They just are.
artistic
A flurry of holiday cheer as we end our last year
Most years I’ve struggled to find anyone who wanted to shoot a holiday set, especially one that was even mildly erotic. The last holiday set we did was three years ago when I coerced family into pretending to be Santa and his elves. The sexiest holiday set, though, was shot ten years ago. That model has now moved West and recently gave birth to her second child. A lot has changed. Kids have grown. Lives move on and, hopefully, improve.
The gaps between those years, though, are telling. The greater majority of the time, I haven’t shot in December at all. People are too busy, concerned with whatever is going on in their own lives. It’s been a good time to update the website, do an annual review, and make plans for the next year. The absence of a holiday set is not something that has been egregiously noticeable. No one’s pounding on my door, anxious to get in some holiday portraits.
This year is different, though. A little over a week ago, I happened to find myself at FocusOn Studio at the same time as a group of friends and acquaintances who were all gung-ho about getting in some final shots before I put up the camera. They came with ideas in tow and we filled the evening casually moving between taking pictures and pleasant conversations. The sets weren’t excessively large, we processed five or six photos from each, just enough to capture an emotion or a brief storyline. They’re as fun and enjoyable as we all want our holidays to be.
So, here is my final holiday gift to you: five fun, erotic sets filled with holiday spirit. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. With all the sets, remember to click on a thumbnail to view the images fullscreen on your device.
The Santa Suspension
Those who’ve been paying attention for several years know that Shibari, the Japanese form of body rope art, is something I’ve enjoyed shooting. My first date with Kat involved shooting a rope suspension set. Some of my best pictures have been along this theme. Being invited to shoot this particular set was an unexpected honor. The person tying normally takes his own pictures and did on this instance as well. He requested that I shoot at the same time, however, because the nature of the suspension was such that he needed to be free to act quickly should anything go wrong. There’s always a risk level to these shoots and everyone I’ve worked with has always been diligent about safety. This was no exception. The set was fun to shoot and makes a beautiful end to that part of my career.
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Endless Childhood
You should have seen the expression on her face when I showed her the rocking horse. That she’s well past the age when most people amuse themselves in such fashion was irrelevant. Her excitement was contagious and fueled this fun holiday set. Sure, the horse is only in one shot, but sometimes one little thing is all it takes to take a set from meh to marvelous. We can only hope everyone has this joyous a holiday.
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Angel With A Dirty Mind
I’ve always been careful about shooting with the sets available at FocusOn because I know they appear in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other pictures shot by other photographers and I’m reluctant to shoot something that might appear as though I’m copying someone else’s work. After we shot The Santa Suspension, though, I looked at this facade, noticed some nearby fabric, and had an idea. The concept is a bit involved, so bear with me.
In the now-classic Christmas movie Home Alone, Kevin watches and makes use of a faux movie called Angels With Filthy Souls. While the movie inside of a movie is fake, it’s based on a 1938 movie with James Cagney called Angels With Dirty Faces. Cagney plays a gangster (a frequent role for him) trying to corrupt a bunch of street kids, mostly teens and young adults.
The concept of playing off a religious theme in reference to something obviously not religious isn’t new, but as I pinned the fabric to the model’s hair, there was no denying the angelic overtones created. Perhaps, had we put her in a white or light blue gown, the images might have resembled religious iconography. We didn’t do that, though. She’s damn-near naked and the resulting juxtaposition is, in my opinion, nothing short of glorious.
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Gifts For A Grinch
Almost from the moment it was published, How The Grinch Stole Christmas! became a holiday classic. We’ve read the book, watched the movies, and been constantly amused by the multiple iterations and representations of the green grouch who threatens to spoil the holidays for everyone in Whoville. Over the years, I’ve been amused at how seriously we take the story. Psychological analysis has been done not only on the Grinch, who some look upon with sympathy for having been bullied and outcast but also on the citizens of Whoville and their obsession with the holiday. Our attachment to the Grinch is personal.
The story in this set runs along the line of a voluptuous young woman offering our nearly-naked Grinch the simple gift of a ribbon and, by the end, maybe a little more. This is no children’s bedtime story. Think of it more as holiday cosplay with a happy ending.
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Santa’s Admin On December 26
Everyone gets all hyped over the gift-giving holidays and the tales and legends of the jolly old gift-giver in the red suit. The emotion and energy employed getting us to December 25 outdo any effort on any project the rest of the year. Our entire focus is on that one day.
And what happens afterward? For many, it’s the busiest shopping day of the year and returns and exchanges are made while others try to take advantage of end-of-year inventory sales. The assumption is that Santa goes home and snuggles in bed, presumably with Mrs. Claus, and takes a long nap. But as he does, who’s minding the shop? Admittedly, there wouldn’t be a whole lot to do on the day after Christmas. A normally busy admin might tend to get a bit bored and with no one else at the North Pole working that day, she might just find creative ways to amuse herself. This is what happens when Santa forgets that very specific toy she wanted.
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There you have them, five wonderfully erotic sets for the holidays. What a fun way to close out the year! Yes, I’ll post a year-end review on Sunday, but I wanted to offer this special entry that I hope you’ll remember for years to come.
