After a very successful exhibition and book launch for my Naked In Baja limited edition printed book last month, I’ve been working hard to create an eBook version which represents the same high standard as the printed book. Of course you can never replace the tactile beauty of a high quality printed book but the images in this eBook do look quite stunning on an iPad.
Containing all the images of Samantha Grace, Carlotta Champagne, Ella Rose, Anne Duffy, Stephanie Anne, Anoush Anou, St Merrique, Sara Liz, Brooke Lynne and Meghan Claire that appear in the printed book, the eBook (iBook) version also contains an extra bonus of two small, behind-the-scenes videos from my shoot at Playa Las Cachora with Carlotta and Sara.
The book contains an introduction by Zoe Wiseman along with 8 chapters of artistic nude photography totalling over 110 pages. The eBook is now available through Blurb for immediate purchase and download.
I can’t believe it’s been just over a year since we were all basking in the Mexican sun, eating tacos, drinking margaritas an oh, taking lots of beautiful art nude photographs of course! It took my reminiscing about Mexico and missing everyone at Fest XI in Palm Springs while I was stuck at work back here in Brisbane to prompt me to finally do something serious with all of my art nude images.
So the Naked In… projects were born and I decided the first in the series should be Naked In… Baja Mexico. Each project will consist of a fine-art limited edition book, an eBook, a limited set of postcards and a series of signed prints. To help raise funds for the design and production of the limited edition book from this first project, I have started a community funding campaign which, much to my amazement, managed to raise the initial funds needed to cover the basic costs in only 3 days. There is also a website / blog to support this and the future Naked In… projects so make sure you check it out and keep visiting to see the latest updates – www.naked-in.com
Of course it would be great to see the support for this project continue so if you are interested in supporting it, click on the photo and head to the Pozible campaign and have a look at what’s on offer.
I started a new “tradition” last year in Australia. It seemed only fitting that I do it again.
There will be video soon…
Every model who was at the festival!
Claudine, Ella Rose, Anoush Anou, Meghan, Stephanie Anne, Kiera Grant, Rebecca Lawrence, St. Merrique, Candace Nirvana, Brooke Lynne, Carlotta Champagne, Samantha Grace, Anne Duffy, Tara Tree and Sara Liz. Thank you, Ladies! Stay tuned for the video!
This is part nine in a series of blogs on my recent artistic adventures in Mexico.
As I mentioned in the last entry, ZoeFest X 2011 was loaded with talented photographers. Lots of different styles and ways of working. And although we did bump into each other from time to time at the various locations we had been scouting during our trip there, there’s sort of an unspoken rule among photographers that it’s bad form to lurk about at someone else’s shoot, unless you’re invited to.
I would catch a quick glimpse of a lighting setup or perhaps what camera they were using, but then it was a case of a self imposed, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Move along.”
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
It’s not to say that we wouldn’t all find ourselves hanging out together in one of the common areas at the various lovely boutique hotels during post-shoot afterglow, talking shop and reviewing a few images here and there. But during the actual photography, everyone needs a bit of distraction free space to create.
Because of that, I, like you, kind readers, have to view their work online and I have provided many links below for us to do so.
First, a couple more exceptional Canadian photographers to get us started today.
Robert Farnham is from Kitchener in Ontario, Canada, a bit south and west from the Toronto area. Robert and I had many discussions about our respective work and the styles of the other photographers at ZoeFest. Robert likes to work in the details. Much tighter framing than subjects in vast landscapes. another photog who shot film, his style is more like my roots in Figure Photography. And I was glad he reminded me of that. Beautiful work.
Ron Chez is great fun to be around. From Sechelt in British Columbia, Canada, near Vancouver. I really need to visit that area some time. I hear it’s really lovely there. Ron seems to be wherever fun is. And there was a lot of fun at ZoeFest this year. Ron was one of the film guys on our Mexican adventure (still jealous), and is incredibly creative with his work. His Series portfolio is especially clever and makes me smile. I look forward to seeing more of his creations once he has time to process everything!
