Solstice

Something unique happened in June 2011 when art models NevaehLleh, Conundra, Pearl and I went out to the desert to shoot photos, it ended up being more than just a beautiful morning with three very talented people. What I didn't realize at the time was, we happened to be there just hours ahead of the summer solstice, when the sun is at it's most zenith point in the sky. 

Zenith

Yesterday I learned that the image "Zenith" will be part of another gallery show "Nude But Not Rude" at Linus Gallery in Pasadena, CA Opening reception is June 15th, 2012

Here are a few other images taken on the lake bed that morning. 

Story Of Life

I've been quite fortunate to have worked with NevaehLleh in several different areas of southern California desert, from the Salton Sea to Joshua Tree and Hinkley to Lucerne Valley, beginning when we first met in 2008. 

Form

A superb art model and more, so expressive of emotion and a joy to work with.

Trying To Remember

It was a special morning in June of last year, from the clouds in the sky to the morning light, the empty lake bed and the amazing company with me that day, it's times like these that are the most rewarding.

Lost In The Landscape

"To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees." ~Paul Valery

Always

Several months ago while driving out to the desert Conundra mentioned a project she was doing, a book of poetry, "The Captain's Verses" written by Pablo Neruda was her inspiration. The idea is to have photographers choose a verse and shoot for it, simply put the results would be a collaboration between model & photographer with a verse from the book as their inspiration. I had read a couple of the verses previously but not the book in it's entirety, so I purchased a copy and on my second time through, my verse became obvious.

Always

Facing you
I am not jealous

Come with a man
at your back,
come with a hundred men in your hair,
come with a thousand men between your bosom and your feet,
come like a river
filled with drowned men
that meets the furious sea,
the eternal foam, the weather.

Bring them all
where I wait for you;
we shall always be alone,
we shall always be, you and I,
alone upon the earth
to begin life.
~Pablo Neruda

Stepping Stone

We left a bit early, a little too early for the sun and had to wait a bit for it to get lower in the sky, we spent some of the time shooting in the shade we found among the rocks. During the drive out we had discussed the verse which perhaps put it in the back of my mind, but to be honest I really didn't think about it, I knew something from the day would fit because this is how I view life and my work.

See The Way

I can't know what Pablo was feeling when he wrote "Always", though I see in my images my interpretation of his verse, I tagged my first book 'two people and a camera' for that reason. Whatever baggage we carry around, drama we've been subjected to or previous relationships we've had, whatever man or woman have come before us, when I am out in the desert it no longer has a meaning, it no longer matters because out in the desert we are alone, just us, and we are photographing life.

Handful Of The Earth

"While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see." ~Dorothea Lange

Testing the waters

Pearl & I have been shooting together for several years now, which translates to many early mornings and longs days traveling through the deserts of southern California. For years now we have worked really hard to create the best images we could, which has truly been a labor of love.

Object Of Thought

This past November we were planning another shoot but the wind and cold of the high desert would have made shooting out there uncomfortable at best, and more torture than fun. So for something different and in an attempt to expand our repertoire, we moved inside to shoot in natural light and under regular room light. We were very happy with the images and even more so to capture some very good images and be successful in testing ourselves in a new genre and new environment,  

Please

It was exciting to see that we could do beautiful images so far out of our normal zone, it was encouraging and inspiring as well, and so we decided to experiment even further and into a more erotic style. I can only leave it to the viewer to decide whether we've been successful but I can say that Pearl & I love the work, in all the time we've been working together we always have.

Touch

I don't see this as a natural progression or direction or anything like that, I see it as two people doing what they love and trying new things, our last shoot included some bondage, but also chocolate sauce, strawberries, a collar, a bit of lingerie, some conservative art nude, some erotica and a little green hat with spiders on it.

Neverending

My feeling as well as Pearl's is this experimentation can only serve to improve our work, we haven't changed, only expanded and tested the waters, we plan on doing more desert art nudes this summer and taking what we've learned to further define our work, we actually have a lot of concepts in the works across several genres. I hope we can be successful at everything we try, one thing for certain, we can't be successful if we don't try.

Stay Awhile

"I want to reach people inside, way down — to give them a quiver in their stomach. I've reached a certain plateau at this point, where I can sense an even greater intensity in a situation than I'm able to get on film. That's what I've got to learn to capture, even if it takes the rest of my life." ~Roy DeCarava