Because sometimes the current one sucks
Watch This First
I was admittedly seething with anger as I drove home after this photoshoot. We were working in an area I’ve shot at dozens of times over the past 15 years without incident. The only problems we’ve ever encountered were mud and high water. But this time, a woman jogging nearby saw our model and assumed she was underage and possibly there against her will. So, she called the police. The police proceeded to claim that we were on private property (we weren’t) and double-check that the model was of legal age (she’s 21 if you’re wondering and I have the requisite proof of age).
Once I calmed down a bit, I had to consider that what happened was a direct result of a reality with which I’m not directly involved. In the runner’s reality, the age gap between myself and the model was suspicious. In the runner’s reality, the model couldn’t be more than 12-14 years old. In the runner’s reality, the model had to be in danger. Therefore, in the runner’s reality, it was her responsibility to call the police.
Our realities are not shared. In my reality, I was shooting with a friend, someone I’ve shot before, someone who was excited about what we were doing. In my reality, the age gap was never an issue because there was no intention other than getting the best photos we possibly could. In my reality, we were having fun. In my reality, we both spoke to the runner as she passed, a greeting that was friendly and not the least bit aggressive or creepy.
So, as I struggled with how to capture all the emotions I still feel in looking at these pictures, the idea of creating a separate reality, a reality void of any ill intent on anyone’s part, a reality of music and love and peace, seemed appropriate. The result is a unique set of images that are unlike any I’ve shot in that location.
I do lament the loss of shooting there again. Given that we were watched all the way back to our vehicles until we both left, I’m not inclined to ever return to that area for any reason. While the area is one of the most beautiful in town, I don’t need the potential harassment. This is the last set of images I’ll shoot along the White River.
And so we move on to a new reality, one created by new experiences and understanding. Whether it is better than the old reality remains to be seen.
Enjoy the photos.
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Warning: the following content is for mature and responsible audiences. We are not responsible for anyone who might be offended by you viewing this content.
They came from different backgrounds, different cultures clashing in ways that might have led their ancestors to war. No one could know the relationship between them, the desire, the heat, the need to be close, touching, feeling, and expressing their passion. They were shadow lovers who came and went, unnamed, unknown, creating images captured on camera knowing that were their true selves exposed, their lives would become troubled, at risk from the exposure. So we gave them a different form of erotic expression, one that blurs the lines so heavily that, when viewed on too small a device, one isn’t sure whether they’re human at all. Maybe they’re not. They’re certainly not anyone you know. She’s not eating a burger, thinking of him as she wipes the juice off her chin. He’s not sitting at the bar, drinking bourbon, remembering how she tastes. They live in a strange light and love in the shadows.
Click on any of the thumbnails below to view the images full screen. Again, the images are best suited for larger devices.
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Maybe all that pasta isn’t a good thing
All my life I’ve heard, “You are what you eat.” While that is fundamentally true in an organic chemistry sort of way, diet has a limited affect on our personality, the decisions we make, our skills, or the portions of humanity we decide to embrace. A recent body modification convention, which I did not attend, reminded me how much we like wearing things on our skin and got me thinking what might happen if we wore what we ate? I’m not talking about all those times the taco leaks and we are stuck wearing hot sauce the rest of the day. What if the salad we had for lunch, or the peanuts, or the snack cake, whatever we most recently consumed, was reflected onto our skin until we decided to consume something else? As these pictures show, the effects are mixed. I think, of all these, Citrus and Mixed Veggies are the only ones I personally find appealing. Kat likes Tomatoes, though, and you’re welcome to have your own preferences. Click on any thumbnail below to view the collection full screen.
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Actively avoiding realism
No big mystery here. No need for profound comment. Although, in a funny sort of way, this is almost like an artistic “Where’s Waldo?” There’s a nipple in every picture. Some are obvious, others not so much. Can you find all of them?
Click on any image below to view the set full-screen. Do it. Don’t make me cry.
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click on any thumbnail to view the gallery full-screen
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You can be nice for a while, but when necessary, you have show your strength
One of the things the misogyny and sexism of our culture teaches is that it’s okay to push other people around, especially women. Stop teaching your children that lesson. Stop acting out that behavior. Stop putting women in a position where they have to whip your ass before you understand that what you are doing is wrong.
After the events of this past week, I’m rather over the convoluted and never-appropriate notion that women deserve something less on any level at any time. They deserve just as much respect, just as much attention, just as much opportunity, just as much funding, and just as much credit as any male in any position, ever. We’re well past the point of it being okay to expect women to sit quietly in the passenger seat and let men do the driving.
More often than not, one doesn’t want to see a woman’s badass side. Relationships rarely survive when she gets pushed that far. Lesser creatures have died. But not only can she out maneuver, out drink, out smart, and out think you, she looks better than you while doing it. These pictures are evidence of that.
Okay, so maybe not all women go around topless or wearing a rope corset while being badass. That’s a minor point. What’s important is that you start showing some respect. Polishing her boots might be an acceptable place to start. Get to it.
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Some people are always relaxed no matter what they’re doing
I tend to be a bit high strung at times, especially when my schedule is too full and something goes wrong. This would be why I’m on high blood pressure medication. Stress and I do not have an amicable relationship. The more I try to relax and not overload my schedule, the more stress fights back by adding things I neither wanted or needed in my day. This is one of those aspects I’ve come to accept as a part of life.
The young woman in these pictures gets stressed as well. I’d be lying to infer that she doesn’t. And I’m sure there are moments when she gets as frustrated as anyone else. The difference is that I never see her when she is stressed or frustrated. She may text Kat, or fuss at her partner, but by the time I get wind of any of it the whole matter has blown over. So, from my perspective, she’s totally chill. Always.