Ron was also one of those many behind the scenes heros. He managed to be a bit of a Land Traffic Controller by making sure everyone who rented a car for the drive from Cabo San Lucas Airport to Todos Santos had people in it and everyone who didn’t rent a car had a seat in someone’s car who did. Again. Hero.
Now, a few more of the Yanks to round things out. For my country mates who may not be aware, yes, we in the U.S. are sometimes referred to as Yanks out there in the wide world. Short for Yankees. It’s not about the baseball team and it’s not derogatory. To the rest of the world, it’s not about our Civil War unpleasantness either. Nothing to do with the North or the South. It’s a general term of endearment, which for us these days, is not only sometimes rare, it’s quite welcome.
Mitch Rice, from Santa Rosa, California near San Francisco, is a genuinely nice guy. I only had a few brief conversations with Mitch during ZoeFest, but you know how you can just tell someone is decent even though you just met them? Mitch is that guy. And he makes beautiful inspiring photographs too. I look forward to seeing more from our trip.
David! David is my city mate from Chicago, Illinois. I mentioned that we happened to be on the same flight from Chicago to Cabo, sitting right next to each other yet, but we didn’t realize we were going to the same place until we were half way there. Very funny.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
First, a bit about my home town. When I used to travel abroad in the early 1990s and I mentioned I was from Chicago, the usual response was something like, “Ah, yes, Chicago! Al Capone, Bang! Bang!”
Later it was, “Ah, yes, Chicago! Michael Jordan!” Better. Slightly less sinister.
These days it’s, “Ah, yes, Chicago! Barack Obama!” Better still. So much better to travel abroad these days and not have to pretend I’m Canadian. Thank you Canada for being a reasonable place to pretend to be from when it was less than pleasant to travel as an American not so long ago.
But I digress. Back to David. He’s a former Ad Guy, and as I also work in the same industry, I can relate to his path. Sometimes it’s nice to create something that won’t end up in a focus group.
Gerry Oar‘s home base is in Olympia, Washington. I spent a lot of time with Gerry near the Todos Santos Inn veranda. Gerry is another great human. Always willing to answer a question. He’s also an amazing photographic craftsman. I could learn a few things from this Gerry guy.
And he made some lovely photos of Todos Santos Inn, which was home for many of us for an all to brief time.
Steven Billups is from Lewes, Delaware. Just between you and me, you should immediately move your mouse back to his name and click. Steven is great with composition. There is an amazing flow about how the components in his images go together. And I love his work with water as well. And yes, a film guy. More jealous.
Joel Belmont has the good fortune of living in Aspen, Colorado. Lovely place, that Aspen, Colorado. And Joel shoots with view cameras. I have mad respect for that. Nothing like a giant negative to soak up every little light particle. Joel has some images up from our Todos Santos get together, but I suspect those are just digital polaroids and the real large format work won’t be up for a while. Something to look forward to though!
And Joel is a conscientious humanitarian as well. His projects usually involve helping to right a devastating wrong out there in the world. He really is a good egg.
And there we have it. The Photographers of ZoeFest X 2011. An amazing group of talented, passionate image makers. I’m going to write more about what I learned about my own work being a part of this inspiring group a bit later.
For now, the images you see here are more from my shoot with the stunning Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn.
Coming up, it’s back to stories of lovely, intelligent and creative models on day 3 (can you believe we’re only on day 3?), and shoots with Claudine, St. Merrique and Rebecca!
This is part seven in a series of blogs on my recent artistic adventures in Mexico.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
A funny thing happened on the way to the shoot concept with Sara Liz. I’m going to write more later about how ZoeFest allowed me to stretch and experiment in a way that I haven’t had the opportunity to in some time, but for now, I’ll simply say I walked into all of my shoots in Todos Santos with an open mind and ready to be inspired in whatever way the muse du jour cared to lead.
Sara Liz is joyful. Sara Liz is exuberant. Sara Liz seems to view the world through her beautifully large wide open eyes in a way that makes you feel fortunate to be experiencing whatever it is that she happens to be experiencing in that specific moment.
