inviting you into an experiment. Sometimes I become almost invisible and simply photograph what is already happening.
The photographs emerge from both.
The raw and the composed. The revealing and the mundane. The sensual and the ridiculous. The intimate and the expansive. What we intentionally create and what none of us could have planned.
The result is a body of photographs that can hold far more than one polished version of a person, relationship, family, or life.
WHY A RESIDENCY?
Time changes photographs.
When we are no longer trying to manufacture everything within a narrow appointment, people eventually stop performing the fact that they are being photographed. Clothing gets discarded. Hair changes. Children wander away and come back. Someone cooks. Someone cries. The dogs need to go outside. Light changes through the house. A conversation becomes interesting. We suddenly want to drive somewhere. An erotic idea appears. Someone lies down. We change our minds.
Life enters the photographs.
For this reason, whenever it feels comfortable for everyone, I encourage clients to consider hosting me in their home for some or all of a residency.
It is never mandatory.
I can always stay in a nearby hotel or Airbnb, and privacy, family rhythms, children, space, logistics, and individual comfort are all part of deciding what makes sense.
Being invited into the home simply allows the experience to become more porous. I can understand the landscape of your actual life. We may begin over coffee rather than meeting at a predetermined location. Photography can emerge and disappear throughout the day. We have room for planned work and spontaneous work, conversations and meals, elaborate portrait-making and the strange little ten-minute window when something unexpectedly beautiful appears.
The longer residencies allow me to move beyond being a photographer who has arrived for an appointment and become, for a little while, an artist witnessing from within the ecosystem of your life.
That is where some of my favorite photographs have always come from.
WHAT EVERY RESIDENCY INCLUDES
Every Residency Portrait Commission includes:
• Collaborative planning before I arrive, with room for practical ideas, visual inspiration, questions, desires, boundaries, locations, wardrobe, relationships, and anything else we want to explore
• Rachael’s artistic direction, portrait guidance, movement guidance, and creative collaboration throughout our time together
• The possibility of integrating Aerosha mentorship around embodiment, intimacy, relationship dynamics, erotic expression, creative expression, and relational polarity when desired and relevant
• Fine-art portraiture
• Documentary and environmental photography
• Family, friendship, pet, and relationship imagery as appropriate to the selected commission
• Movement imagery, directed or undirected
• Intimate and erotic portraiture for consenting adults when desired
• Home, work, ritual, celebration, landscape, and everyday-life documentation
• Unlimited wardrobe changes, concepts, and creative directions as time allows
• Thoughtful curation and post-production of the entire body of work
• A private, password-protected online gallery, organized into sections when appropriate
• A private curated slideshow
• Download of all final high-resolution photographs
• Unlimited personal use with artist credit
• Small-business promotional use with artist credit
Fine-art prints, wall pieces, albums, books, and other archival products may also be ordered through your private gallery at preferred client pricing.
Please allow up to six weeks for final gallery delivery. Most collections are completed sooner, but I intentionally leave room for thoughtful selection and post-production.
TRAVEL + STAY
Residencies may happen in Springfield, Missouri, throughout the United States, or internationally.
Springfield, Missouri
There is no travel fee for commissions within approximately twenty minutes of my home.
If you are traveling to Springfield for your residency, you are welcome to stay at a hotel or Airbnb of your choosing. Hotel Vandivort and some of our beautiful local homes and Airbnbs can create especially lovely environments for photographic work.
For Story and Complete Story Residencies in Springfield, we can decide together whether it makes more sense for me to sleep at home, stay with you, or stay nearby.
Domestic Desitinations
For commissions elsewhere in the United States, a $1,500 Domestic Travel Fee covers:
• Flights from SGF (or car rental if destination is not-flight-friendly)
• Checked bags of photography equipment
• Airport transportation and/or travel-day needs
• Travel coordination and administration
If you would prefer to purchase my airfare and checked baggage directly using airline miles or other travel benefits, the Domestic Travel Fee is reduced to $500.