Carefully lit black-and-white photographs do a good job of communicating a level of casual ease, in my opinion. Regardless of what’s actually going on in the image, the tone of the photograph removes the intensity that comes with color. The emotion, even when it’s sadness or grief, carries a sense of resignation or acceptance that color doesn’t quite muster. As a result, when we start with a casual scene from the beginning, what we hopefully achieve is a level of relaxation that is seductive not in its content but in its emotion.
Judge for yourself. Click on any of the thumbnails below to view the images full screen.
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I’m damn sure not happy with the condition of the United States at the moment
My blood pressure is too high. It’s Saturday night and I’ve lost all faith in the two-party system of government. 43 Senators violated their oath of office, completely ignoring the rule of law. There’s no living with such traitorous action. But at the moment, there’s not a lot I can do. There is a lot I will do when the time is appropriate, but for now, I need to find my happy place. So, here it is. You’ll have to click on the image below to see the full version. No, I didn’t cut everyone’s head off. I’m reserving that action for politicians.
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Having come to the conclusion that I enjoy this manner of editing even when it takes several hours longer and at times makes me angry
Does it matter what anyone else thinks about my work? Well, yes, if one is wanting to be employed or wants their work to sell to an admiring public. When either of those are influencing what we do, then yes, the opinion of others matters.
For the moment, though, I am past caring. With long days of sitting here without any interaction outside of family, focusing on writing, and wrestling with what seems to be a growing number of health issues, caring about what someone thinks about how I edit pictures kinda takes a back set. Anyone who hasn’t purchased a picture before isn’t likely to change their mind and do so now, so why bother catering to that market?
Not that I won’t submit quality work to art shows if they indeed happen again. That’s always an option and it sits outside the online galleries that have yet to be worth the trouble of participation.
But what that means is that instead of whipping out a new set every week, this one took three weeks. Instead of whipping out 40 images a day, most of these took the better part of two days each. Inherently, that makes them more valuable but since no one’s buying anyway that’s not my concern. I’m more focused on whether they meet my goal of what I want from both the image individually and its place in the series.
These were shot on a plain white background, which is evident in the first image. We were a couple of hours into the shoot and the bottle in the model’s hand is empty for presumably obvious reasons. The effect of the wine was just starting to hit with the first image and grew as we progressed. No one was inebriated, but the buzz generated smiles and giggles that were entertaining to capture.
I can’t say I’ll stay in this funk. Part of me is anxious to return to straightforward editorial shots but for that to happen the environment for shooting them has to be safer for everyone. But for now, this is where we’re at. I have more images to edit, but I’m not rushing them. Each will reflect how I want to interpret the scene and situation. If that bothers you, that’s your problem.
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2010 wasn’t really that long ago, but in this moment it feels as though lifetimes have passed.
The exif data on this week’s images tells me they were shot April 13, 2010.
I don’t remember shooting them.
Going through one of the archive drives last week, looking for a specific image and not finding it, I opened a folder I hadn’t looked at in a long time. I hadn’t looked at that folder because I thought I knew what was in it. The label referred to a much-loved set of pictures that I’m not terribly inclined to re-process because I love the originals too much. Frustrated at not finding the image I wanted, though, I opened the folder because there are times, as I’m moving things around from one drive to the next, folders accidentally get nested in places one wouldn’t expect. That’s when I discovered two sets of images shot on the same day as the ones I love that have never been processed. With the set I’m showing you today, there’s at least the appearance, based on exif data, that I opened them and made some adjustments to the RAW files. With the second set, which I’ve not decided to process just yet, the images are completely untouched.
Ten years ago, Miranda was one of my favorite muses in a period where there were multiple (so very unlike today). She would drop by, chat, and we’d almost always end up taking pictures of some kind. That I don’t remember every set is probably inevitable. There are dozens. Since then, Miranda’s become a mother, suffered the heartbreak of losing a child to SIDS, and, like most of us, learned a lot of life lessons over the course of time.
Going through these photos raises a lot of sentimental emotions. I tossed Miranda a message and perhaps, if we can make schedules work, we can get her back in front of the camera again. Until then, we have this wonderful set of images to enjoy.
Technical note: For the most part, these are composites of the image processed through three different methods. The two exceptions, each a single process, are obvious.
Remember, click on any of the images below for a full-screen view.
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Art reflects what we experience but when our experience is something other than positive or sanguine, how do we make that art fit into our lives?
This week has been unnerving, to say the least. I’ve waited until Sunday morning before deciding whether to post what I’d planned or wait. I won’t argue that what we have to share this week doesn’t fit with national or local tragedies. I don’t have anything in my archives that would. However, I’m not convinced matters will have improved by next week, nor the week after. So, I’m sharing in the hopes that, perhaps, in some moment separate from the chaos filling our conscious existence, the pictures might provide a distraction, a different vein of thought, perhaps even a twinkling of amusement that helps in some small way to carry us all forward.
I created this week’s images, perhaps unsurprisingly, in response to the global pandemic that, despite all other distractions, continues to take lives around the globe. This morning’s verified numbers are that 6.05 million people have been confirmed to have the virus. 369,000 of those people died. 105,000 of those deaths were in the US. 1,850 were in Indiana. COVID-19 is no respecter of race, gender, religion, or political persuasion. Diseases are like that. They don’t care who they infect.
