We’re only a few days away from Halloween and to get everyone in the mood, I wanted to share the fantastic photography of Panda Jones from Decayed Pixels. The atmosphere and mood that she creates from her pictures leaves a feeling of being a bit squeamish and very intrigued. I had the great opportunity to chat with Panda about her work and you can check out our interview after the jump.
Casey: You obviously have inclinations towards the macabre. What were some of the horror influences you had growing up that shaped the woman you are today?
Panda Jones: I have always been unrealistically scared of life, “if we go in a tunnel, there will be a earthquake, and we will die,…the wind will make a tree fall on top of the house, and we will die…”. Like seriously scared of everything. However I found some odd comfort in horror films, I can’t really explain it. I use to watch tales from the crypt and Steven King movies with my father when I was little, and just become more infatuated with anything horror related as I grew older.
Casey: I know the feeling of loving it more as you grew up, I was the same way. What is it about photography that brings out the dark side of you?
Panda Jones: When I started doing photography, I did all the normal cookie cutter photography styles: Kids, family photos, nature, “oh look it’s a flower.” While in school ( the art institute), there was a course where I was required to do portraits of someone in costume. One of my friends had gone to school to do special effects makeup, so we decided to turn my roommate into a zombie for this project. It was by far the most fun I had at that point in time doing a shoot.
After that, I decided to let YouTube and Pinterest be my instructors and learn how to do some makeup myself. This is where the spark began.. I love watching everything come together, the cuts, the wounds, the rich reds of the blood. I enjoy watching people go from being this sweet innocent beings, to totally getting 
into character. I find it much more natural to shoot blood and Gore,then I do pretty portraits.
Casey: It’s too bad that some people reacted that way, probably good that you did the separation. Tell me more about Decayed Pixels. Where did the name come from, what does it mean to you?
Panda Jones: Soo, like I said ,the zombie shoot was my first horror related shoot. I posted it on my “other” photography page, and not too many people had a issue with it. However, once I did a couple more that were a little on the dark side, the reactions were pretty bad. Comical, but not really in a good way. I had some people message me and tell me I was promoting anything from domestic violence to child abuse; which is not what I was doing at all. So I decided to separate my two styles, so those who were seeking my “dark side” could, while those who don’t really dig that style, could keep their eyes safe.
I am horrible at coming up with names for things, my pets are named after breakfast foods if that says anything. So I made a status and asked for ideas, and Decayed Pixels was one of them. It was perfect. 
Horror is often paired with death, and/or rotting, so you have decayed, and digital images are made up of pixels..boom, Decayed Pixels.
Casey: Where do you plan on taking the company?
Panda Jones: Honestly, I have no clue. I am a professional photographer, however I do it more of a way to keep my sanity. It’s fun, it keeps me focused, and it’s the only thing I have ever felt I was decent at. I’ve only been doing the horror part of my photography for a little over a year now, so I am just trying to get my name out there and get more people interested in what I am doing. I would love to create movie posters at some point. But for now I would be totally fine if all that came from this venture is my art hanging on some peoples walls. (Ppsssst, go buy prints)
Casey: Yes, I’ll be putting a link to the Etsy page at the bottom of the interview. Though I’m a big fan of your Horror work, I also like your other projects as well. I saw your pictures for the Steamposium and they were great! Can you tell me a little what a Steamposium was and how you get into being the photographer?
Panda Jones: Steamposium Is a steampunk convention here in Seattle, this year was actually its first year. They have guests like Kato and the Steamgirls, and some cast members of the show Firefly, as well as lots of 
amazing costumes.
There is another convention in Seattle called Crypticon. I went for the first time in May. I love horror, but hate crowds ( remember the being scared of life comment, Ya I still have it as an adult). I loved it. Everyone was really nice, the guests were fabulous and the staff was great. Well, I met with the editor of Crypticon and she showed my work to the owner of the event and got me on board with them. One of the things I can do as being on the Crypticon team is cross promote other events, so that’s how I was lucky enough to be a press photographer for Steamposium.
Casey: That’s fantastic! Let’s hope you get do more cons in the future! You’ve given me a sneak peak into a new set that you created which looks like a mashup of circus freakshow and under-the-big-top bizarre. What can your fans expect to see from that project?
Panda Jones: That awesome set you see coming to life is for a series of photos I am doing. Freak Show is a popular theme right now, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I loved the show carnival, and have watched several documentaries on the real freak shows and always found them interesting. However, “Anomalies of Horror” is going to put a bit of a spin on the classic freak show characters, as well as some unique ones. I don’t want to give too much away, but think burlesque carnival meets freak show from hell.
Casey: Ahhh, that sounds awesome! What’s one of your dream projects that you have been able to do yet?
Panda Jones: My current project is dream project of mine and I can’t wait to finish it. I haven’t even finished my set and I feel like its amazing. Watching my vision come to life is a great thing to see. Other then that one, I really wanna do something that plays off Hellraiser and the Cenobites, it’s just a matter of getting a solid idea, and some awesome makeup skills.
Casey: Well, if anyone is going to do it, I know it’s going to be you. I’m sure Clive Barker himself will be shivering in his skivvies. One last question: I know you told me about getting into Girls & Corpses magazine? Did you submit certain prints to 
them already or are you doing a special shoot just for the mag?
Panda Jones: So I am actually pretty excited about this, as it is my first real publication. When I first saw Girls and Corpses Magazine, I was like, “omg this is perfect for me, Its silly, its got some gore, and it has offensive humor!” I followed the site and their Facebook page for a while. I attempted to look up the submission guidelines on their website, but I didnt see any.
A lot of the time these magazines have their own photographers and obtain their own content, so I decided to send them a message and ask how one would submit to their magazine and just left a link to my Facebook page, not really thinking I would get any response. A few days later (while I was at steamposium actually) I got a response from Robert (Corpsy) himself telling me that he was impressed with my work, and he even went through my page and showed me what photos they could use in the winter issue (all about medical marijuana, and probably some other types of drugs from the photos he chose). I have no idea what the articles are going to be about for the photos he used, for all I know he could be making fun of me haha, but I am excited to be apart of something I find awesome. Girls & Corpses the magazine is up for pre-order right now, and should ship the middle of November if you want to take a look 🙂
Thanks a ton to Panda Jones for chatting with us about Decayed Pixels and that amazing photography creations she comes up with. Very much looking forward to the Freak Show set when it gets finished. If you’d like to see more work from Decayed Pixels, make sure to LIKE the page on Facebook and check out the Etsy page to purchase some amazing prints!
