Portfolio revamp !

I just went for a totally new look for my site, using 4ormat as many of you. I can only recommend them it makes it extremely easy to get something really nice looking.

Also I am now selling prints...so check it out.

Photoshoot mythbusting

A few years ago, I was mostly shooting attractive and rather undressed models. I now find more satisfaction in shooting journeys and personal moments, but as a straight male with a taste for contemplation, I once in a while enjoy shooting a beautiful girl. Let's be honest, it's also a great way to drive traffic to this blog (honestly, why did you click in the first place?) and I don't happen to have easy access to kittens. But it also makes people around me very curious... so today, I will answer the questions you always ask me face to face:

1. How do I find models and what happens next?
2. What do my acquaintances think of female nudity in my pictures?
3. And finally the one question from my male audience: do you get laid a lot? That is seriously the number one question I get, and I am a market oriented kind of guy.

Ah ah, I totally lured you in here :) You are weak. 

How did I happen to shoot nudity? 

At the very beginning, I mostly shot friends or colleagues I got along with, portraits only. I am very grateful for the incredible amount of time they gave me, especially because they had me when I was learning tons and frankly, not at my best. They know we they are. 

One of my friend, a fearless lady, ask me if she could pose naked for me. She did it to tease a boy she liked, and I very much believe for her self esteem, which is a good and very common reason why women ask to pose for me. Because we didn't want anyone we knew to recognize her where she worked (being a free minded woman doesn't imply that you are professionally suicidal), pictures ended up being quite low key, discret, and focused on her shapes rather than her face. Those pictures got a lot of success, among men and women, for different reasons...

The male audience comments could be summarized in those terms: "I'd hit that + nice tits + did you bang her?" I'll address that later, I've got to work on my suspense skills. So from males, almost never a comment on composition, framing choices etc. The worst part for me was this comment I got one day: "I should really buy an SLR and start doing that". This is awful for the following reasons:

• That is insulting to the models, as it implies that any expensive camera gets them naked, as if they can't resist their  own vanity & your wealth. 
• It was insulting to me because that guy was just assuming that my pictures were just the fruit of owning an expensive camera, and that he could do the same. 
• Finally, it showed that some men still think, unconsciously or not, that if a woman is naked in a room with a man, she automatically will want to shag him. Some have a lot to learn...

I did have few nice photography related remarks from men, mostly good photographers who could see what I was trying to achieve.

The female audience however surprised me.  I was first a tad bit ashamed to show them my work, by fear of being misjudged as someone who objectifies women. I later realized that the most positive, photography oriented and fulfilling comments came from women. They were complimenting my work for picturing them in a way they found faltering, and I ended up having countless shooting proposals, which is why I haven't had to paid a model for a long time. I was very happy to see that the female audience wanted to be pictured the way I do it, and soon realized that ladies only were providing useful feedback.

I now live in a new city where I know fewer people than in Ireland, so I seek models on portfolio sites too. This is how a shooting normally happens:

1. A friend asks me to shoot her, or I ask her. The other option is I go on a site the likes of modelmayhem.com, and contact a model.
2. We discuss shooting conditions by email: do you want a right release contract, do you want to bring a friend, are you comfortable with nudity etc. 
3. Then I send examples of what I'm looking for in terms of mood, or shooting technique
4. We agree on time and place, and price if it is a paid job, all by email
5. I meet the model on shooting location (sometimes in a bar for the more cautious ones), we usually chat about the weather for 5 mins.
6. She pulls from her bag the clothes she brought for the shooting, we chose what to start with, and we just get to it.
7. When done, I ask for time to develop the film and scan the negative, and I send only the best pictures.  Some paid models don't care, they only want the money, some do it for the pictures, some want both, it's always different. 
8. Few of them I saw again for shooting, less became friends. Most of the time we never met again.

Some ask me how we you get from "hello" to "can you please get naked?". First of all, it is all agreed prior to meeting, so usually the model just...gets naked after 5 mins. It sounds weird I know. I usually look away like a idiot, which is dumb because I'll stare at her thru my camera for 2 hours after that, seeking the best way to capture what I like about her. I do it because...my mummy taught me to be polite I guess.