The first six images reflect how the virus takes a beautiful life and distorts, consumes, and obliviates that existence. The last three images shift to the softness of our response. Sure, there’s some caution and some urgency, but we’ve colored our attitudes and responses with excuses and misinformation and a complete suspension of belief in science so that we’re convinced it’s no big deal and you’re not going to notice the body is on fire unless you look closely.
I like the finished works and probably, eventually, will make them for sale. You’ll want to keep checking our catalog at Saatchi Art for those updates. What occurred to me, though, as I was working on the first piece, is that art addressing challenging topics can be difficult to place in a room. Showing the art by itself in a staged room didn’t quite provide the aesthetic experience I want to share. So, I pulled out some design templates and created mood boards for each image with different ideas for colors and textures that might match well with the photograph.
Does one decorate a room around an image representing such an unpopular and rather depressing topic? One certainly doesn’t furnish a room to clash with such an image! If we find the artistry in the photograph, I see no reason to not work the room in which it hangs so that everything is complimentary.
The problem with digital mood boards, though, is that they really don’t give one any sense of the image’s detail. So, I’m giving you both the image and the mood board. Depending on what size device you’re viewing these, the layout will either be helpful or leave you scrolling down forever. I’m not responsible for the failings of your electronics.
These images do not take away any angst or worry one might have regarding current events. They do nothing to address the violence nor the systemic racial injustice. These photographs are a distraction. I hope they provide you an experience void of pain.
Taking a creative turn toward nature
Being quarantined over two months, not having the slightest clue when I will feel safe enough to invite someone back in front of my camera, is really pushing me to come up with creative ways of processing images. Part of the problem is that I’ve looked at the same pictures for so many years that I now find the originals a bit boring. Whether that might translate into something more interesting when I do start shooting again, I can’t yet say. I do know, though, that I’m likely to be more involved in directing models so that I have a greater variety of poses.
One of the things I’ve noticed in looking around various art sites is the popularity of butterflies and other elements from nature composited or layered onto images. The technique is so popular, in fact, that with some artists it becomes redundant after 20 or so images done in exactly the same style. To that end, the images below are likely to be the only ones you see done in this precise style. I’m not saying I won’t use some of the elements again, but if I do it will involve a very different processing style.
I also am not particularly moved at this point from the stark magazine cut-out style of compositing that is popular with a number of artists. Again, it feels redundant to the point that if I see another butterfly with an uneven white border placed over a person’s mouth I may have to puke just on principle. As a result, I deliberately worked to keep edges softer, often deteriorated, and in some cases completely obscure. In one piece, Floral Explosion, there are no edges at all, no lines, just vague shapes, and colors. Artistically, I like the softer touch and may eventually do a set of figure pieces that avoid lines completely, which would be abstract as hell but potentially interesting. Potentially. What exists as a concept in my head doesn’t always work out in reality. We’ll see.
Anyway, we’ve uploaded this set to Saatchi Art for purchase. No, they’re not cheap because they were incredibly time-intensive to produce. Everything we’re doing at the moment is time-intensive. Part of the purpose is to keep myself focused on creating so I don’t get lost thinking of how much I’m not creating. I hope you find something here you can enjoy.
What looked like nothing more than trash turned out to be some very interesting images
All this quarantining stuff has really been a challenge. I’ve thought about taking pictures of all the animals, or the children, or perhaps the sky on an interesting day full of fluffy cumulus stuff. None of that has yet to prove inspiring or cooperative. Other people’s cats may not mind posing for pictures, but ours do and fight it every time I try. The children aren’t much better. Clouds are probably my best choice but dang it, they always seem to end up behind power lines that make the editing a pain in the ass. So, I’ll still work with pictures from the archives for now.
First off, because I spent so much time on this week’s pictures, I didn’t have time to go back and link last week’s pictures. If you want to see more of the black and white figure work, click here.
The photos we chose this week originated in 2006 when a Daimler-Chrysler plant was in the process of being demolished. I honestly don’t remember the exact circumstances of how we came to the then-abandoned site. I know we didn’t have permission to be there (like that’s ever stopped me) and apparently I wasn’t using my camera, though it’s not clear whose camera I was using. I know it was a Canon and that’s about it. I remember the covered stairway that took employees from the parking lot across the street to the plant. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get too close due to additional fencing, but we got close enough.
The result this week was a set of six images that were painstaking to complete. Each one is processed multiple times (which takes forever) and carefully composited together to create the final image. They are unique. A couple of them border on abstract. Any of them would look good hanging on a wall somewhere.
One note about that wall-hanging thing. These are super-busy images with a lot going on in the details that aren’t immediately seen in the images below. For that reason, I’m strongly recommending that they be hung on walls that don’t have much else on them. Put them on a busy wall or too close to other artwork and the effect is going to be diminished.
Here are the works mounted, one of which I intentionally put in a place that creates some irony. I’ll let you figure out which one it is. With each, click on the image or the title to get a more detailed view of the image.
These are also more expensive. I spent so much time with these that my head was throbbing by the time I was done. There has to be some compensation for that.
Enjoy the works and feel free to ask questions in the comments below!
Yeah, there’s a touch of irony/sarcasm in the placement of that last one. [grin]
Get over those old taboos about what you can and cannot put on your walls.
