Outside The Norm

Greetings and thanks for your interest in me and my images.. I hope you (have) enjoy(ed) looking.

I am, for lack of a better term, what I'll describe as a "starving artist" style of photographer. I shoot primarily to please myself and to create images that I'd like to look at - and indeed a number of my shots hang in my living room for me to enjoy. Combine this philosophy with the background that for the last few years I have been unable to pursue my photography as anything other than a pure hobby (visa issues - Australia is not my native country), and I have been able to spend a couple years and a lot of passion developing and exploring what I like in an image - though the explorations are far from complete I've developed a bit of a style that some people other than just myself seem to appreciate. I am, that said, still far from done learning and exploring shooting and processing techniques.

Whilst I shoot just to make interesting images, I do have a vision of being able to make a living from my photography one day. Fashion and beauty images, while fun to shoot, hold little to no 'value' in the terms of selling prints or books (the 'value' coming almost exclusively if commissioned). Therefore I have a strong interest in shooting nude work, with the optimistic delusion that I will be able to generate some print sales from the work in the future. I have no intention of getting involved in micro-stock photography, I don't feel that it values the work of a photographer in any appreciable way.

Being in this for artistic expression and as an obsession, I am almost always willing to shoot and having ideas that I want to play with and explore. While I am selective in who I work with, I encourage you to get in touch. All my casting calls are active and I have many more ideas as well - some that definitely require a lot of a model that I just haven't found anyone willing to endure, some that require a lot more in the way of set / wardrobe / time investment than I'm going to make anytime soon without a great muse to catalyze me and change life priorities.

What do I look for in a model - Facial structure, great complexion, athleticism & muscle tone, flexibility, a body free from surgical alterations and tattoos, open mind and adventurous spirit, confidence, willingness to learn and someone willing to do what it takes to get the shot (waking up at 1am and hiking for 10 hours has happened in the past). A "Freak of Nature" (aka fashion model) build also helps. Ideally someone who would like to shoot with me multiple times - if I find the model inspiring to my creativity I'd prefer to let it play with them several times. Experience is not necessary, I'm more than willing and able to teach the basics of modeling (though it's up to the model to practice and develop). Above all, I look to be inspired by a model - I want to see possibilities on what I can do with them when I look at them (or at least their portfolio).

Do I shoot TFP - Yes, however unless I approach you expect to be posing nude for me either art nude or mixed with the beauty or fashion genres where we can also get some non-nude images for you. There are some rare exceptions if I'm particularly inspired by your face or if you're going to arrange to compensate a makeup artist, hair stylist and wardrobe stylist, so feel free to inquire, but don't be offended if I decline.

Will I shoot implied rather than nude - generally no. I don't agree that the body is wrong or shameful and needs to be hidden. I also feel that trying to keep things hidden in a photo constrains both photographer and model and distracts them from concentrating solely upon making the best image possible. Waiting until after the shoot to censor photos is bad as well - I have, because I've agreed to it, had to not use what I considered the strongest shot of the day - not because it showed anything, but because we didn't capture everything else in the shot in any other shot.

Will I pay you to model for me - probably not at this point, and certainly not if you want to be able to use the images in your portfolio or to get prints of what we shoot. I simply don't have any income from my photography and spend a lot of time, effort and money on concepts and making the shots all they can be. I can cover a place to stay (spare bedroom in my house, so long as you aren't allergic to cats) and in extreme circumstances and several days or more of shooting, may sometimes be willing to help with airfare.

Can you pay me to shoot you or your concept - perhaps. It's not inherently my aim to get paid to shoot and I really don't want my photography to become a 'job', so I have to be interested in the concept and what the images will end up being - so really you would end up paying me to use the images and to relinquish what would otherwise be my rights to use them and control their use. If you're a model/designer/makeup artist/hair stylist it's probably easier to convince me to shoot your idea(s) if you volunteer for some of mine as well.

Can you buy prints of my work - not quite yet. I'm still debating how best to do print sales - whether as open or limited editions (and what size if they are limited).

Thanks for stopping by. I welcome comments and critique so feel free to let me know what you think, and if you're interested then please get in touch to discuss working together

   

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