My photo Suspended Swimmer just took second place at the Providence Center for Photographic Arts juried show in Providence Road Island. Came with congrats and a nice check. Made my day rain ponies.
Photo was shot in swimming pool with shade and sunlight providing the atmosphere. Good model as well.
I love the way water will abstract the body. In this case you can’t really identify the person in what seems to be a portrait. On the plus side, I think that adds universality to the image. I also see depth, mystery, beauty. What do you see?
Normally it’s all about the figure. The figure in this photograph is good but the composition is all about the shadow. It’s a shadow that has been made complicated by the sun and water. Adds considerable interest. And because the photograph is mostly about that interesting shadow, black and white is my choice for presentation. Black and white emphasizes light and shadow. Perfect combination. BTW, this was shot at noon, not a photographer’s favorite time, but that high angle of light contributed to the shadow. Hope you agree.
Took a class last summer from Connie Imboden www.connieimboden.com She believes that you need to “push in” and find the photograph that is part of the body. She likes the kind of photograph that is mostly line and light without being immediately apparent what part of the body you are looking at. The results for me (I tend toward photographs full-body) were interesting. Satisfying. Pushed my limits. Good. See what you think.
Beauty is a problem. Most of us, like it or not, have let fashion photographers and moviemakers decide what kind of bodies are beautiful–young, overly thin–mostly. The fine art nude photographer needs to work against that norm, or embrace it and try to find something new in it. Art is not art unless it shows us something we haven’t seen before. Connie Imboden www.connieimboden.com goes one further, she like to discomfort and distort images, forcing the viewer to see something he/she might not enjoy except as art. Here are a couple examples of photographs that I’ve done that are intended to discomfort. What do you think?
In the case of the black and white image, water distorts the face as it breaks the surface.
In the case of the colored image, a sheet of mylar reflects a distortion of the body, including those floating fingers.
It should be obvious, by now, that I’m doing a series of red photos. Why? When it comes to fine art nudes, it’s hard to top the old classic black and white photos that we all love and remember. Those black and white images are removed from reality (we don’t see in black and white) forcing us to think about shape and light rather than skin tone and body form. With that in mind, I wanted to try color that wasn’t literal. Red seemed a good place to start.
This photo was taken on a light table with three lights, one covered with a red gel. The second figure is actually a reflection from the light table. In this kind of set-up, you’re forced to get in close because you don’t want to catch any of the table or the lights in the picture. Means you have to simplify the compostion to minimal elements, which is the charm.
This one prints medium to small, works well with a black or white matt and has sold repeatedly. Done in series of 25 with only a few numbers remaining.
I think it hangs best any place where a punch of red works.
Working with mirrors is fun. Tricky! You have to figure out how to get the shot without also getting a reflection of you and your camera and/or the lights and the studio in the shot. In this case the model is holding the mirror at an angle that almost points down, but the photo flattens it. That and cropping off the ends of the mirror creates the surreal, not-sure-what-I’m-seeing sensation. Mose people have to puzzle a moment before realizing a mirror is part of the composition. Lots of fun. This is a photo that has been successful for me. It’s been at Camera Obscura, Dairy Center for the Arts and a couple of other shows. I think of it as a made-you-look-twice kind of picture that a lot of people enjoy.
Black and white film capture; digital print. Although I have also printed this one in the darkroom as a traditional print as well. The only thing I did in Photoshop was clean a few dust specs off the mirror. It can be printed large 10×20, but also works as a small print. It’s a personal favorite that hangs over my desk. I think it could be fun hanging over a fireplace. In series of 25 prints. About a third of the series is sold.
