The week before and after Halloween always means plenty of folks posting their costumes on Facebook, the ‘Gram, and just about anywhere else. You’ve probably seen elaborate pop-culture and meme tributes or couples and families showing off their creative looks. And one Miami family has been doing just that for several years now.
The Horth family has been doing a series of photo shoots called HalloWEEK and they pay tribute to everything from ABBA to the Avengers. The concept came from husband and wife team Kat Barrow-Horth and Reed Horth, who run the Robin Rile Fine Art gallery in their non-costumed lives.
We chatted with Kat about this year’s process, and what inspired their latest round of photos.
HOW IT COMES TOGETHER: In past years, Kat has kept a folder of brainstorms from friends and from her own imagination. And those ideas help guide the HalloWEEK photos that her and her family will do.
And much of the inspiration comes from Kat and Reed wanting to celebrate the pop culture they remember from their childhood, like this year’s outfits inspired by “The Golden Girls” and “My Cousin Vinny.”
“My Cousin Vinny is one of our favorite movies, we’ve probably watched it like seventy five times,” Kat said. “I think thematically we both tend to gravitate to shows and movies that resonated with us when we were younger.”
But that doesn’t stop them from drawing inspiration from more recent reference points, like this year’s “So You Think You Can Dance” photo shoot.
HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED: Although the pictures and costumes are just as over-the-top as in previous years, Kat admitted that they did fewer shoots and photos for each theme this time around. And that actually helped make the process a lot less stressful.
“We had a lot of fun with it this year because the pressure was off to create so many photos, so we were laughing a lot,” she said. “When Reed was dressed like Dorothy from ‘The Golden Girls,’ I couldn’t keep it together.”
Another big change has been their 5-year-old son Ronan playing a much bigger role in the shoots.
“It was a lot easier with him this year because we’re able to give him direction,” Kat said. “And he’s actually quite a theatrical little kid, so his faces are a lot more convincing.”
And beyond the fun of doing HalloWEEK every year, Kat said it’s been a really nice time capsule for her family.
“We started this when Ronan was only 5 months old, and to get to see him grow up over the years into this taller, skinny kid is kinda cool,” She said. “And maybe one day he’ll look back and say ‘Wow, my parents were pretty cool…or not.’”
You can find all of their HalloWEEK photos on their Instagram page.