Miera

My lovely, beloved Shag Rug. 15 x 20 feet of handmade lambswool. Classic 1970's throwback, but I somehow manage to make it look very 1940's film noir with, well, 1940's film noir lighting. Everybody wanted one, and everybody adored them at first... until you find out how easily they get dirty, and how murderously difficult they are to keep clean and properly clean completely. I found out the hard way. I actually had it on my studio floor, and it eventually got too nasty. It's perfectly undefiled again, after a lot of hard work. That's the real reason that they went out of fashion. So much trouble. I will never get rid of it, though. It's too wonderful. I just bring it out of it's hermetically sealed storage container for shoots only now and put it right back. I want to put it in my living room so badly, but I dare not...

Lee

I don't like when models pose. Typically, it creates something just simply superficial & soulless at best, and cheesy & fake at worst. While a seasoned poser can possibly lend themselves to a great image, it is usually a dead-end road to travel for me. When I see a model start to pose, I have to start on my whole spiel about how I don't want them to pose for me... just keep moving— I'm quick and I can follow along. Indeed, genuine movement and spontaneity are the most important elements to my more recent style of shooting...

Ajaye

Grrrrrr.

Izzy & Meira

Sometimes two is better than one. This is one of those times.

Sarah

I always try hard to avoid eye candy— a photo that looks fashionably attractive and sophisticated but only has exactly one layer of interest. They look great for about half a second and then there is no reason for your eye to linger any longer. Think of an ad in Vogue Magazine. But if you are a thinking photographer, you soon realize that you need to break free from the "eye candy" genre and start adding substance— without adding too much else. Easier said than done.

Lee

Never push me, because I am a very strong woman. I'm nice, but I'm very strong. When it gets down gritty, I can get grittier. Never, ever underestimate me.   ~Missy Elliott

Shower & Bath Series

I started the shower/bath series over a dozen years ago when someone who hired me asked if I could photograph her in the shower. That particular first shower shoot was actually one of the most intense and sexually explicit shoots I've ever done. Again, that was her suggestion. It's ironic, and most people probably wouldn't guess this, but shoots that I'm paid for are often the most interesting. So it wasn't really my idea (the shower, as well as being sexually explicit), but I ran with it... I've since done many intense and/or explicit shower images, as well as many rather beautiful and/or romantic ones. That seems to describe the two alternating variations in my whole body of work. Another thing of note is that once something is in my portfolio, anyone that sees it wants to try it because they can see that I can do it well. Most people do not want to be the first to try something, as they want the assurance that it will be done well. Back to the shower theme— shooting there seems to access certain expressions which can't be captured without the magical properties of warm water. The comfort of water falling just simply relaxes most people, summoning a very natural body language.