Tanya Dakin

This is an old one, from back when it was so easy to shoot at Eastern State Penitentiary. You could just wander around and shoot anywhere you wanted, and no one bothered you. Now it's impossible to do nudes there, and they confine you to one place. Thinking about it is like a golden period that you wish you could revisit...

Ash

There are so many reasons why a photographer would use, or a viewer would appreciate the use of, B&W in photography. I myself could go on & on listing and expounding on the reasons that I personally employ it... but there are definitely a few concise reasons that I use it here: It tends to add drama, it tends to add mystery, and it tends to remove time. These are all mostly self-explanatory— although I've always really appreciated the aspect of trying to make an image timeless rather than being instantly dated.

Natalie

Lady Garden.

Natalie

I never get bored of playing with mirrors. I don't mind that it is typically just a variation on the same shot. Yeah, this is one of my go-to's...

Claire

Looking down is symbolic of dominance, so I tend to us that point of view for images like this. I'll even get on a ladder to hype that up a bit. Conversely, when I want to make my models look fierce (like my window shots), I tend to lay down on the floor and look way up. I'm always fascinated by the potential to employ psychology in my photography. Commercial photographers and the advertising industry, of course, figured this out a long time ago...

Lady Lazarus

I made this gag out of a Nylabone years ago- it's finally found it's home. The brilliant red of the Nylabone gets a little lost in the B&W translation, but I still really like that it's readable.

Sienna Luna

"Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter?"  ~ Pablo Picasso

Sienna Luna

"Look up from what you're doing and look around for a minute. See what a beautiful world you're in. "  ~Ralph Marston

Ramonita

"Black and white is abstract; color is not. Looking at a black and white photograph, you are already looking at a strange world."  ~Joel Sternfeld

Ash

A little less Triangle, more Cowbell.

Ash

More Triangles, Twists & Turns. Triangles are my new cowbells— never enough.

Ramonita

"Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night." ~Napoleon Bonaparte

Ash

Perhaps the most difficult task of photography is finding and holding a balance between the technical and creative. Allowing the technical aspect of the process to dominate is a mistake, as the final result will ultimately lack genuine inspiration. Letting the purely creative take over can also be unfortunate, as there needs to be some technical control involved in any artistic undertaking— otherwise, it's just crap. All photographers worth their salt have complete technical control over the medium, but after learning their craft, they tend to move forward into the uncharted areas of instinct. This is a step that requires confidence in one’s inner (and often sub-conscious) resources. After studying the technical aspects of the medium, this leap of faith revolves around a photographer's willingness to put that learning behind themselves and, in essence, forgetting it. Of course, a technique cannot be truly forgotten but must be forced into the recesses of the mind. A process that I have developed involves relying on visual intuition during the compositional phase and then adding technique during exposure and post-production. Pre-visualization, or coming up ahead of time with pretentious ideas, is odious to me— and I find that it tends to completely block intuition. The balance between instinct and pragmatism is so important to my work.

Meira & Heff

I'm sorry, but all I see in these are triangles. Actually, that is a big theme in my work— triangles are everywhere. Just take a brief scroll down the screen, and you'll probably be annoyingly distracted by how many triangles you come across...

Lee Loo La & Heff

The tar rooftop is really dirty and sticky. Seriously nasty. Not only years of dirt on top of sticky tar from the hot sun, but a Chinatown restaurant exhaust fan constantly blowing even more sticky stuff all over. Pretty disgusting to walk on— shoes are definitely necessary at the very least if doing nudes. The grimy aesthetic is to die for, though! I've never had a problem getting a model to shoot up there, though— it not only looks great, but it's also very private.

Adrian Louise

Jean-Paul Sartre's famous quote, "L'enfer C'est Les Autres" or "hell is other people," has often been quoted, but often out of context. This quote, which appears as the dialogue of a character in his play, No Exit, refers to a human being's loss of subjectivity when seeking the approval of other people. In the play, three characters arrive in Hell. They’re expecting flames and pitchforks, but instead, they’re shown into a plain ordinary room – and then gradually discover that this is where they’ll be spending eternity. Alone, together. It's about the difficult coexistence of people. This quote is very open to interpretation so there can be infinite takes on it— which is precisely why it's such a great fucking quote. Personally, though, I see it as how we are unable to escape the watchful and judgmental gaze of everyone around us.

Key

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” ~ Albert Einstein

Jezz

I've always tried to maintain a strong lock onto the eyes. Normally, there is a natural rhythm of looking at people and looking away. When it feels right, we can hold our gaze a little longer, relishing a simple moment of human connection. We are naturally drawn into images by eye contact. There is nothing like that feeling of a tie bound by an invisible thread, as in sharing a unique moment with them. It’s very hard to articulate and explain in words that feeling that connects you to a subject, either in the viewfinder or on the printed page. When that connection is there, though, it's obvious— and doesn’t need words to explain it; we feel it.

Li

Yeah, I've always had a thing for super long lashes. I'm particular, though. They usually don't look good straight out of the box- at least the cheapie ones that I buy. So I get ridiculously long ones and trim them to my liking first. That seems to make them a little more original...

Setsuki

Setsuki is a circus performer— so whereas I usually employ rope work for a suspension, this just her and a simple heavy chain that we linked up to the ceiling hooks. She did it all— I just stepped back and clicked the shutter. The brick wall, which is always behind the backgrounds that I typically use, is a nice departure. I've tried the brick before and did not like it, as it tends to be too busy looking. I think that I got it right this time...