INTERNATIONAL AND UNUSUAL DESTINATIONS
International residencies and unusual destinations are quoted individually.
LODGING AND MEALS
Lodging and meals during the residency are provided by the client.
You may (IDEALLY!) host me in your home, provide nearby hotel or Airbnb accommodations, or reimburse accommodations arranged by me.
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COMPLETE STORY RESIDENCY
$12,000
The deepest and most immersive way I work.
The Complete Story Residency gives us several days together so that photography, relationship, conversation, mentorship, creativity, intimacy, ordinary life, and spontaneous discovery can begin to intermingle.
Rather than concentrating the experience into predetermined shooting blocks, I become photographically available across the residency.
There may be ambitious portraits we spend an hour creating.
There may also be breakfast in pajamas, the morning ritual with your children, walking the dogs, working in your studio, swimming, making dinner, getting ready for an evening out, lying around in bed, a movement practice, intimacy with your partner, wandering around your neighborhood, driving somewhere beautiful, gathering with friends, an unexpected burst of erotic creativity, a conversation that changes what we want to make next, or an ordinary moment none of us realized would matter until we saw the photograph.
Because we have time, different parts of you get to appear.
This is especially beautiful for couples and families because I am able to witness relationships rather than merely arrange people into them.
I begin to see the gestures, rhythms, tensions, humor, attachment, polarity, habits, tenderness, desire, rituals, and tiny languages that belong specifically to you.
The Complete Story Residency can weave freely among my different bodies of work—Atrium fine-art portraiture, BASK movement imagery, Atriotica intimate and erotic work, documentary photography, environmental portraiture, and the relational and intimacy mentorship practices I have developed through Aerosha.
It becomes an intimate visual archive of a life being fully lived.
A TYPICAL COMPLETE STORY RESIDENCY
Day One — Arrival + Beginning
I arrive, settle in, reconnect with everyone, orient to your home and environment, and allow the residency to begin naturally.
We may share a meal, wander through the house, talk through our ideas, begin photographing immediately, make a few intentional portraits, or simply allow me to start noticing.
Day One is intentionally spacious. I am already working, but we are also letting the experience find its rhythm.
Days Two + Three — Immersion
These become our primary residency days.
Photography can weave throughout the day rather than existing as one continuous session. We may move between planned portraiture, documentary moments, excursions, intimate work, family life, movement, relationships, landscapes, meals, conversations, rest, and whatever else feels compelling.
There is room to stop.
There is room to begin again.
Optional Day Four — Deeper Still
When our plans and timing allow, we may have an additional photographic day together.
By this point, the camera often feels very different. We know one another better. Ideas have developed through the previous days. People are usually less aware of being photographed. Some of the most surprising work can emerge here.
Departure — Day Four or Day Five
I generally depart by midday, depending upon the structure of our residency and travel plans.
COMPLETE STORY INCLUDES
• Approximately three to four photographic days woven through the residency
• Arrival-day photography and creative orientation
• Two full immersive residency days
• An optional additional photographic day when included in our schedule
• Up to approximately three nights staying in your home when mutually desired, with nearby lodging always available as an alternative
• Unlimited people, family members, friends, pets, locations, clothing changes, experiences, and creative directions as time allows
• Individual portraiture
• Couple and romantic relationship portraiture
• Family and multigenerational imagery
• Documentary storytelling
• Home and environmental imagery
• Movement and creative expression
• Intimate and erotic portraiture when desired
• Personal branding, creative work, or business storytelling when relevant
• Celebrations, adventures, rituals, excursions, and ordinary-life documentation
• Multiple thoughtfully organized sections within your finished gallery
• All final high-resolution photographs
• Ample Voxer exchange before, during, and following the residency for ideas, reflections, observations, creative possibilities, and anything that continues to unfold while I am editing your work
$12,000 + applicable travel
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STORY RESIDENCY
$8,000
The Story Residency holds much of the dimensionality of the Complete Story experience within a more concentrated two-day photographic container.
