As promised last time, this and my next few entries will deal with the series of fine art nude photo shoots I did from December 2003 to February 2004. This entry will deal with the first.
As a non-pro photographer, I don’t have a set schedule of when I shoot. It happens when it happens. My travel photography happens for the most part on vacation, and my nude shoots are either on vacations or weekends. As I also have a limited amount of dollars to spend on it, you can understand why I may go for long periods without picking up a camera.
This was the situation I was in back in early December 2003 when I worked with a model by the name of Billie. I’d gone nearly half a year without making any photos. Having contacted a number of models to help out my friend Dave Levingston, it seemed an opportune time to end the drought. So, I packed my medium format camera gear into my bag and with tripod slung over my shoulder, I took the subway to our location - Billie’s apartment in the East Village section of Manhattan.
This was an unusual situation for me as I think it was the first time I ever photographed a model in her home. Usually I work outdoors, but sometimes in an interestingly appointed room or even a studio. A model’s apartment is a little different as one needs to decide whether to make photos that will appear to be neutral in its setting or which will try to show the space as a part of the model’s personality – the latter being what my friend Dave refers to as a ‘docunude.’ On this occasion, I guess I tried to do both.
The photo at the top here shows Billie on her sofa with her violin. A musician as well as an actress, she had both a violin and a guitar. When I suggested using the violin as a prop, she agreed, saying that while a violin is timeless the guitar would somehow seem to date the image. As I often try to do, I made images from various points of view with different lenses, as can be seen from the second photo.
As a non-pro photographer, I don’t have a set schedule of when I shoot. It happens when it happens. My travel photography happens for the most part on vacation, and my nude shoots are either on vacations or weekends. As I also have a limited amount of dollars to spend on it, you can understand why I may go for long periods without picking up a camera.
This was the situation I was in back in early December 2003 when I worked with a model by the name of Billie. I’d gone nearly half a year without making any photos. Having contacted a number of models to help out my friend Dave Levingston, it seemed an opportune time to end the drought. So, I packed my medium format camera gear into my bag and with tripod slung over my shoulder, I took the subway to our location - Billie’s apartment in the East Village section of Manhattan.
This was an unusual situation for me as I think it was the first time I ever photographed a model in her home. Usually I work outdoors, but sometimes in an interestingly appointed room or even a studio. A model’s apartment is a little different as one needs to decide whether to make photos that will appear to be neutral in its setting or which will try to show the space as a part of the model’s personality – the latter being what my friend Dave refers to as a ‘docunude.’ On this occasion, I guess I tried to do both.
The photo at the top here shows Billie on her sofa with her violin. A musician as well as an actress, she had both a violin and a guitar. When I suggested using the violin as a prop, she agreed, saying that while a violin is timeless the guitar would somehow seem to date the image. As I often try to do, I made images from various points of view with different lenses, as can be seen from the second photo.
The final image here is an attempt at a docunude, showing Billie standing in her kitchen. It’s a simple image, but there’s something I like about the look she was giving me. (I also have an image of her standing as a silhouette in her living room, but as I haven’t scanned that one yet, a posting here will have to wait.)
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In other matters, I want to give a big thank you to Michael Barnes, curator of the Art Nudes blog. (See the link on the right.) I recently wrote to Michael to inform him of my own web log and he was good enough to include it on Art Nudes along with some kind words. Thanks again, Michael. Since I was listed on his page, the number of visitors to this site has jumped enormously.
I also want to offer a welcome to those people coming here via Art Nudes. Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully you’ll enjoy what you see and read here and will come back in the future.
I also want to offer a welcome to those people coming here via Art Nudes. Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully you’ll enjoy what you see and read here and will come back in the future.
