More...

... from Mr Gregory Brown.

Red on the bed:

 The local bar owner presented Hannah and I each with a flower. I thought it should feature:

These were taken in some spare moments just after I'd finished packing up my stuff on the last morning, before we had to make our way to the airport:

 I love the perspectives and angles on these - and I love the painting in the background, which somehow suits. Stairs are always fun (also did some cool stuff on these stairs with John Evans, who will be featured again v soon):

The place was full of books!

If any of these particularly stand out to you for my portfolio (and in fact any of the ones from this trip to Spain I've posted so far), speak now or forever hold your peace!

Notes on Vanity

1. 

On my website, I list a number of things I'm not interested in doing in terms of my modelling. It's the closest I have to 'terms and conditions', I suppose. For example, I won't knowingly wear real fur. I won't take part in anything I deem potentially offensive (religiously or politically). I won't pose in ways I feel are overtly sexual or gratuitously explicit. It's a pretty standard little list (I realise these things are quite subjective, but that's largely the point), except for one thing I include: 'vanity'.

Here is something you might not know about me: despite the fact that my images are often described as 'pretty', 'soft', 'romantic', 'lovely', etc, and despite the fact that I recently responded to a flattering comment on my facebook page with the words 'Don't forget I only show the pretty ones!', I am not scared of looking unpolished, 'imperfect' or unpretty. This is what I mean by saying that I don't want to do 'vanity'. I am interested in emotion and expression - and HONESTY, which means I'm not afraid to explore the areas of humanity which aren't so pleasing to the eye. (I'm rarely taken up on this, but that's OK too. :-) ) I'm also happy to be completely unphotoshopped in photos (and often am). I'm totally happy with my body, which is a completely different feeling from subscribing to the idea that it is 'perfect'; it isn't - my bones are such that I will always be pearshaped (apart from perhaps, as my Mum used to promise me, when I get pregnant and my breasts grow to balance things out...). Which brings me to...

2

Awareness. Awareness is the thing. I'm aware of my strengths and my weaknesses. I'm aware of angles which make me look hot and angles which make me look definitely not. I have a massive amount of body awareness. I can isolate muscles most people don't know they have. One of the things recommended to new models who want to 'learn to pose' is to practise in front of a mirror. I confess I've actually never ever done this, but I usually have a good idea of exactly what a pose is going to look like. I think this is to do with my dance background more than anything, and then also from noticing what works and what doesn't when I've looked at the images after a shoot. It's always fun to see the images on the back of the camera during a shoot anyway, as you can see how the lighting is working for what you're doing, what kind of crops/compositions are happening and what's going on in the background! But what I mean is this: I generally have a good idea of how to work with my strengths. I'm aware that I'm not perfect, but I'm also aware that I can look good, and that I'm lucky to have a healthy body which functions well and does what I ask of it, so I think it would be a bit hideous of me to complain or worry. I think this realisation, along with my modelling, has made me completely comfortable and happy in my own skin, so much so that vanity isn't even an issue.

I'm also much more aware of what my face looks like than I used to be... This is going to sound bizarre, but for the first 12-18 months of my modelling (I've been doing it for just over 2 years now), I kinda thought that a lot of the nice shots were slight flukes; that I didn't look like that in real life and that I was essentially getting lucky or even 'getting away' with things a bit. I thought I must be - it made me giggle. I was just 'me' and I was getting people piling on huge compliments.... 'Beautiful', 'stunning', 'gorgeous'.... all that stuff. By contrast, I can accept now that the camera doesn't lie and most likely never did - a nice shot of my face is a nice shot of my face, whether due to flattering lighting or what, and without magic or trickery (except the sort that shows your face the wrong way round by way of left-to-right hocus pocus!), therefore, I might have an alright face.

3

In some ways, I am probably less vain now than before I started modelling. I wasn't massively vain then either, but I worried more about what people thought of my appearance, which in my opinion is closer to the true definition of vanity. Today I got on a train with zero make up on (as I only had time to do it on the train, in order to not miss it!). My younger self would have found this perversely exciting, a sort of thrill but mostly terrifying, since people would see my ACTUAL FACE. I now realise that a. I really don't look different without make up on, it's just that my features aren't 'enhanced', and b. even if I did look rough, gross, half-dead, etc (although see 'a'), absolutely no one would care or even notice. It's silly to think that they would. I'm just another stranger in the street, not out to impress anyone, and that's fun.