If there is one thing the past few weeks have taught us it is that we never know when our lives are going to be upended in ways we never imagined. Home has suddenly become more than a place where we sleep, visit with family, and perhaps occasionally catch a quick meal or two. Home is now where we work, where we socialize, where we create, where we eat every meal, and where we sit on social media fondly remembering those times where it was safe to go out. At least, we thought it was safe. We rarely gave a second thought to what might happen if we left home.
Now, though, we’re home, or we’re supposed to be, and despite all that talk about opening things back up so that the virus can spread even more, the truth is we’re likely to remain at home a lot more than what was formerly our norm. If we are going to spend more time at home, then it only makes sense that we want home to look more like someplace we really want to stay at more than a few minutes. We want home to be comfortable, fun, inspiring, entertaining, and relaxing. What we’re realizing some 4-6 weeks into quarantine is that our home spaces really aren’t any of those things. The good news is that now we have the time to change that.
For our house, that means Kat painted the kitchen. I can’t claim to have had anything to do with that. While the kids helped her a little bit, and at least one of the cats dipped his paws in the paint, she did most of the work while I was unconscious. She did consult me on the color, but for the most part, this was one of Kat’s moments where she saw something she didn’t like and she solved the problem. She has plans for solving other problems as well if the stay-at-home order continues.
As we’ve discussed completely re-working the living room, one of the topics is where to hang art. This is complicated by the fact that I have more art sitting behind the couch than we have wall space. It’s all framed and ready to go, but you didn’t buy it so now I have to do something with it. This problem is all your fault. Don’t try to weasel your way out of it. Given that the majority of that art involves nudity in some form, that raises a question: can we hang that in our living room?
The short answer is Yes, we can. You can, also. Any prohibitions against doing so died several years ago, actually. We perpetuate them out of an unreasonable fear that we might offend someone or because we have children in the house. Both of those are nonsense arguments. First, few people ever have anyone over to their home in the first place and that number is likely to decrease now that we’ve grown accustomed to social distancing. Second, those who do have people over to their home tend to choose people who have similar tastes and values. Third, children actually benefit from having art of every kind in the home. No, it’s not illegal, we have had multiple assurances on that front, as long as it’s not explicitly pornographic. There are benefits to having nudity in your home, and at least one person thinks children should participate in nude art classes. You can hang nude art in your home!
Eventually, this begs the question, how does one hang nude art in their home. Do you put it up high so the kids don’t see it? Do you put it in a separate room so those non-existent guests aren’t offended? No, and no. Nude art can and should be hung using the same advice given for hanging any kind of art.
- Hang art at eye level so that one needn’t struggle to see it
- Center the art above large pieces of furniture, such as a couch
- Place some on shelves (if you don’t have cats)
- Lean some against the wall (if you don’t have dogs or toddlers)
- Consider a masonry-styled art wall for displaying different sized pieces
- Place the art in a place that compliments the entire wall
See? Not difficult at all! I think the biggest challenge to hanging nude art at home, once we get past the ridiculous concept that there’s something wrong with doing so, is that it is difficult for us to imagine how that might look. So, let me help you out here. Below are some pieces we’ll be adding to our gallery on Saatchi Art, hopefully sometime in the next week or so. I’ll add links to the art when we do. We’ve mocked up different ideas for how the art, all sized at 16×20 inches before framing, might look on a wall. Take a look at these, and then compare how they look on a wall versus the pieces we showed you last week. The biggest difference is that these pieces are all black-and-white.
There really are no excuses. You can hang nude art in your home and if it is something that you enjoy, something that inspires you in some way or makes your space more pleasurable for you, especially now that you’re stuck in it 24/7, then you should hang nude art in your home.
Take a look.
Note: I didn’t bother with changing matte colors in creating these mock-ups because of the time hit. With darker walls, especially, I’m personally in favor of using mattes of a contrasting color. If you’re using a particularly decorative frame, double matting might not be a bad idea. These are all matters of personal preferences, of course. The point is that you can hang nude art on your walls at home.
Just make sure it’s not in the background of your office Zoom meeting. It’s not going to be considered work safe. No point in fighting it. You should probably be using a fake background anyway.
Enjoy! Create! Make you’re home the place of comfort and pleasure you want it to be!
While the world seems to spin wildly out of control, nature keeps on doing its thing.
Sitting here looking through Saturday’s headlines for The Boston Globe (because it’s the first to hit my inbox), I’m seeing words that would have seemed incredible this time last year but now are just part of the “new normal.” A Guatemalan immigrant who worked 60-70-hour weeks in grocery stores succumbed to the virus. Deaths among racial minorities unmask systemic racism throughout our culture. Divorced couples with children don’t know how to deal with court-ordered visitation while still staying at home. Trust in the president’s virus response is failing. French police kick London jet-setters out of the Riviera. New, larger wave of locusts threatens millions in Africa. Baseball struggles to find some way to save its season.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting here at home watching tulips bloom and retreat. The closest I’ve come to a model was watching through the window and two of the teenage girls across the street took cellphone pictures of each other in last night’s setting sun. Had this happened BC (before caronavirus), I would have been out there offering mild advice (the shadows they were picking up were regrettable). But no, I had already been out too much by that point. Allergies fueling anxiety limits my external activity to floral observations.
Feelings of desperation began to set in this week. I sent out invoices marked “payment deferred” because I know no one has had any revenue incoming the past month. They’ll pay when they can if their businesses survive, but the absence in their revenue means absence in my revenue and as I watch my bank balance drop, knowing what automatic payments lie ahead, I worry.
