Until quite recently I'd never posed alongside a male model except
for during fully-clothed commercial/wedding work. The idea of doing nudes had vaguely interested me on and off, but I was intrigued by the
possibility of doing so without creating a body of work which is
overly sexual or, well, porny. Having looked around for inspiration
in the world of photography I found surprisingly little that inspired
me - there's a lot of modern erotica, some of which is beautifully
done, but very little which is more classical, like the kind of thing
you'd see in the work of certain painters or sculptors (obviously
there is also plenty of explicit erotica in any medium, old or new,
but I was looking for something else). I began to see it as a
challenge...
I wanted to see if I could create something sensual, loving and
intimate without being too erotic; depicting pure love and romantic
pleasure, desire and playfulness... all while still keeping a mood
of innocence. And yes, the line is so fine in part because it is so
vague and perhaps dissolves completely on too much consideration.
Having been in touch for a while with
Joel
Hicks (who currently stars in the brilliant
Harpic
ad on TV, amongst many other things), we decided to see if
we could find a photographer who might be interested in shooting us
together. I asked
ManCave,
who I'd shot with twice before, if he was interested; and he was,
so we made a plan. I waffled looong involved theories (about love
versus lust, etc. etc.) at them both, and I couldn't be happier
with the results! ManCave planned these classical sets and arranged
everything beautifully, and Joel was absolutely perfect in both
looks and professionalism. His facebook page is
here,
and is well worth a 'like' in my humble opinion; he's inspiring
both within and without his modelling work, and competent male
models are massively under-hired in the freelance world.
Anyway, to the images....
Quick plug: We think we worked quite well together and make
quite a good combination, so just in case anyone is interested in
booking us as a duo this summer, possibly in a beautiful outdoor
location (Joel happens to live on a 13 acre plot in the Midlands,
which incorporates a fully-equipped studio as well as the lake,
ponds, stables and wood), please let me know. I'll be available to
model there alone or along with Joel, for commercial/wedding images,
classical or a mix. The opportunities there mean some really amazing
images could be made, and as a photographer himself, Joel is also
able to mentor any beginners.
Thanks for looking!
