Vox Serene & Dessa Fell

Two different people and two different shoots, but I thought that these make a nice pairing.

Kati Kill

This is one of those images where a story behind it is just as interesting as the image— and the picture doesn't really tell the story. Kati is a contortionist, among other skills that she possesses. She was not only thrilled with the idea of being tied up but she also claimed that she could get out of whatever I put her into, within reason. Indeed, it took her less than five minutes to get out, and this documents a point towards the end of that process. It was fascinating to watch. The ratty wig and nice bruises (she always seems to have nice bruises) only add to what I consider one of my favorite shots. Of course, a happy memory or an engaging anecdote tend to bolster my own feelings towards a photograph of mine. I'd like to believe, though, that this stands on its' own well enough even without that all that being known.

Lee

Lee is pretty serious and experienced with ropework, so I wanted to do something both different but well executed. This tie is fairly traditional Kinkabu, although the use of cheap twine definitely is not. Kinkabu usually employs quality jute rope (or hemp rope). I tend to be more concerned with my own aesthetics rather than being proper. I think that the twine gives a wonderfully rough look- practically falling apart as I apply it. It's difficult to work with, and it's not comfortable- but I none the less want to try some more of this. It really digs into the skin and leaves nice marks, too...

Sylvia

I'm pretty happy with this series on suspensions. I think that it's ironic, though, that their appeal seems to be in their visual simplicity— suspended model/ white backdrop and nothing else, while the actual setup is pretty involved.  It takes about 12 feet high and 15 feet deep of white backdrop, with me being positioned about 20 feet back to get the shot. The lighting is more complex than anything else that I do— two heavy duty Mole-Richardson fresnel spots, supplemented with a pretty good array of Smith-Richardson photo flood lights. The nice thing is that once everything is ready to go, all I have to do is press the shutter. That's good, because the most time I have to get the shot is ten minutes tops, and sometimes as little as a minute or two...

Meira & Mara

Unfortunately (especially for the artists concerned), only time will tell if an artists body of work will stand the test of time. An artist becoming famous while they are young is the exception rather than the rule. There is a good reason why young artists becoming famous fast are often touted as over-rated or a fad— because they often are. It's even harder for a photographer as an artist. Most of the great 20th century photographers were not seriously collected as fine art until late in their lives or after their death. Edward Weston, although appreciated by many, died relatively poor and unknown... as did many like him. Man Ray (and a few others) was somewhat of an exception to this— but he was a shameless self-promoter, and he also did a lot of commercial work.

Caroline & Martin

The chemistry between them was rather intense. It was even rougher than it looks. All I had to do was stand back and keep pressing the shutter. Easy peasy. Well, not entirely easy— the hot lights and steam made it quite uncomfortable for me, and my lens kept fogging up...

Stephy

Most of my newer work tends to consist of movement and spontaneity— trying to get away from being posed and composed. This is one of my occasional returns to my roots of very formal compositions with careful lighting and a film noir essence. Of course, closer to the truth is that my newer work is a mash up of quick and sloppy— mixed with decent lighting and quick but careful thinking on the compositions. I don't think that I could ever fully embrace that lazy hipster snapshot aesthetic that is really popular these days.

Thora

Midnight in the rain. Seriously.

Miss Chloe & Meira

"Become like a sheet of blotting paper and soak it all in. Later on, you can figure out what to keep and what to unload."   ~Haruki Murakami

Lola

Lots of climbing involved in this one.

L & B

I love shooting in filthy, dirty tubs and showers. The more squalid, the better. They provide the backgrounds of wonderfully sordid and sleazy images. A clean tub is so boring.

Li

I'm really happy with all of that black, negative space in the center. It's as if it is a vacuous void drawing you in. There really is no detail there— I had two 1000 watt light boxes behind her, and nothing in front. All of the side detail comes from that massive amount of light trying to wrap around her like an eclipse.

Izzy

I may very well decide a few years from now that I took the detail a bit too far into HDR territory with this and other images, but for now I really like it. It's perhaps ironic that I look at other photographers doing similar things and that I don't like it. It's not lost on me that I may be indulging myself with the detail. That's no worry, though, because I save many different versions along the way. Everything from RAW and untouched, to this and beyond. I can decide later to make a new portfolio (or portfolios) with different versions. That's the beauty of photography, both with film and digital— there is no such thing as a definitive image. Even with famous masters, you might see what you think in a book is the definitive image. The reality is that that image in the book is in all likelihood rather inferior to the print it came from— not to mention that there may very well be many prints and versions, each with something different to offer. There are so many possibilities after the shot is taken. Of course little to nothing can be done, which is usually boring but sometimes perfect. Usually a variety of things are employed— such as old school film things like different development processes, burning & dodging, cropping, solarization, high contrast or low contrast papers or filters, and on and on. Now there is Photoshop, which is based off of film techniques but can do some things that could not be done with film. Both perfect B&W and color from the same shot! This can be both a blessing or a curse, but I try to look at it as a blessing...

Caroline & Martin

I tend not to interfere during these couples shoots— I let them know in the beginning what I'm looking for. I like for there to be a push & pull, a realness without being posed, and I tell them to ignore (as much as possible) my presence. I also like consensual violence, which I think makes for more dynamic images. That request does not seem to ever pose much of an issue with the people I've been working with lately...

Ellen

I've always really liked this image below, with the cigarette— even though out of context it does not hold any particular meaning for anybody else. Well, it happened to be shot just after a very intense shower scene— where she had got herself off with a Waterpik to the point of exhaustion. So consequentially she is taking a relaxing smoke break, hair still dripping. Photographs are often like that. A favorite quote of mine by the photographer Diane Arbus sums it up best— "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know".

T.

IV.

Sarah

$20 IKEA rug— a studio favorite.

Ajaye

New direction. Ethereal lightness.

Meira & Nick

I like that you may not quite know what is happening at first...

Percolate

There is an interesting story behind this image, as it almost did not happen. For a good majority of my shoots, I have always done the make-up myself— this dates back to when I first began photographing people. I made use of a very retro aesthetic from the very beginning since I wanted to emulate early masters and early Hollywood glamor photography. I started doing this in the early 1990's, which for all intents was still really the 1980's. This was not exactly a good time to find people with hair and make-up that looked like the time periods I wanted to represent in an authentic way. So I had to scrub everybody's faces clean, do their make-up and hair as well as find clothes for them. Yeah, no easy task. I like doing it, though, and it tends to relax women before a shoot. It has had another added benefit in that my early work (and most of it since) does not look badly dated now. Things got much easier later on when Swing and Rockabilly music came back in vogue (and to a certain extent has remained so). Suddenly women were showing up at my studio with these wonderful dead-on looks, all ready to go. It felt like 90% of my work was now cut out for me. It was not like I had not paid my dues, though. When women don't have their own cosmetics, I often tend to go for a fresh-scrubbed natural look nowadays. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late?), I've since started to get a little more experimental with maquillage when I do it myself now. For this session, I used white and black eyeliner on the top of the lids, along with some white mascara, in order to try something a bit weird and futuristic. I have to say that both she and I thought it looked kind of clownish, and she wanted to wipe it off and try something of her own. I convinced her to just shoot it for a few minutes first since I spent a while doing it. I'm glad that I did because it turned out to look a lot more elegant and distinctive in the shot than it did in real life. It was also by far the best thing we shot that day. It is one of my favorite images, and it even looks better in color— but I don't like to show color work here. I'm always amused at how often people are reluctant to trust me at first, but then turn out to absolutely love the results of something that they were initially rather wary of trying...