We still have enough time for the story to change.
We can photograph one person deeply and then widen into relationship. We can create formal portraits and disappear into documentary work. We can photograph you alone in the morning, your family later in the day, wander somewhere beautiful, create intimate photographs with your partner, document your work, make movement imagery, photograph the dogs, change clothes five times, drive somewhere unexpected, or abandon half our plans because something more interesting has appeared.
Having two substantial photographic days also changes what becomes possible relationally.
The first day allows us to discover.
The second allows us to return.
If we are working with a couple, something we notice on the first day may shape what we explore on the second. If you are learning something about being seen, moving, receiving attention, inhabiting your erotic self, or interacting with someone you love, we have time for that awareness to settle before returning to the camera.
This option works beautifully for individuals, couples, families, creative people, major life passages, relationship anniversaries, intimate portrait experiences, and anyone who wants a genuinely narrative body of work without creating a three- or four-day residency.
A TYPICAL STORY RESIDENCY
Arrival Evening
I arrive and ideally join you at home.
We have dinner, connect, walk through our ideas, look at spaces and clothing, talk about what feels interesting, and begin allowing the residency to take shape.
We may make a few spontaneous photographs, but the primary work begins the following day.
When comfortable for everyone, I am ideally your guest for the next two nights. A nearby hotel or Airbnb is always completely welcome instead.
Photographic Day One
Approximately five hours of photography.
The time can be continuous or divided according to our plans, light, locations, family rhythms, and what we are creating.
Photographic Day Two
Approximately five additional hours of photography.
We can continue what we began, move into completely different territory, include different people or places, or allow discoveries from Day One to determine what happens next.
STORY RESIDENCY INCLUDES
• Approximately ten total hours of photography across two days
• Two distinct photographic days rather than one extended session
• Arrival-evening connection, orientation, and collaborative planning
• Ideally two nights staying in your home when mutually desired, with nearby hotel or Airbnb accommodations always available
• Unlimited people, pets, locations, wardrobe changes, concepts, and creative directions as time allows
• Individual portraiture
• Couple and relationship imagery
• Family and friendship photography
• Documentary storytelling
• Movement imagery
• Intimate and erotic portraiture when desired
• Home and environmental storytelling
• Personal branding and creative work when relevant
• All final high-resolution photographs
• Curated private slideshow and organized gallery
$8,000 + applicable travel
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PORTRAIT RESIDENCY
$5,000
The Portrait Residency is the most concentrated version of this work: one evening of connection followed by one expansive photographic day.
Although the primary focus is typically one person, I still wanted this offering to contain something of the residency spirit rather than feeling like an oversized conventional photo session.
Whenever logistics allow, I arrive the evening before we photograph.
We have dinner together. I begin understanding your environment. We talk without a camera constantly interrupting us. I can see what you brought to wear, hear what has been living in your imagination, understand why you wanted to be photographed now, and begin sensing the visual and emotional terrain we might explore the following day.
When mutually comfortable, I am invited to stay in your home for that night. I can just as easily stay in a nearby hotel or Airbnb.
Then we have the following day.
Six hours gives us tremendous creative freedom while still retaining the intensity and focus of a single-day commission.
We may make formal portraits, wander into the landscape, work with movement, explore sensual or erotic imagery, document your creative practice or business, change clothing and environments repeatedly, create something strange, make something beautiful, talk, stop, begin again, and follow whatever becomes most alive.
For some clients this is celebratory. For others it marks a threshold: an age, a body, a divorce, a marriage, a new business, a creative awakening, a pregnancy, an ending, an arrival, or simply the realization that this particular version of themselves deserves to be remembered.
A TYPICAL PORTRAIT RESIDENCY
Arrival Evening
I arrive for dinner, connection, orientation, and planning.
When desired, I stay overnight in your home. Nearby lodging is equally welcome.
Portrait Day
Up to six hours of photography the following day.
