Alessandra

On December 3rd I received an email from someone who had found my work online, Alessandra told me she was writing to request a photo session with me. She said "Your work is the first I have seen to integrate this warm setting with the naked body, in such a tasteful and classy manner."

In my reply I asked about her availability, but also mentioned that the weather conditions in the deserts, in December, can be quite unpredictable. I didn't want her first experience modeling to be her last.

Nothing On Daylight

After trading a few brief messages via email and text we set a date to go out and shoot on the 9th, the forecast seemed most promising in the low desert where the high temperatures were predicted to be in the 70's, but with winds so the canyons seemed a good choice. The high desert was more iffy with temps in the mid 60's, so our destination was still somewhat up in the air. 

Soft Distance

Looking back now I don't know if it would have made any difference, Alessandra was amazing and never for a moment did I think about it being her first time, or our first time shooting. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze, it was simply a beautiful day to be out in the desert.

Solitude

I can't wait to get together with her again. 

Grain Of Sand

"Every artist, in a sense, is missionary. He tries to convey a message to his fellow man – he communicates the awesome presence of truth and beauty he discover in the world around him, in its lakes and mountains, trees, rocks and plants, in its living creatures. Down through the centuries poets, sculptors, painters and now photographers, have also been striving to grasp and immortalize the beauty of the human body, both male and female. I see in these forms the elemental relationship to the large forms of nature; a sense of strength like a rock – fluidity like water – space like a mountain range. If I have chosen the female form in particular, it is because beauty has been debased and exploited in our sensual twentieth century. We seem to have a need to turn innocent nature into evil ugliness be the twist of the mind. Woman has been target of much that is sordid and cheap, especially in photography. To raise, to elevate, to endorse with timeless reverence the image of woman, has been my mission – the reason for my work." ~Ruth Bernhard