On the site I have been using to network with models and photographers, model mayhem, one of the things that models can specify on their profile is whether or not they do nudes. Most profiles say no. I was seeing this and getting confused because they had nudes in their portfolios but I then worked out that there is a distinction between implied nudes and nudes. Implied means that you can be technically nude but not showing your junk and full frontal is the “nudes” that people are saying yes or no to. Or so I thought.
Every now and then you’ll come across a photo of someone and it may not be on their profile but on a photographer’s profile, but sometimes it’s on their own profile, and their they are in all their glory, their tackle waving at you but their profile says no to nudes. So does no really mean no?
Born from a need to hang something above his own sofa, Dean Stockings started shooting people naked on their own sofas. He’s got all shapes and sizes, sexualities and genders in the book, all with handwritten bits of information about themselves.
Dean is a professional photographer in the U.K. and has done work for lots of glossy gay publications, fashion publications and all sorts of work. Now he’s hoping Sofa So Naked will win the book of the month on Blur, so go and have a look at the preview of the book and cast your vote!
This morning I’m supposed to be shooting a friend and his boyfriend who are right into leather, but it’s supposed to be an outdoor shoot and the weather is foggy and rainy so I am dubious it’s going to happen. Then I’m supposed to be going in to the office to do another shoot for a catalogue for work that is already behind schedule, but that shoot too is supposed to be outside. Tonight I was supposed to be babysitting my niece and nephew while my sister and her husband went to the movies, but they are now sick.
So my day is potentially looking very free and I may have some discount movie tickets. What shall I do? Well I will be finally doing my “before” photo and hitting the gym if all goes to plan.
Ryan Kwanten has been back down under not long ago doing publicity for True Blood, and to see family and a few other bits and pieces. While he was here he stepped in front of the camera for the very talented and successful James Demitri.
James has a really cool style and adding Ryan into the mix makes for some hot results. Unlike his character in True Blood, Ryan kept his clothes on for this shoot, scrubbing up in a sharp suit. The shoot was for a new magazine launching soon called Lure.
If this is the style they are going for it will be a very cool mag by the look of it.
Today I had the luck to follow a link from a friend’s status on facebook and ended up on a site with a photo of the day section and came across these amazing shots by a photographer called Olivier Valsecchi. The technical side of capturing these images is just amazing let alone getting all the technical stuff right as well as getting a beautiful moment. Absolutely gorgeous.
Yesterday was the 3rd shoot for my exhibition with a guy Andy that I’ve photographed a couple of times over the last few years and hung out with on the beach many times. The more I go through life the more I think I need to pay more attention to my gut.
I woke up yesterday morning with apprehension about the shoot. By the afternoon when I headed off to pick Andy up I was still not looking forward to the shoot. Andy wasn’t his usual chirpy infectious cheeky self and he wasn’t in the shape I had envisaged in my head. When we were setting up the lighting wasn’t doing what I wanted and I hadn’t tested my concept for the shoot. On a regular day any one of those things would have been fine to work around, but yesterday they all collided to produce a big pile of mediocrity and I refuse to let my first exhibition be mediocre.
The photo above is one of the few that I don’t dislike. I don’t love it and it certainly will not be in the exhibition. Oh well, time to regroup and move on.
Yesterday I had my first outdoor shoot in some months when I shot a guy I’ve known for a while now but not very well. Zoren wants to try his hand at modelling and I was happy to shoot him to give him some shots for his portfolio. We shot in an alleyway a few suburbs away from home. There were some strange looks from people walking through and a bit of an outburst from some old man. His rant was a bit unintelligable but basically the idea was that he was old and figured it was his right to be a cranky old bastard. Thankfully Zoren is really happy with the results and as his first real shoot he did really well.
As a photographer and someone who is remotely involved in performing arts these photos by Yang Wang are breathtaking in their beauty. Taking an instant out of the context it was in and capturing it on film can often lead to awkward poses frozen in time. It’s very easy to make the body look awkward but so much harder to capture the grace and control of dance in that instant the shutter opens.
Yang Wang has done a beautiful job with these male dancers, capturing their control and spectacular definition alongside beautiful simple portraits. Thanks to a reader with good taste for bringing me these shots via Homotography
Working with Miguel, the model yesterday was an interesting experience. He’s a really nice guy and knew ahead of time that I was working towards shots for my exhibition which would involve nudity. I don’t want full frontal shots even though I have shot some in the past, it’s not generally my thing.
