Ajaye

I shot this the week of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, but I just finished working on it today. I've always been a huge fan of the hippie chick look, but honestly, I rarely find a model that has that perfect vibe & look going on. I guess that I just live in the wrong city— I definitely would find more models like this in Portland. C'est La Vie. Ajaye had really long dreads, but she had to cut them off because they were giving her back problems... then she had a short pixie cut for a while, but now she has long care-free hair. The hair and the peace tattoo, plus that she has the right expressions— she makes for a perfect hippie chick. I have to do more of these before she changes again...

The Kiss by Auguste René Rodin

I shot this at one of my favorite haunts— the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. The combo of one of my favorite sculptures and great lighting (museum lighting is often too bright & even) made for an easy shot.

Dessa & Jonny

This is actually a few years old, but I've never posted it. It reminds me of The Kiss by Rodin, which I shot recently and will post next...

Sonia & Dessa & Iris

I've shot the "hair in the face shot" so many times that I wouldn't want anybody to count. They usually look too "not quite right", if that makes any sense. That might be just me, for someone else might say that it's nice to see me loosening up... anyway, here's a few that I like.

Christina & Kellie & Donna & Jess

With the exception of suspensions, I regret spending as much time as I have in the past shooting with a white backdrop. With the suspensions, I feel that it gets rid of the unnecessary distractions, therefore keeping things elegant. With some of these, I actually tried black backdrops first, but too much information disappeared into them— the white gives everything a nice pop and a sense of depth that black was missing. Otherwise, in retrospect, the white backgrounds feel kind of soulless. They also feel fake, like a fashion shoot— which is what I originally got those types of backgrounds for. They still represent, for better or for worse, my past work.

Ash

A (very) small window into a cutters world. I've photographed quite a few that have engaged in self-harm. Although I tend to be rather interested in the personal psychology of those that I work with and often ask questions, cutting is something that really bothers me (I can't relate) and I don't typically go there. Just like that my subjects typically look introspective but not depressed— that's not a coincidence. My genuine interest here is aesthetics... I like marks that are thoughtfully carried out while having a rhythm & order. I've seen so many scars that are as chaotic as perhaps the thoughts that made them. I've tried shooting those, but I never pick them in an edit— probably (definitely) because they really bother me. Everybody has different limits as to what they can look at, and while images like this please me, I can understand that it might bother someone else.

Percolate

The Delights of Familiarity. When you use the same few lenses, you get used to them focusing the same way, and the aperture ring moving in the same direction, not to mention knowing what kind of image you can create with them before you even attach them to your camera. It’s the same with the camera. Put another way, more familiarity leads to fewer obstacles, and there’s far greater fluidity in the whole experience— something I greatly value in making photography an immersive and rewarding pursuit. I’m definitely guilty of going through phases where I'm in camera tester mode, rather than true photographer mode... where I'm doing a shoot that is probably compromised because I'm testing a different camera out, only to find that I'm not really comfortable using a said camera. What I mean by that is that I use a particular camera because I'm at least slightly (if not completely) making it a fetish object, rather than using my tried-and-true equipment. My confirmed and proven equipment isn't hip & cool, but instead completely reliable for getting the job done. I find that using equipment that you’re so familiar with it almost becomes invisible is the best equipment to get the best images. Knowing how your camera and lens will perform in any scenario— where shooting becomes a meditative, almost zen-like experience of seeing and capturing each image. While I typically appreciate the experience of trying some really cool new or vintage camera out, I tend to ultimately treasure the comfort (and the results) of the tried-and-true.

Ajaye

Peace.

Lissa

"There aren't any rules for good photographs. There are just good photographs."    ~Ansel Adams

Ash

A photographer can make an infinite number of prints from the same negative— but while this is true in theory, it is in reality, typically false. It is paradox that in a medium that is capable of producing quality prints in large numbers, the yield of prints per negative is often just one or even zero. Very often a print from a negative is the only one in existence, which would make it no less unique than a painting. Photographic prints, unlike etchings and lithographs, seldom have numbers. The photographic negative does not wear out, so the only reason for numbering would be to purposely create scarcity and market value. This may be desired by some dealers and collectors, but not so much by the creative artist...

Elise

"Wherever there is light, one can photograph." ~Alfred Stieglitz

Izzy

"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." ~Henri Cartier-Bresson

Tali De'Mar

A Short History of Photography: First it was monochrome, then there was color. First, it was to document, and then it was a fine art as well— although in retrospect it was always a form of fine art, as the very first print is in an art museum. First, there was film, then there was digital as well. The End. Seriously— it can really be summed up this simply, without a hint of a smirk. Also, it feels to me as if its history is mostly wrapped up just as music and painting is. Well, at least there is most likely much more history in cinema and television to look forward to...

Miss Kacie

This is definitely more fashion and pin-up oriented than anything else here, but I really like this new version. A little bit of grit added to my usually more polished pin-up stuff.

Jena

Every once in awhile I create an image that sets a personal bar for myself as far as what I want to achieve. This image sets a bar for being messy and gritty— while still genuinely flattering the model, and even being quite sensual. I usually keep about a dozen of these images floating in my head, constantly thinking about what I need to do in order to rise above that bar that I set...

Katie

Now, this is what I was talking about— a level of abstraction that is just enough to confound viewers enough, but they can still sort of know what they are looking at. It's a macro shot of skin texture, about a square inch worth of an undisclosed body part. For me to know, and everybody else not too! To be honest, both the model and I probably forget exactly where on the body this is... and it doesn't really matter.

Corinne

Staring to edge into abstract territory, but a little short of what I've been tending to aim for– I think that just about anyone can tell what is what. I prefer it when I can have people guessing...

Izzy

In the beginning, and for years after, I often thought about how I was going to impress viewers with my photography. Eventually, I decided that I only needed to impress myself because that is all that really matters in the end— and if I achieved that, then everything will fall into place.

Ash

"The eyes have one language everywhere" ~George Herbert

Tali De'Mar

"I like the architecture of lingerie." ~Colleen Atwood