Sometimes, it's just happening strangely. Take those pictures for example (that I love):

I met her in a store where she worked. I immediately thought: "that girl as such a unusual but beautiful look, I'd love to shoot her". Since I was with my girlfriend, I dared to ask as she would not think I'm hitting on her. She said yes and a few days later came to our place. I was shooting her in the bedroom, asking for nothing specific, and she innocently took off her top...I did not ask for this, we never really talked, I never asked for her motivation to pose in the first place. She showed the pictures to her boyfriend, who liked them, and I never heard of her anymore.

Other times, the model came with her mum who was forcing to pause as a FHM pin up when she clearly hated it. Didn't go well. I also had twice ladies going full nude although we agreed on portraits only, to later tell me that I can keep but not use the pictures, that they are only for them. Pretty lame when you spend 100$ of film and a day of processing... I could never post those of course, keep in mind an email is worth a contract in many countries so respect your commitments. Of course if I knew if was a order for personal shots, I'd have charged them.

The one lesson  here is: ask everything and anything before to clarify. No one want to feel surprised on tricked in a situation where they feel vulnerable.

How do my friends and acquaintances react to it?

Most ladies, as I said, liked it. I'm sure some despise it but they never tell me. In some cases they were suspicious about my intentions towards the model but the appreciated the work (yes there is a full day of work after shooting). When they are critical of my shots, it's never about the nudity, it's more often about my narrow vision or lack of evolution. Rightfully I must admit.

Most guys...well you know already. A lot of male colleagues are very interested, judgmental and envious at the same time. They make classy remarks full of implication such as "still doing nudy pictures?" I love those, condescending moral judgment with a subtly disguised request for boobies.

My true male friends made the effort to get interested in the photographic aspect of things, they display a healthy mix of appreciation for the opposite gender combined with a little photographic analysis of the image.

My family... well I don't have much and my mum couldn't care less as long as I treat my lady right.

Finally, the one question to rule them all: do you get laid a lot?

To be truthful, this is often formulated as such: "wooow nice cans, did you bang her? Got her number?"
Yes I do have her number, we've met...and really? You think you can just call and be like "hey, I'm that guy you've never heard off, but since you pose naked, I assume you don't need to know more for use to bang right?" Yeah try that, tell me how that goes.

Well dear readers, here is the answer you have been waiting for: yes, I bang most of them. Sometimes at the same time. We just have random orgies where we never use protection. Also se often black out on crack cocaine so i'm not too sure, but I do believe there was once a poney in the batch. Then I make videos and show it to my Grand' Ma who applauds while summoning Satan in goat blood. Great fun.

For those of you who don't get sarcasm, the answer is: no, I don't get laid via photography. Here are the reasons why:

• For most of the time I have had a girlfriend.
• Models who pose to make a living don't give a damn about you as a man, they expect decent behavior, payement and goodbye. Nice pics are a bonus.
• Models who pose as a way to work on their self esteem, or as a personal treat, don't flirt with you. They flirt with their reflection in the camera. It's a thing between them and...them. 
• Being naked in the presence of a man does not imply desire. Otherwise it would be a mega orgy at the beach every summer (at least in France). 
• If I paid, or even more if they volunteer, I have a lot of pressure not to fuck up, so I stay focused.

Has anything ever happened with a model? Yes. It would have happened in a bar if not after a shooting. It happened because there was mutual attraction. Modeling had little to do with it, appart from being the reason for meeting in the first place. I won't unveil my personal life, but in 10 years shooting, that happened probably...twice? Much much less than what happened when simply going out. And no, I won't tell you which ones.

So if you are in for the action, I'm not saying it can't lead to that. If you try real hard...but still, save your money, go to clubs, online dating sites or parties, you'll get laid a lot more and mostly, you'll stop polluting that field of work with you behavior.