He brought up the fact that from my profile on model mayhem he knew I’d had some of my photography on the DNA blog and thought it would be great if I could get some in the actual magazine. So I know he was comfortable with me being gay.
The interesting part is that he wanted to do nudes for the exhibition and was really keen to be a part of the exhibition but the whole time we were shooting he had a hand firmly clamped over his cock. He’s clearly just not used to being seen nude outside the bedroom. He’s also in Australia to train for boxing. Now, my knowledge of real boxing gyms, not Fitness First boxing classes, is limited but from reliable stories I understand that most of them are pretty old school and have communal showers. How does someone who isn’t that comfortable with being seen nude deal with the post training shower situation?
For me, rowing surf boats and the post training shower was when I got over my prudishness as it just wasn’t practical to avoid it and showering in my speedos would have caused more teasing than not.
Whatever his reasons, Miguel was fantastic to shoot and very eager to please. He’s also very keen to shoot again. I just wish I could share some of the images.
Today is a big day for me. I’m nervous and excited and a little daunted but it’s the first step down a road I’ve been wanting to walk for a while.
Today I’m shooting the first model specifically for my exhibition. Miguel (above) is an Irishman currently living in Sydney who has been kind enough to agree to model for me. I have some concepts running around in my head and I hope he’s up for all of them. Because it’s working towards the exhibition I won’t be posting any images that are in the running to be included but if there is anything else I can post, I will.
When Dylan Rosser shoots people, he certainly goes for the hotties. They can be twinky, buff or downright horny looking guys like porn star Adam Killian. I think it was Adam that I chatted to online several years ago before the full sleeve tattoo and the porn but not before he was hot! According to Dylan, Adam was running around the pool doing handstands and the splits and having fun, all naked.
If you can, go sign up for Dylan’s site, The Male Form, and see ALL of Adam. He’s a gifted man.
In what I see becoming a regular item here on Aussielicious I bring you the Aussielicious Covet List for the 1st of June 2010. The covet list is, rather obviously, things I’m coveting or that I think are really covetable. Some of them will be luxury items, some cheap but cool and some total pie in the sky things and everything in between.
Tonight I’m coveting three different photography books, a DVD and a shirt.
The first book is Zebrato by Michael Levin, whose stunning photographic landscapes I brought you recently. A whole book of cool, stunning moody landscapes would keep me entertained for hours.
Bruce Weber has been making a muse of Roberto Bolle, classic Ballet dancer and all-round hottie. Everything Bruce points his camera at is absolutely stunning so this book will be a welcome addition to my collection one day.
Tony Duran has shot one of the best Dieux Du Stade calendars for a few years and once again they’ve released it as a book. Pages and pages of naked oiled up rugby players and sports men having water flung at them and jumping around on rooftops. Yes please.
The DVD I’m coveting isn’t actually out (on Amazon anyway) til the 6th July, but the movie was just so exquisitely beautiful and shot in decadent style that I could watch it over and over again. It’s a teaming of great actors and a first time director in Tom Ford that makes for a beautiful movie.
Finally on my covet list tonight is a fitted, tuxedo style shirt from Premonition. It comes in at least two colours and looks hot on this model!
February next year is going to race up and bite me on the bum faster than I expect so I’m putting a call out now. If you think you are the kind of person that I would like to photograph for possible inclusion in my exhibition, tentatively scheduled for February 2011, email me.
Send me a photo of yourself and a bit of a description. Unfortunately I don’t have the budget to be flying around the world shooting in exotic locations so people handy to Sydney, or coming through Sydney preferred. Most of you that have been reading for a while will have an idea of the kind of guys that I shoot. I’ll admit a preference for fit athletic guys. Massive muscles have graced my lens before but it’s not a prerequisite I promise. Definition and an awareness of your body is a plus, a willingness to strip off is almost a necessity. Full frontal is not something I need or want, so don’t worry about that.
Michael Levin is a photographer I only stumbled across today through the world shrinking apparatus that is facebook. A friend had marked that they liked his page, and now I LOVE his photography. He is a master at capturing his native Canadian landscape, both natural and man made in stunningly exposed and composed shots. Beautiful.
On the weekend, a quick look, from the outside, of the venue where I may be having my first exhibition in February gave me the confidence that I can possibly get away without choosing either of the two directions I was looking at for the exhibition. I’m thinking now that I can possibly do half of the images in the studio and half using natural light. I have a lot more experience with natural light but I’m going to be doing a lot more studio work in the next few months. It’s all very exciting.
