Sienna Luna & Rhodanthe

One of my favorite photographers is Keith Carter. His images are timeless and enigmatic. My favorite quote from him is "Make the picture, just make the picture. You've got the rest of your life to figure out what it means." That sums up in better words than I could say about the mindset of what I've been doing for 25 years— I don't like to think too much about meaning as I'm shooting, as it would slow me down. I've got plenty of time for that later...

Vox Serene

For me, trying to capture a genuine & intimate portrait is the ultimate challenge. I'm constantly driven to keep experimenting with different styles and ideas. Portrait styles have become extremely diverse and a lot of the old school rules no longer apply. Anything goes nowadays, really. No two people are alike, and one person alone can be captured and/or represented in so many ways. Yet, none the less, I tend to be most successful when trying a classic approach— although as in most of my work, I find that infusing a bit of underlying sensuality helps make them just a little more involving. I try to do that by taking my time... making people feel comfortable in my presence. I become their motivator, confidant, and advocate. It’s a great feeling when it is all working. It's an even better feeling when a final image works as well.

Kati Kill

I based this shoot on images from vintage underground bondage magazines from the 1970's, which are interesting in that they are serious and lame at the same time. The setup is usually the same— dingy basement or abandoned factory scene, with damsels in distress tied to found items like chairs or pipes. I remember getting my hands on a copy as a teenager and thinking that it looked like porn for serial killers. The images were purposely amateurish as if they were photographed by the perpetrator himself. I'm not a serial killer, but I have had a keen interest in them ever since. Doesn't everybody? Anyway, as I mentioned, many of the images from this shoot looked like that, but this one stood out as a little more elegant. Those magazines never had any images that resembled this one at all.

Daniella

I was trying to make it look like she was on the prowl, and about to crawl into the camera to do some damage. I don't know if I achieved that— but I like what's going on, nonetheless.

Ajaye

Hodor.

Sienna Luna

I've tried this peeing shot before with someone else— but I deemed it unsuccessful due to the fact that the background was gritty, which made things blend in too much like camouflage. The spontaneity was nice, but what was actually happening got lost. It's a hard thing to pull off since the subject matter can be difficult to represent well. Armed with the knowledge of past mistakes, I was determined to make it work this time. I'm much happier with these images. By the way, there was a mirrored ceiling in this bathroom (which is a kinda weird thing in a bathroom), so I decided to take it as a unique opportunity. I bounced a flash off of them for lighting, which is where the strange highlights are coming from.