I have always thought that most people are beautiful if you look at them properly. What's beautiful to me is character and a person's story, and if you can see that in the way they hold themselves, in little details about their manner and in the movements they make with their unique features and structures - if they have grace, kindness, un-self-conscious openness, an endearing awkwardness, stress, fear, vulnerability, humour; slight hints of emotion, history, the things which make up a life and leave traces on their physicality, then a person holds massive interest for me.

4

It's possible to pose so much, for example for 8 full days in a row, that when you get home you find yourself noticing the way your cat is sprawled out on the grass outside and think, 'Oh, good pose; nice shape; good leg angle.' At these times, you wonder if you're more than a little mad, but that's OK. I know at least two people who pose in their sleep. (Incidentally, I always appreciate people who, like me, sit weirdly without noticing, just because it's comfortable, with legs stretched or curled in unexpected possibilities. I get particularly creative in the cinema.)

5

Possibly, an ultimate compliment in the art world is calling someone a 'goddess'. I see this a lot - I've had people using the word when commenting on some of my images, and I've used it myself in relation to other images of models I think conjure up something mythological and timeless, womanly and powerful. It's a great word. However, I sometimes find it a little awkward; it seems so extreme and worshipful, like there is a pedestal for the model put up by mere mortal onlookers. It's meant as a positive thing, of course, and it's hugely flattering, but it's also a little uncomfortable. I don't know if anyone will agree with me or know what I mean, especially as, like I say, I have been known to use the word myself.

Hhhm. I was thinking yesterday, when I felt guilty after being booked through an agency for a 2-hour shoot but was sent home after 10 mins (as the art director was happy they'd got the shot they wanted), maybe I need to learn to be more of a diva...

At the beach! ... And around the house (when the house is a spanish villa!)

Just a few more from Spain (see last post)... This time by Gregory Brown.

 (Yes, b&w/colour indecision - I have many versions of each!)

 

 

 More soon...

Greg and John (already!) have a fantastic book available featuring Hannah Ashlea, the other model on the trip, and I. Check it out if you'd like to own some copies of the photographs they took during the week: Andelusianudes, by Gregory Brown and John Evans.

A Quick Dip

Hola!

I spent a week in the south of Spain (nr Frigiliana) last month with photographers Gregory Brown, John Evans and fellow model Hannah Ashlea. It was soooo productive and I absolutely love working with Greg and John. Although my body was pretty tired by the end of 7 days straight (and I also had a shoot the very next day) I felt very inspired and creatively energised by spending this time with them. I am so pleased with the images - I received nearly 4000 shots into my inbox in the days after the trip - and am a bit overwhelmed by how many new favourite shots I have! Hannah was also a total pleasure to work and hang out with, so check her out too! Greg and John had been casting for a second model since Autumn last year, so I was pleased to discover it would be someone I'd already met. The villa we were staying in was ridiculously amazing - we were all pretty flabbergasted by it (brilliant word, flabbergasted - had to get that in). The owner is a bit of a continent-flitter, and has filled it with millions of interesting things, so teamed with the beautiful French/Moroccan (hard to place) decor and gorgeous white walls and blue hues, beautiful windows and outdoor pool, you can see why Greg and John were in their photographic element! There were also about fifty thousand tables in the villa, which meant we had to choose each evening whereabouts we would eat our dinner. Hard life.

Anyway, I just want to quickly show two photos from John, taken by the pool. John and Greg work by alternating (hourly or so) between models, so there's always a lot of energy from the day being broken into chunks and lots of changing around, but this set came after our lunch break and I'd been lounging around like a lizard on the wall by the pool. John decided I looked potentially photogenic and declared that this would be our next set... So this was absolutely the most relaxing, sun-soaked set I've ever modelled. I literally just lolled around in the sun, sometimes dipping in a toe or arm (hence the ripples!). At one point I totally misjudged the width of the wall and very nearly went in... but all was well. (We did go in later though... COLD in March!)  In this first shot, John had climbed onto a wall and was shooting down on me, kindly without blocking my sun...

This second shot is one of my abosolute favourites, just because I was so utterly relaxed and I adore the trail of tree against the wall. I had no idea my hair was wet until I got up afterwards, when it flung droplets of water onto my back and shoulders. The metallic sheen of my skin was not added by any post-processing; this is exactly how the shot looked in-camera (gotta love Spanish light), just minus a pesky sign on the wall. Because of that, I think it's quite special!

