So, I’m fortunate in many ways to have the opportunity to have the chance to collaborate with so many creative people on a regular basis. The creativity often come in the form of collaborating with talented models and more often than not, the collaboration requires a fair amount of trust. The model has to trust that you’re going to be respectful, that you’ll portray her in a way that shows her beauty, fearlessness, or edgyness. It all really depends on how your collective mojos are coming together that day.
Lately I’ve been trying to come up with something that will fit into a particular halloween themed art show. Most of the contributing artists are tattoo artists that deal with skulls, demons, and other gruesome subjects on a daily basis. My art typically attempts to convey the beauty of women. So, trying to think outside this box and do something different proved to be a bit of a challenge.
Originally, I thought about working around the theme of, “Never Again.” using stage make up I envisioned a photograph of an angry woman who, although battered and bruised, was determined to never play the victim again. I tried my best to create stage cuts and bruises and then photograph the models in a compelling setting. Although the models were fantastically patient and trusting with my ideas, the rendering often fell flat.
Then suddenly, I found myself in the right location with a model that I’d worked with before and the photo revealed itself to me in an instant. The model was the incredibly talented Lela Rae and she was in Pennsylvania working with my friend Marcus. Marcus was gracious enough to allow me to come out to his place and share some of the time he planned on working wirh Lela Rae. We were all at Marcus’ studio where he has a couple prop rooms built. We had Lela Rae in a straight jacket and face mask and suddenly I had the idea to put her in this fantastically creepy medical exam room marcus constructed.
The shot was all natural light, shallow depth of field, and all creepy. Lela Rae knew it was a dark shot and I could see that little bit of doubt when I asked he to pose in this room with that outfit, bit again, we know each other, trust each other. When emailed her the shot last night her response was, “that’s FUCKING AWESOME!!”
The prints will be available only as an edition of 13 prints, signed and numbered. Each one will be printed on photo rag paper and hand distressed by me, so each one will be utterly unique. If you would like to purchase one of this series for yourself, please contact me directly… people are dying to get their hands on them!
Mwwahh ha ha!!