Conclusion

I want to close this topics with two points:

1. There are 59 pictures on my portfolio as it is. 7 of them display nudity. Do you have an eye filter that prevents you from seeing the rest? 
2. I once looked for men to shoot. When I asked guys that are not models, most freaked out, as if it was some cheap gay move on them. On the other hand, gay men where quite comfy with the idea, and often volunteering, without seeing imaginary hook ups everywhere. That's very funny how the average straight male is full of opinions on naked female models, but very very few would have the balls to pose naked. Why you ask me? I guess...the values of the old fashion all powerful male probably exist to hide a form of discomfort. We conveniently put all the pressure of physical attractiveness on women, so we wouldn't have to deal with it ourselves. The old white dominant male relies of social status and money. Once you've had the balls to pause naked for a female photographer, you may have a more interesting opinion to share. 

I hope that satisfies your curiosity ! I am not offended at all by such questions, just a but tired of answering them instead of talking actual photography. 

The beauty and the Beercules, a reflexion on what makes a photograph unique.

Not too long ago, I visited a friend of mine in Barcelona; I hadn't seen her in a long time. I once shot her in Ireland, on the beach near Drogheda (north of Dublin). Back in the days I published very few of those pictures, but visiting her reminded me to look into my old negatives. And that takes me to a interesting point about photography: how unique can a picture actually be? 

Let's take a painter, or a band: both have elements that make them who they are in a unique, hard to replicate way. When you see a Dali, well you know it's a Dali. You can either have a copy, in which case there was no intention to be creative in the first place. Or you can have an other painting inspired by Dali's style, with hopefully an extra personal touch from that other painter, which makes it unique in some way. Back to the musical comparison, no one sounds like Liam Gallagher or Till Lindemann. Sure some bands like Muse and Placebo sound a little bit the same if you don't pay attention, but the lyrics are unique, and the songs and melodies are too.

So what about photography? Let's be honest, in the field of fashion anyone could learn how to reproduce a high production value shot. It's pure technique: get the same/similar model that poses the same way, light can be learned, editing too, cameras all work the same. The fact is, I dare you to tell me in fashion magazines that you can recognize the style of each photographer, and regroup images under the name of who shot them. You just can't. Even guys like Terry Richardson - who has a little "je ne sais quoi" but it's minor and mostly based on sex and celebrities- well even his shots look the same as anybody else's when he tries to do clean fashion. Same goes with landscapes and many other genres.

With the internet we are exposed to a huge melee of good pros, awful photographers that are pros (they earn a living with it, but still sucks balls real bad), and amateurs that are much better than pros. They all post, blog, flickr, and have easy access to millions of images. It leads to uniformity and trends (lately cross processing effects and faded color halos). It is really becoming very hard to shoot with a clean mind, free of all the nice images you've seen somewhere else.

So what makes an photograph unique? In my opinion it is about:

1. the story it tells, and that mostly concerns documentaries and journalists. This is why I worship war photographers and those who seek to be there in that special moment, that image that will tell a story. 
2. your relationship with the people you are shooting, and that is good news. You copied techniques from other photographers? You used the same post processing as many? Don't feel bad. It looks good doesn't it? Then enjoy. The thing is, when you shoot someone you care about, or even hate (as long as there is a feeling), there will be in your picture something that only you can see, whatever is personal. In addition to that, if you friend likes the way he/she feels about himself/herself thru your eyes, you added a nice little thing to your relationship with him/her. That picture won't matter to most, but to you two it will.

This is why I love photography, is it a major form of art in the sense that it's all snobbishly unique and hard to do? No. It is a major form of art because it's accessible, personal, naturally appealing to everyone. People always want to see the pictures don't they? So sure there is a lot of trash among the gazillion tons of pictures that have been posted in the past 20 years, but so much great shots in the middle that could be from anyone. And again, there could be that one picture no one but you cares about but you, because it tells your story and the story of a friend.

So I'm home looking at those old scans (Nikon FE and Mamiya 67 cameras), and as I've had a great time with my friend in Barcelona, getting to know her much better, I now project her personality and emotions onto each image so much more than before. Sometimes, shoot the ones you love instead of random people, you'll like your pictures better, and do something nice for a friend or family member. This is my friend,  her name is Natalija.

Plus, here are more picture of candids from my vacation, no posing, just the moment, our story (D600 and 35mm F2 if you wonder).

This one is mine, miiiine don't even think about it.

Personal: Trekking in Mercantour.