I'll post many more soon! Will try not to over-bombard you with the zillions of images I have. We shot in and on rocks, on beaches, in the sea, in derelict houses, in the stunning villa, in an old sugar factory, in the streets of beautiful quiet villages... the list goes on. :-)

Untouched

This is just a quick entry in between catching up on emails after a brilliant week shooting in Spain (more on that soon!). I just wanted to show a few shots from a photographer I worked with earlier this month (no link to his work online, unfortunately, but he knows who he is and this is posted with thanks!) at the Kennington camera club. I was sent these images straight after the shoot, just so that I could see how they look, but they aren't finished products, in the sense that they are intended to become cyanotypes and carbon transfer prints, and a chosen few of them might be put onto copper plates later this summer. The photographer uses the techniques and process of the Nineteenth Century (mainly gravure and platinum printing) and is doing a PhD concentrating on representations of the body. The shoot was quite unusual for me, in that it consisted almost entirely of 'acting' (more properly so than in the usual sense of 'modelling'); I was given roles to dramatise and unusual things to do while being photographed. I found it quite challenging, but in a refreshing way, and it was certainly fun! This was the first shoot during which I've ever been asked to be photographed while singing a song, for example! I love singing, but I'm pretty shy about doing it in front of people... I won't tell you what I sang, but it is a childhood favourite!

Anyway, acting adventures aside, I thought some of the portraits I was sent were very nice in particular, and as they are in the 'not quite what they're meant to be yet' phase (though, as I say, I think they're great and very nicely lit), they are completely unretouched. To be fair, a lot of the work you'll see in my portfolios and on here are also unretouched in this way (e.g. no skin work) and I'm a big fan of natural, simple shots. I hope you like them too.

Birthday publication!

It was my birthday on Monday - thanks everyone for the millions of good wishes I received in internet land! I felt very loved, and decided I was totally happy to have a birthday after all. I always feel a bit funny about birthdays, but genuinely had such a nice day, starting with a hair modelling shoot which left my hair all sculpted-yet-floaty-and-whimsical for the rest of the day and evening (proper blog post with images to come soon!), then a ridiculous amount of all my favourite types of cake (a heavy emphasis on fondant fancies) with my family, then cocktails with some good friends in a gorgeous Moroccan themed bar on the Cowley Road in Oxford. Lush! So happy, and my friends got me some flippin' lovely presents and handmade cards (I have such creative friends who always impress me! I just wish I'd remembered to get my camera out BEFORE the very end of the night when only a few of us hardcore Monday-nighters were still celebrating) - jewellery, notebooks, tea cup & saucer set(!)... they all know my colours and taste so well, hehe. My Mum also bought me guide books on Central America, as I'll be having a bit of a gaddabout later this year. Tres exciting.

In other news (well, it might not be news to you if you've seen my facebook wall recently, since it keeps being filled with photographers posting that they've noticed me in their favourite mag!), a shoot I recently did for Digital Camera magazine (photographed by photographer and editor Ben Brain) resulted in being published on the UK & US covers of the April issue, plus multiple shots (including some little 'behind the scenes' images) spread over 14 pages inside. The main feature is called 'Shoot Stunning Fine Art', so it's full of tips and know-how gems for photographers branching out into this genre.

I'll post some of the tearsheets below, and maybe finish with cake:

:-)

Modelling for Workshops

I've noticed that some photographers think models might not be too interested in seeing their shots of you, as you have (as a photographer said to me yesterday) 'billions' of photos of yourself already. Well, I don't think I quite have a billion(!) but it's true I've seen renditions of my own mug a few more times than the average person. However, I'm always interested in seeing how things turn out - different effects and styles mean there are a corresponding billion ways my mug can manifest itself as a photographic image, and I genuinely love seeing the fruits of mine and a photographer's labour!

SO, I am always particularly chuffed when budding photographers attending workshops I model for then add me on facebook, tagging me in shots they've taken, or email me to show me their results!

Here are two more from the Yerbury boudoir workshop I modelled for recently. I thought the glowy light in these was fantastic when I saw them! By Donovan & Donovan Photography:

I've also modelled many times for the British Institute of Professional Photography, for their fashion, portrait and bridal workshops (I'll be modelling on 16th March for another bridal workshop). This is by Rob Grimes, for a workshop led by the lovely Kelly Hearn. Photographing through a veil can be difficult, focus-wise, but makes for a really nice effect: