Carol & S_ at Litchfield Cove

As it turned out, this session was my last outdoor work of 2002; fall came swiftly this year, and as beautiful a day as this was, it was the last with the warmth of summer in the air; from here on, my work will be indoors.

35mm infrared film

Though the session started out with a series of solo nudes, including some very brave images made in the gently flowing ocean (which was none too warm), the main focus was working with the two models in a couple of spaces. The first time I'd worked at Lichfield Cove was also with two models, so I suppose the space is conducive to outdoor couple images.

After we finished making the ocean-images (a quick end was precipitated by the impending arrival of some intrepid hikers), we moved further down the coast, and stumbled across one a fabulous space in which to continue working. A vertical spit in the granite bedrock created a perfect angular shelf in which the two models could work, giving them both a space in which to pose and react to, and diffusing the otherwise blinding sunlight into something a little more delicate and soft. Both the models and I reacted strongly to the space, so we decided this would be an idea place to continue to work in.

6x7 cm film

Once we set up and started to work, the possibilities came as rapidly as I could advance the film and reload the camera. As I suspected, the close quarters between the rock walls and the debris in the crevasse provoked some striking poses from the models, who worked with their intertwining forms as often as they did the surrounding stone.

After three rolls (30 images) spent working with the crevasse, we moved back to exploring the coastline, with the natural rock forms and the interplay between the models and the rocks. After the strength of the crevasse images, I felt that things were flowing well, and the remainder of the session went by swiftly, with a number of engaging images being created.

6x7 cm film

While I didn't know that this would be the last outdoor session of the year at the time, it was a fitting conclusion to my landscape work for the year. While the session began with classic, single model images, most of the time was spent working with the interplay of the models and the landscape, a marriage of my more stylized, reduced indoor work and my landscape nudes. While I by far prefer to work outdoors with the Nude, the session was a bridge of sorts, moving me into the winter's work with light, body, and the landscape of the mind.