We have room for multiple locations, clothing changes, creative concepts, movement, breaks, meals, conversation, and different forms of portraiture.
I depart by the end of the day or around sunset, depending upon our plans.
PORTRAIT RESIDENCY INCLUDES
• Arrival-evening connection and creative planning
• One night in your home when mutually desired, or nearby accommodations
• One photographic day with up to six hours of shooting time
• One primary portrait subject
• Unlimited locations, wardrobe changes, concepts, and creative directions as time allows
• Fine-art portraiture
• Environmental and documentary portraiture
• Movement imagery
• Intimate and erotic portraiture when desired
• Personal branding and creative-work imagery when relevant
• Limited relationship or family imagery may be incorporated when it supports the larger portrait story
• Curated private slideshow and gallery
• All final high-resolution photographs
$5,000 + applicable travel
PRIVACY
The intimate nature of this work makes privacy fundamental.
Your photographs are yours.
Images are never shared publicly, used in my portfolio, posted on social media, included in exhibitions, or used for promotional purposes without your explicit permission.
You are always welcome to keep your entire experience completely private.
When sharing your photographs personally or professionally, artist credit is deeply appreciated.
OPTIONAL PRODUCTION
Complex individual image retouching is available at $99 per photograph.
Hair and makeup, styling, assistants, studio or location rentals, specialty equipment, entire-gallery retouching, rush editing, and other production needs can be added when desired and are quoted separately.
RESERVING A RESIDENCY
The best commissions begin with a conversation.
If one of these experiences feels like yours—or if you have an idea that does not fit neatly inside any of them—I would love to hear about it.
We can talk about the people involved, the places you love, what you want to remember, what you are curious to reveal or create, and how much time would give the work enough room to become what it wants to become.
Only a limited number of Residency Portrait Commissions are accepted each year.
A signed agreement and 50% non-refundable retainer reserve your dates. Retainers may be transferred to a future date when a residency is rescheduled with reasonable notice. Travel commissions involving non-refundable airfare, lodging, rentals, assistants, or specialty production may require additional advance payment.
Payment plans are available when arranged in advance, with the commission paid in full prior to the residency.
Then we begin dreaming.
<3
With anticipation and glee,
Rachael Dunville
Only a limited number of commissions and residencies are accepted each year.
A signed agreement and 50% non-refundable retainer reserve your dates. Retainers may be transferred to a future date when a commission is rescheduled with reasonable notice.
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PAYMENT
* Payment may be completed in full via Venmo (@rachaeldunville) or Paypal/Zelle (email: rachaeldunville@gmail.com)
* Half of Session Total is due at the time of booking to secure your appointment. Kindly provide ample notice to reschedule, fees may apply, especially if travel has been booked. Payment plans are available if needed, total must be paid 30 days prior to date of shoot.
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ALA CARTE:
* Session Prints sold separately in Private Custom Online Marketplace, priced competitively much less than Artifact Uprising, for reference
* Complex retouching: $99 per image.
* Additional Fees for Travel, and Rental or Assistants (as required)
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PLEASE NOTE:
* Due to the highly personalized nature of Rachael's work, she only accepts a limited number of Session Invites per year. Please schedule well in advance to ensure the best selection of dates and times.
* Typically Rachael completes post-production of your images within 2 weeks, however, please allow up to 6-weeks for delivery of Session Images. Rush fee added if requested sooner than 14 days from shoot-date.
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PRIVACY AND SHARING
Rachael/Atrium/Atriotica/Aerosha believes that all clients' privacy is of the upmost importance, therefore, it is strictly guarded. Permission is always asked to use images from a session on our website, promotional materials, or in the studio.
Please honor Rachael’s art and photos by tagging all digitally shared images in social media and elsewhere with the appropriate credit and tags: @rachaeldunville on Instagram and Rachael Dunville on Facebook & Rachael-Dunville.com — please note the spelling of “Rachael” when sharing credit :)