Stepping Out of The Comfort Zone (again)..

Yesterday I went up to Old Greenwich to attend another fine art nude model shoot.  Several folk that I know seem to think that I have lost my marbles and can't really understand why I want to do this.

Two reasons really.....
Fine art nude images have been an accepted art form for many centuries and most life drawing classes in art school start with the naked model and blind drawing.  I never had that luxury, going to college to study sick and broken bodies and figure out how to fix those....now I have the opportunity to create life studies of the fine and dandy sort with my camera... so why not!

Second reason is that these are professional shoots with models where I pay a fee for the release of any images that I take and I can use them commercially and at will.  They are "MY" stock, "MY" pictures and contribute to the 100% originality of any derivative work that I create.
(Much better than using stuff off Deviant art or paid stock sites)!!

AND, if I needed another reason to justify this rather odd sort of whim, it would be that I am learning a lot, a lot about lighting, posing and studio photography, AND I enjoy the challenge. AND I get to meet some interesting and quirky like minds....

I'm also learning that all these sorts of events are different each time.  The models are obviously a variable that is a bit hard to predict.  How they move, how they pose, how flexible (of body and mind) they are...

Some only pose in the nude, others bring a trunk full of gear to dress up in.  And since I am fairly new to it all, I am for the most part quite content to go with the flow, take the pictures that please me and then play with them at will after the fact.

.... Who knew that Elena's string dress would make a rather fantastic abstract?

And I guess that's the point.  Superficially you are attending a model shoot and can take pictures of what you see and not do too much with them....  OR........ you can let your mind wander and explore the possibilities of what your eye HAS seen....... and take it from there .........

Not every interpretation of a photograph has to be literal.....

(And yes, just in case you wondered, there are only the PG images here on the blog.  I am working on a series that will be posted on my main website for those who are interested.)

 

Comments

[Chris]

I never quite understand why anyone would question your doing whatever you want! It's obviously only to our benefit that you. That abstract is totally groovy! In America, however, photographing nudes is not seen as an artistic endeavor. We know it is. It's also quite gruelling and can get hot and throw surprising obstacles at you, and all that. When I was taking portraits, it might have been a tad harder technically, but the same artistic judgments on form, contrast, light, tone, mood, prop-work and acquiescence to the model's own demands, will always apply. If that's not working artistically, I don't know what is!

[Bob Towery]

Until I began shooting models some time back, I might not have gotten this. But now I sure do. It is such a dynamic and fun experience. I believe in order for the images to shine, you have to get a connection going with the model. Which just adds another dimension to the photography.

These are very lovely. Keep it up!

[karen burns]

I think all of your marbles are intact ~ I envy you these opportunities
I'm sure you will make the most of it in a creative way that only you can do ~ wonderfully well.

~K

[Sabine]

Dear Marie,

I follow your blog for a quite a long time now. I think we have been on creativematrix together for some years although I didn´t belong to the busy collageartists there.
For health issues digital is on hibernate for me but I still love to see digital composition and photography. And your work is adorable !
I love your photos and these are great !
I do not think at all that you´ve "lost your marbles" - if you take a new way it can be so rewarding.
Don´t let anybody ever stop your curiosity( I know you won´t) - and I sooo understand how satisfying it is to have own photos you can use for whatever you want to do - this is so freeing.

best,
Sabine

[Bren]

Beautiful shots, love the softness of the b/w's and that string dress made for an amazing picture. It's obvious you are gaining a lot of knowledge and experience in photographing people, I say indulge your creative brain, you're getting amazing results :-)

[mary]

being artistically inclined I didn't even cross my mind to think something like this would be viewed as weird to do?!

[Joanne Thieme Huffman]

I think these photos are terrific. How cool that this is available to you.