It was an interesting week for me. It started with my birthday party at Riversdale beach and with Jepha and Amandine deciding that what they really needed to do was to strip down and cover themselves in seaweed for the sake of art. Okay that wasn't exactly the way it went. First I went for a "run" on the beach and found this incredibly cool piece of seaweed that looked like something out of Xena warrior princess...kind of like a breast plate of leather but it was actually seaweed...Had been planing a Sea Goddess shoot with Kaarin the costume tutor at Toi Whakaari and figured we could have a trial run, pilot of the concept first. Walked a couple of k's down the beach to a group of rocks I loved for their rhythm...as well as ability to hide behind if any locals decided it would be a good idea to have a beach walk on a drizzly day. The seaweed was attempted but soon abandoned as good in theory but not in practice and the girls just got their kit off instead and posed amongst the rocks. It was pure experimentation and play and from the shoot there were a couple of images that I loved. There was absolutely no hair and makeup this was just Amandine and Jepha as they were that day. Here is the beginnings of work on one I took of Amandine. Posing nudes really helps you to get your head around posing that is for sure. We had two close encounters with locals driving by on their quadbikes and practiced the art of camouflage and distraction....ie Amandine merged with a rock while I jumped around and generally tried to draw attention to me and away from her. Seemed to work as they just went on their way.
I really adore photographing the female form. When I was a kid I never really had the obligatory teen heart throb images on my walls (except for that one of the lead singer of Duran Duran Mwwaahhh)...no mostly it was preRaphelite paintings like this:
With a sprinkling of Renaissance and paintings as well. I love classical posing. It is demure but incredibly concious of the beautiful curves of a woman's body. This is what I love...celebrating the curves of real woman and showing them as they are but in their most beautiful light...if that makes sense.
There must have been some energy created by all of that au naturale play as for the rest of the week every woman that came into the studio decided to take their kit off in one form or another. An artist came in and had herself photographed so that she can paint a picture for her husband for his 50th that he will not soon forget. One of our muses posed artfully covered by fabric and holding chandelier crystals that were special to her....beautiful. The final muse went out to our farm with us and we recreated some modern version of a JH Lynch painting that she loved in a swamp area that is there then we did some wood nymph, sexy vamp, and mermaid style shots in the rivers beach.
I can't show you their pictures as they are private for them but we did take some video of the hair and make up we did for these gorgeous creatures and hope to have it up on the site in the next couple of weeks so have a look out for that. All of the women that did these shoots were in their late thirties or early 40's. They wanted to capture that amazing point in their life. It is a magical time I feel where a woman really comes into her own skin. The twenties and early thirties at least for me were all about rejection of the beautiful gift of my body...But in my late thirties I am finally feeling like I belong in it....it is mine with all of its lumps and bumps and it has served me well this long. Sure there are parts that are not as amazing as other parts but they are my non amazing parts...now I think i will have to start looking for someone to photograph me too. :).
Getting up now to go do another one actually now that I think about it....Brilliant a nude day is always a good day. :)
