A series of black and white self-portraits emulating classical paintings by American photographer Laura Hofstadter. Entitled Stages, the project began while experimenting with a 4x5 camera and after discovering how little it took to evoke the classical works, she placed herself front-and-center into various icons of Western art as an expression of her feelings growing older in a youth-obsessed society and also as a reflection of her experience battling cancer. Although the series was about coming to terms with different stages of life, loss, and aging, the images were conceived with humor and playfulness through her minimal styling and manipulation. Instead of slavishly re-creating each source artwork, I prefer to sacrifice features of the original while adding new touches to make an image that is both recognizably the painting but also purely me. I have eschewed almost all make-up, and rather than constructing elaborate decor, costumes or props, I create simple sets using my own house or backyard, everyday objects, and my own, borrowed, or home-sewn garments whenever possible.