When you are photographing Sara Liz, it’s less like work and more like play. She is also the Queen of the Photo Bomb, about which I will, again, explain more in another entry.
I say all of this not only to explain a bit about Sara Liz, but to give a little background on the unexpected conceptual turn that I found myself experiencing once we began our photoshoot.
My booking with Sara Liz was my third shoot of the day after Ella Rose and Carlotta and I was tired, but in the best kind of way. Back in my studio in Chicago, I’ve had the most lovely shoots between the hours of 10pm and 4am. It’s the time when the work or shoot of the day is finished and I can kick back with one of my model friends with a glass of wine and eventually the cameras come back out and we just play.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
Our heads are too tired to over think anything. The daytime part of my brain has long since retired and the nighttime part of my brain is fresh and anxious to escape the dreamworld and create something in the real world. That’s usually when the unexpected turn happens.
Sara Liz and I began shooting around the fountain near the veranda at Todos Santos Inn. My daytime brain had decided to call it a day a bit early today and nighttime brain was called in a little earlier than usual. It is in these times when I stop thinking about the photographs I’m making. It’s a bit hard to explain, but it’s a bit like letting someone take your hand and allowing them to lead you somewhere you haven’t been before.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
From the first release of the shutter, I could feel the images were going to be more about Sara, the person or maybe a character she was creating, rather than the more abstract concept of a traditional nude figure photograph. My nighttime brain told me to keep going, to continue this journey with my new collaborator without asking too many questions.
We moved to a nearby wall above the gardens where she perched and draped in beautiful ways. What was different is that she was engaging the camera with those big eyes of hers in a way that assumed a sort of gentle control, almost like when I’m viewing a beautiful piece of sculpture that in my imagination may come alive at any minute, possibly in a benign way or maybe something more menacing if I turn my back on it.
Unusual things to be thinking about during a photoshoot? Sure. But that’s exactly why I love when nighttime brain Billy makes an appearance. It’s like my second photographer, very much like me, but with a wonderfully skewed point of view. He’s definitely more the risk taker and explorer. A good partner to have.
Sara Liz and I moved into the library room at the Inn where a gorgeous old doorway opened out onto a small balcony. Lovely soft light was coming through the doorway into the room.
I began to imagine what thoughts were going through the mind of the character she was emoting. It was imposible not to be curious as to what was happening behind those eyes. Something a bit more cinematic than usual. Haunting.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
We headed down below to the garden and found some lovely low angle rays of light navigating the leafy obstacle course. I positioned her so the light would fall only on her eyes in a sort of inverted mask.
Finally we head toward my room at the Inn. I had been paying attention to the light coming in the windows during various times of the day. It was late afternoon and as we approached, I noticed the sun had not quite made it to my windows yet.
However, when we opened the door, a thin shaft of brilliant light streaked across the steps up to the bed.
“Wow!”, we both said in unison as we hurried inside. The light was moving. We knew we only had a few minutes.
I positioned Sara Liz on the corner of the bed, directly in the beam of light and turned on a small table lamp behind her to add some background to what would have otherwise been a black hole.
Once again a character emerged and her eyes began to tell a story. I wondered what she had just experienced, or what she was going to experience. It was like watching a movie.
Our little sun beam silently disappeared and we called it a wrap.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
Part of the wonderfulness of ZoeFest is being able to make it up as you go. There is no right or wrong, except if you create nothing. That would be wrong. Certainly my time with Sara Liz was not exactly what I had imagined our shoot would be when I woke up that morning, but certainly more interesting than it might have been.
Sara Liz had taken my hand and led me on a little photographic journey that late afternoon in Todos Santos. And I would happily watch that movie again.
Sara Liz seems to be Carlotta Champagne’s partner in crime although I get the impression that Sara Liz is the more devious one of the two lovely American ladies. Mal Grant and I spent the whole day with these two and lets just say there wasn’t a dull moment. Here’s some of the images I shot of Sara from the old cannery, the Todos Santos Inn and the beach in the late afternoon.
Sara, it was indeed a pleasure working with you and I look forward to hopefully working with you again in Australia in the not too distant future.