After having been raised in the French Alps and living in Ireland for 5 years, being now in Paris is somewhat against my nature. Feels like being trapped in a concrete prison and I really miss wildlife. So on my free time, I go trekking in the Alps. Of course I take a camera, in that case a D600 Nikon with a 35mm f2 full frame lens. This usually leads to very interesting light, and different subjects than young female models.

Since my better half will now be going from hospital to rehabilitation center for the next 3 months (ACL Gone Wild, I have the video of the accident, not cool). We decided to make the most of her last days of mobility. Surprising what you can do without knee ligaments, providing that you have the right custom brace.

Anyway, we went to Mercantour in the southern Alps. We used the lac d'Allos and its refuge as a (very comfy) "base camp". Sleeping the in wild of course (otherwise it doesn't count) and carrying your home on your back (otherwise it doesn't count). Here are my good shots from the trip. 

PS: I am starting to have sensor cleanliness issues on the D600, even without ever changing the lens. The sensor cleaning function gets rid of it for few ours only, it's a pain. I'll contact Nikon and see how they deal with it.

That is me, I don't reckon there are many pictures of your host on this site.

Which one of you ladies will be my girlfriend tonight...

In between weather leads to great light.

Few from the refuge terrasse at lac d'Allos, 2250m

Last one, not a good picture but an amusing story. We are sleeping in the wild, it's rainy and windy outside so the tent make a lot of noise. However, I got the feeling something is moving next to me, rubbing against the tent. I first blame it on the wind, it's dark, I'm sleepy...screw it, don't care. But then it becomes more obvious. First reflex: wolf? Not so close to the 2 shepard dogs that are 100m away with a herd. And we have no more meat in the bags. Marmotte maybe (some sort of mountain gopher fluffy-fat animal) ...they are curious indeed. Not a sheep, it would make more noise. 

Anyway I give up guessing and fall asleep again. The next day, my 10kg (20 pounds) bag has been pulled out of the tent from under the top layer, definitely not a marmotte ! We find what's left of our fruit stash 10 meters away (see picture). When we later had a chat with the shepard (some really really vintage dude, wonder if he ever got down in a village in the past 30 years) and the refuge owner, they told us that a fox (they do love fruits) roams around and steal food at night. I love wildlife :) Next time I'll put the camera on time lapse with a tripod near the tent !

Personal: Turkey

Mark Brabant + Me Time

I am delighted, I received the prints of #41, a piece by Mark Brabant based on my photographs. Here it is:

If you are fast enough, you can buy one here !

I am quite proud of that, someone who's work I appreciate actual enjoyed mine enough to use it as raw material for one of his piece, and well, that makes me happy :)

I'd like to thank Mark for contacting me in the first place, I'll rush to a framing shop this week end to ensure this ends up where it deserves, on my living room wall !

I also invite you to check his work here, there's so pretty nice images, I am happy to own a few of those myself.

Here is the series from which is picked the shots he used:

Katia @ Paris

I decided to analyse my shots not, explain why I kept them, what I could have done better. I'll also put some that did not make the cut and explain why. This is all from a Mamiya RZ67II with TMax film and the 110m 2.8.

By the way, I learned that Neopan 400 is dead... it made me sad, it was a great film.

Thanks to the lovely Katia.

A diptych for a change: I tried to play with the change of distance on the same pose. Both shots are spot on focus, perfectly exposed (natural light) and could be self sufficient, but it's worth the attempt. I regret the dark stuff on her back on the right, I might photoshop that in the end.

Same shot as a stand alone for comparison. 

This is a pose I used a lot but not with the models hands placed like that. I wish her eyes were a little more open, and light a little more focused on her face / chest, but white wall makes the room light very even. Appart from that, it is sensual without being gross, so I kept it.

The original left picture on the diptych, uncropped.

I like this because of the 3 layers: black, skin, gray. Also it implies nudity but we don't really see it. Here also I wish I had the eyes looking up or a little more opened, but at the same time they look a little tripy like this.

A pose I used and abused: full nude with nothing showing, emphasis on the face. Nailed it technically yet I wish the room was significantly darker that the skin.