I’m not alone. Millions of people now question the necessity of every purchase. Non-profits have watched their donations slide as much as 85% as even those whose income is largely unaffected still pull back, putting discretionary income toward things such as improving their home work space, adding additional streaming services to help keep kids occupied, and purchasing larger quantities of alcohol. I have fantastic pictures for sale, but oh, you’re framing the four-year-old’s colorful work from this afternoon’s craft time instead.
So here I am, yet again posting pictures of flowers because at least they’re reasonably reliable. They bloomed bright and wonderful as the temperatures soared into the low 80s early this week then retracted into a protective mode as frost warnings returned. There was a tornado this week just to our South and I slept through the entire storm. There have been tornadoes across the US almost every day this week. They make local news in the areas affected, but even there it comes below the fold, or after the commercial break at the seven minute mark.
Is there a metaphor to observe in the fact that as Christians adjusted ways to observe Good Friday, and Jews observe Passover, New York began burying virus victims in mass graves? As this posts on Easter Sunday, is there a chance that the resurrection we want doesn’t look anything at all like the resurrection we ultimately get? Politicians are not saviors. Billionaires and celebrities tweeting and streaming from their well-furnished mansions are not messiahs.
Morning breaks and cumulative directors of state health departments compile new lists, hoping that today’s isn’t as long as yesterdays, longing for the day when there’s no list to make at all, unsure if that day will ever come. Hospital administrators count bed availability. Doctors make difficult decisions as to who gets a ventilator. Parents struggle between feeding children and paying rent. Another person lying alone in a room with no one around take their last, hard-fought breath.
And still, the flowers bloom.
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I am disappointed, I truly am. The number of views from this past week, the depressingly low number of people who even, for a moment, considered purchasing a print, has me both frightened and concerned. I am frightened because there are too many people who seem to think the whole coronavirus thing with its shutdowns and limitations will be over in another week or so. It won’t. We’re going to be living with this for the rest of the year and probably into the next. Yes, there will be breaks where we can work, but a month’s break is most likely to yield yet another 2-3 month period of quarantine. I’m concerned because at some point I will need to buy more food for the family and prices on that food aren’t going down. As I watch the numbers in my bank account decrease, I have to consider rationing what we have, reducing serving sizes, asking kids to back off the snacks, to make sure we have enough to at least keep the children healthy.
To that end, and perhaps my own physical detriment, I’m adding three images this week. “Don’t Forget To Dance” is brand new and was the most time-intensive endeavor. This digital composite is meant to be an encouragement to find time to dance or do other things that make one happy. To the extent one is able, this is the time to indulge in one’s self, dance, sing, consume large quantities of ice cream in a single sitting, or whatever else makes you happy. I worked on this image a bit at a time as I was able and was initially the only image I planned on offering this week. You can click here to purchase a copy of this print.
The next two pieces were late additions after realizing late yesterday how miserable this week’s numbers were. From a health perspective, I shouldn’t have stayed up as late nor gotten up as early in order to finish these pieces. Fortunately, we started with previously completed works and only needed to add to them, which helped to reduce the processing time considerably.
“Together We Survive” draws attention to the fact that the vulnerable and at-risk are dependent on those who are strong. This applies not only to the current environment but throughout our society in general. The virus has us more aware of those who need assistance but the truth is that those in need were here long before the virus. You can click here to purchase a copy of this print.
Finally, “Fracturing The Midwest” is based upon a previous contest piece from 2011. With the help of Christopher Thompson and Pam Warren, we covered the model with elements of grain, corn, and flowers representing the agricultural heart of the Midwest. What I’ve done in this version is trying to put in visual form the ripping apart of lives in the Midwest as jobs are lost and lives are fractured by the realities of necessary and ongoing quarantines. Here, even where assistance is offered, artists and those working in the gig economy often don’t meet the documentation requirements necessary for assistance. These people not only have no savings but are often already up to their eyeballs in debt. Their lives are being shattered with each day the pandemic continues. You can click here to purchase a copy of this print.
Now, I’m going to do something I probably shouldn’t do and offer you a discount. Enter the code BTAYPJ when you check out and get 20% off my markup on any image. Mind you, I can’t discount Fine Art America’s raw cost. Any discount comes out of my pocket. So, I’m only offering this sale for ONE WEEK. Prices, of necessity, go back to normal after that. My hope is that perhaps there will be enough sales to make up for the discount. We’ll see, won’t we?
Life is not great at the moment. I am not happy. Health concerns external to Covid-19 are mounting. I’ve had one photoshoot in the past three months. We’ve been lied to regarding the virus and its long-term effects. We are not going to shake off this crisis and return to life, as usual, any time soon, if at all. I will continue to attempt to create at least one new piece a week as long as doing so is feasible. Thank you for supporting us during this time.
As challenges continue from all sides, one new image per week remains the extent of our effort. Model: Kat Franson Rope Suspension: Dewey X. This image is available for sale. Click here to order.
This has been a hell of a week. I’ve spent more time talking with doctors and having blood drawn than I have in the past 20 years combined. To say I’m not having fun with this would be an understatement. We’re still waiting on final results but the prognosis is looking something less than peachy. That pattern looks to continue over the next two weeks as well, so I’m not going to be overly aggressive about shooting new material.
