Monday, November 26, 2012

The Nude

Some B&W nudes I've done with Felicity.  
As You Like It
At one point in time I wasn't a fan of averting the model's face, or, leaving it out of the image all together, the issue with the face however is when it's included, the photograph becomes a nude portrait because the face personalizes the picture.    
Window Light Lines
By averting or avoiding the face, the photograph becomes more of a study in body, light and lines.
Shades Of Grey
In years past, photographers would more often be shooting nudes with acquaintances, friends or lovers, things were not like they are today now that we have multiple modeling sites on the Internet where photographers can virtually shop for a model.
Sanity
Also, being friends or acquaintances and not models, many times the photographer was required to keep the identity of the model confidential.
The Pause
The nude.     
Selective Focus
"Edward Weston understood thoughts and concepts which dwell on simple mystical levels. His work--direct and honest as it is--leaped from a deep intuition and belief in the forces beyond the apparent and factual. He accepted these forces as completely real and part of the total world of man and nature, only a small portion of which most of us experience directly. . . . And it was Weston who accomplished more than anyone, with the possible exception of Alfred Stieglitz, to elevate photography to the status of fine-art expression."--Ansel Adams

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Opposite Sides Of The Clock

Just after I had posted a photo from our first day of shooting titled 'Remnants of time', Felicity visited a Museum of Art and spotted a reproduction of Dali's 'The Persistence of Memory'. Then later she searched for an image of a nude with a clock on DeviantArt, to see how many people had done nudes with clocks, and to check if anyone did them in a desert. Inspired by the coincidence she sent me links to the pictures she had seen and asked what I thought about shooting with a clock in the desert.
Missing The Time We Had
I very rarely use props when shooting nudes and was at first hesitant, but the less I thought about the clock as a prop and more as a concept, more as a symbol, the better I liked the idea. So when Felicity returned in late August we went shopping for the largest clock we could find. 
Untitled
Time and timing was to become a key in both our relationship and our work, with precious little of it we were doing as much shooting together as possible. It was on our first day together that I began to feel we had a really good connection, I was loving the work we were doing together and we were both loving being together. By the third day we did not want to part company, she didn't want to leave and I didn't want her to go. 
Untitled
She had barely just left and within 24 hours we were talking about a return trip, in 48 hours we had the dates figured out and we were making reservations.Then we proceeded to count down the days until we'd be together and shooting again.
Mind The Time
So we attempted to fit as much shooting, and as many concepts, ideas and locations into that brief time we had, and we may have tried to fit too much into those 2 weeks. We barely had time to review the images we were making, and no time really to just relax and enjoy the time together.
Slave To The Clock
As we get older time becomes more precious, and this time with Felicity even more so. She's back home now, 1/2 a planet away from me so now we live on opposite sides of the clock, but we're still planning future photo shoots together. We found more than just pictures in the desert when we were together, and what happens next only time will tell.
Turn My Back On Time
"The magic of the desert is a riddle. Not only does it defy putting into words, but I have never found the person who felt that he could even shape it vaguely to himself in thought. For one thing, it is in its essence a contradiction. The desert is the opposite of all we naturally find pleasing. Yet I believe that its hold upon those who have once fallen under its spell is deeper and more enduring than is the charm of forest or sea or mountains." ~Joseph Smeaton Chase