Also coloring this week has been a sad fact of life for two of my boys: they’ve each lost a co-worker to suicide. This is never easy no matter how many times it happens. Whether we particularly like our co-workers or not, we spend too much time with them to not be emotionally affected when something of this magnitude happens. I’ve been fortunate in recent years to not have to endure this but for my youngest son this was the first time and it hit him particularly hard. As a parent, I wish I could protect them from this pain, but that is part of our reality.
So, when considering what to process this week, I dropped back, again, to 2012 and picked up a set of photos shots in low light. Looking through the originals, I noticed that there were a lot of bad frames, images that were not positioned within the camera’s range in a manner that would normally be considered attractive. On their own, these bad frames are not useable. Together, though, with the right processing, they become interesting works of art.
There are only nine this week because there simply wasn’t enough time. Life is crazy. Life is fleeting. Sometimes, we need to realize the value in our less-than-positive moments. They’re still part of our lives and are important pieces in what makes our lives beautiful.
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Not everything we attempt turns out exactly the way we planned.
What I thought would be a good idea at the beginning of this week, wasn’t. In fact, it was an absolute disaster and being the rather stubborn-minded person I am I didn’t give up on the concept until the end of business on Wednesday. By that time, it was too late to shoot anything new for this week. There is a lesson to be learned here, but I’d probably flunk the test. I really wanted that concept to work and am disappointed that it failed so miserably.
Fortunately, one of the advantages of having worked with digital images the past 15 years is that we have an archive to which we can turn in moments like this. For this week, I dropped back to another rather experimental art project from eight years ago. These images were originally shot in February of 2012, using only a single lightbulb as illumination in a basement with a red floor (which tinted everything) and white concrete block walls. The nature of the original project, though, was such that those factors didn’t matter a great deal. Here are a few samples from that project.
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The posing limits imposed on that project were rather severe, so to come back to them eight years later and try to do something different makes the original concept feel rather limited. Because of that, I’ve chosen to not crop the new work. Instead, I left everything at its original ratio so that there would be plenty of room to play. In a couple of cases, that resulted in the model looking a bit as though she’s hanging out in the middle of space. While that’s not the best look possible, in the experimental sense it is not the worst sin committed.
I also didn’t use exactly the same processes on all the images. This is because certain processes blended better than others and as I didn’t have an extra 50 hours to do a full set getting some differentiation between images felt important.
Blending the processes was more of a challenge this week than it has been with others. There was a lot of posterization as the colors interacted. While there are plenty of people who like that effect, I tend to not be one of them, and I re-worked a couple of images to avoid getting as severe an effect.
All this reminds me that this is very much an experimental series. We try different things from week to week and sometimes they don’t work. This was one of those weeks. We learn as we go and hopefully can apply what we learned to the next set of photos.
Here is the limited collection from this week’s experiments. Click on a thumbnail to view the image full screen.
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Did you know we take pictures of things other than naked people? Now, imagine if we apply our experimental tactics to inanimate objects.
I started this week’s experiments with two goals in mind. First and foremost, I wanted to see what would happen if we applied the same multi-processed concept to inanimate objects, primarily landscape shots with dominant architecture as the focal point. Second, I wanted to see if these images might be marketable to a more mainstream audience. I know the experimental series we posted last week was a bit much for many people, especially given that a fair portion of the population went spastic because JLo did a pole routine at the Super Bowl. Perhaps we could create a more sanguine set of photos to appease those who think I’m totally one-sided.
One of the challenges to this week’s images was trying to keep a sense of depth and texture to the image. As a result, we ended up using a very different set of processes than was required last week. We also added a fifth process to prevent the images from looking too much like an architectural sketch. Not that there’s anything wrong with architectural sketches, but that’s not the look we’re wanting. Of course, this significantly increased the time necessary to create each image. We also had to do a great deal more intimate masking work with these images. The process certainly wasn’t as easy as the end results might appear.
I learned something very valuable this week. When using Photoshop’s “save to cloud” feature, one cannot simply save one version of an image to the cloud and then save a lower-resolution version of the same image locally. No. If one does that, Photoshop overwrites the high-resolution image on the cloud with the same low-resolution image saved locally. To avoid this, one has to create a duplicate image and save it separately. Of course, creating a duplicate image can mess with the Exif data of the image, so there are issues there that I’m not sure how to correct. I’m open to suggestions.
I had originally hoped to be able to offer many of these images for sale. Unfortunately, partly because of the resolution problem and because of external copyright issues, there are only three we could safely offer for sale. If you click the Prints option in the menu, you’ll be taken to my Fine Art America profile and can order prints from there.
You’ll want to view these at the highest resolution possible and may want to bump the brightness on your monitor or screen as they tend to view a little darker than they actually are. As always, click on any thumbnail to view the full collection at its optimal size for your device.
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Erotic art takes on a different tone as the absence of personality focuses one’s attention
Here we are already in February and I have yet to shoot a new frame with my camera. Yes, I’ve taken some snapshots with my phone, but I consider them more pedestrian, capturing a moment for memory or a concept for later development. In previous years, I’d be chomping at the bit to shoot but this year is different. First, I came into the new year with a four-week backlog of images. That hasn’t happened before and, to be honest, it was a relief as I didn’t have to try and create content at a time of the year when no one seems in the mood to shoot.
Just as important, though, without having new images to parse and process, I’ve had time to experiment, try new techniques and throw away what I didn’t like, keeping what I did, and then trying something different again. This week’s images are the result of that experimentation. When I was creating a header image for the front page of this website, I developed a composite process that I found interesting and immediately wanted to explore more. This is the kind of maybe-it-will-maybe-it-won’t experimentation that I’m reluctant to impose on a new set of images. Archived photos that were previously undeveloped are more appropriate.
However, working with archived images can present a problem as people who posed two or three years ago aren’t exactly expecting pictures of them to come popping up on the internet this morning. My resolution to that issue was to keep everything anonymous. Anonymous work doesn’t always play as well as we’d like but in this instance, it is perfect as the concept would be diminished by a full image with an individual personality.
What you see below are the ones that survived. I learned a lot about where this particular set of processes works and where it doesn’t. This needs to be a carefully selected group of photos where focus can be limited to a specific portion of the photograph, the not content of the entire image. Even with that focus, not everything worked. It’s also worth mentioning that this process takes about five times the effort of a normal photograph. A good day was finishing two images.
Be aware that I ramped up the eroticism on this set. That’s partly because it serves the concept well and partly because we’ve been a bit soft on that portion of the genre the past couple of years. My goal is to be less reticent in displaying what is real and genuinely beautiful in its own right. Still, this is NSFW and I would think twice before viewing them with children in the room.
As always, click on any of the thumbnails below to view the full set.
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Washing Away The Stain That Is 2020
A disastrous year for creatives and creativity is one we should leave behind
This is the time of year when everyone inevitably starts looking back at what has happened the past twelve months, partly to remember the good pieces, to memorialize losses, and to try and make some sense of the rest. If this were a normal year, I would be working on getting art submissions ready, updating the website, and deciding what direction I wanted to take for the next twelve months. December has always been busy trying to wrap things up while still allowing sufficient time for family and festivities.
Not this year. I don’t need to tell you what a clusterfuck this year has been. You’ve been experiencing it right along with the rest of us. All our plans went to shit. Drastic measures, some now regrettable, had to be taken. People and opportunities were lost and neither is coming back. Back in March, we were talking about, “when things return to normal,” but we now realize that isn’t going to happen. Even as a vaccine begins to roll out across the United States in the morning, even as the Electoral College meets tomorrow and (presumably) ends our four-year political nightmare, there’s no returning to the lives we once knew. “Normal” has been blown to smithereens and it remains to be seen what replaces it.
Our model for this week’s photos was also the subject of some of our first posts this year. In fact, if there were an award for the most-frequently appearing model this year, she would get it. She occurs so often partly because she shot with us late last year before everything went haywire, and then was the first person to jump back in front of the camera in September when we thought everything was going to be safe. Silly me. I saved this set of pictures for now because even though there were still five months left to the year when we shot them I knew they would be an apt end-of-the-year metaphor.
There is so much of this year I would love to see scrubbed from my mind, and with my brain working the way it is, that quite likely will eventually happen involuntarily. I don’t think I know a creative who at least once this year hasn’t questioned whether they should continue. Many have contemplated ending their lives completely. Some have succeeded. Others had their lives taken from them by a virus that could have, should have, been controlled if only we had leadership that wasn’t more concerned with their own profit and benefit.
Art shows, and subsequently art sales, were shut down after February. Those that did try to come back were less than successful. Buyers and collectors weren’t in the mood to invest, or even go out and look. This leaves creatives struggling for public grants and for those of us who work along the margins of what is publicly acceptable, applying for those rapidly-depleted funds was futile.
What may hurt most is that for all the hardships and difficulties we’ve faced here, I don’t have to look far to find those who have it worse. Friends and colleagues who were just fine a year ago now struggle daily to keep a roof over their heads, food on their table, and medicine available. Not only has a nation turned their backs on them, but many of those they trusted have also abandoned them, some to address their own concerns, others because of political differences, and still others who just couldn’t be bothered.
These images are stark. There’s no noise reduction because that would require softening edges that need to be sharp. There’s no skin treatment because we need to see things for what they are. These images are dark because light has been rare this year. Some images have visible ripple shadows from the light fixture in the shower. Sure, I could have taken those out, but again, it’s a metaphor for how things external to us, well out of our control, distorted our year, our lives, our personal photographs.
I look at these pictures and don’t see anything erotic or sexually alluring. Instead, I see hot water pounding away at tender flesh, dissolving the accumulated stains of this year. Some of those stains were perhaps self-inflicted, but most of the mud and the dirt of the past twelve months was thrown, harshly, carelessly, without any regard for humanity.
I look at these pictures and remember how incredibly hot the water was, how red the model’s skin was from that water, and the fog that filled the room by the time we were done. Taking these pictures was challenging, both technically and artistically. There were plenty of obstacles to overcome. Yet, again, none match the reality of struggling to survive this year.
You have had your own struggles. As you examine these photos perhaps you find in them your own metaphors, your own interpretations of how your life is different now than it was in January.
For all of us, may this be a time of cleansing, the moment where we repudiate all the nonsense, the hyperbole, the hurt, and the pain, and prepare ourselves to start clean in the next year. Yes, we will still have to wear masks. We will still have to avoid crowds and remain socially distant. Best estimates are that it will be this time next year before the US reaches 70% immunity and even that is a best-case scenario. Still, this time we know what we’re facing. We know the challenges. We know what we have to do.
We start clean. We move forward. Naked. Unashamed to be who and what we are.
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