Surface Tension (2015) Session #10 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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The final session of my two days of access to the large indoor pool was spent working with Jaime; this was only her second time modeling Nude, and her first time working in a studio, but the results were really pleasing.

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One of the only challenges of working with Jaime was working around her tattoos; fortunately, there are a number of view planes across her torso which avoids them, and permitted me to make images that met my aesthetic. This image is one of my favourite from the two days of work because of the simple beauty of her face's reflection in the water - for me it is one of the more surreal photographs of the series.

Digital original, 2 frame focus blend

The last composition of two days of photography....the last composition from 10 sessions with 8 models, using two cameras, resulting in over 140gb of RAW files, and taking almost two weeks of editing to cull down to the final photographs. A brilliant way to spend two chilly days in the middle of a Nova Scotian winter.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #9 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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In 2007 fully 1/3 of the Surface Tension sessions were of multiple models, as one session ending would morph into the next session, with the two models working together. This didn't happen as often with this iteration, but when I realized Stephanie and Jaime's sessions were back-to-back, I asked if they'd be open to the possibilities of working together at the overlap of their two sessions; both women were open to the idea, and after a brief meet and greet, Jaime joined Stephanie in the pool, and the three of us began to explore the possibility.

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Having done so much work with multiple models, I have long known the best approach is either to compare, or contrast. The vast majority of the photographs I made with Jaime and Stephanie took the first approach, emphasizing their similarity in form. The above image is probably the best example of this (I stand the risk of being accused of having a callipygian fetish as I made bottom-coming-out-of-the-water images of every model over the 10 sessions...my only defense is that it looks so beautiful!).

Digital original, two image focus blend

The last set of images were the clearest in my mind before we began; in the 2007 sessions with multiple models, I was severely constrained for space, and almost all the images relied on a great deal of physical proximity simply to fit within the reflection on the water's surface. With the bigger pool however, I had a much larger area for the models to work in, and therefore, could have more open space between them. This portrait of Jaime and Stephanie (three-frames focus stacked to ensure both models are in focus) takes full advantage of all the space the pool offered.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #8 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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Stephanie first contact me specifically about modeling in water in 2008, and we first met face to face during the Memory of Water exhibition opening later that year. Since then we've worked together numerous times, but this was her first chance to work with water and me in an indoor context.

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With Stephanie, I continued exploring water sheeting off skin. Again, repetition proved to be the key, as while reviewing images in camera I noticed how the water formed almost a blanket around Stephanie's waist. Returning to photographing, I focused my attention on this element, and using the more responsive infra-red converted Canon 5D MKII, I was able to time the image with the peak of the motion, yielding several strong results, the best of which is displayed here.

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In many ways, the hardest thing to overcome in these sessions was my tendnacy to continually repeat combinations that have worked in the past; repeatedly I photographed models posing parallel to the camera, for the simple reason that I knew it worked. Pushing against this, I tried hard to explore the possibilies of models oriented at more extreme angles; in this case, the result was really pleasing.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #7 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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Though Lavender and I haven't worked together since 2007, when I posted a notice seeking models for the water pool sessions, she was one of the first models to confirm a session time. She's worked in the pool before with Steve Richard (though with a very different style and approach) which gave her an immediate comfort with the process, and within minutes to getting into the pool, the first strong image (above) was made.

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By this session, I'd not only had 6 chances to work with pool, but enough time to review the results, and evaluate how things could be improved. The issue of water motion had been solved (simply waiting more time for it to settle made all the difference), but I had also reviewed some of the experiments with notion (models pushing their bodies quickly up through the water surface) and decided that the results were worth pushing further. In most cases, the early experiments were not perfect - the Phase One medium format camera I was using for the session had a somewhat random delay to the shutter, so half the time the image was made just before or after the ideal moment. With this session (and later ones) I persisted with the ideal, and made a dozen or more images of each iteration, which ensured a number of really pleasing images focused on the concept for each pose.

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Having access to the pool over two full days of photography really helped build a coherent flow between the sessions with a wide variety of models. Keeping the lighting and setting consistent helped tie the session together, but more than anything, I was able to take successes from one session and use them as a point of departure for the next session; in this case, an earlier image of Ingrid was the direct inspiration to this photograph of Lavender, made four hours later.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #6 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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The first session on the second day of working with the large pool was also the first session with Ingrid in our 17th year of working together. Though she has no love of modeling in the studio, as soon as I told Ingrid that the session would be a return to the Surface Tension concept (Ingrid has modeled several times with the 2007 iteration of the idea), she was keen to participate...and that was before I told her the pool was heated.

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The above image is probably the clearest expression of the Surface Tension ideal from the two days of photography - an image as much about immersion as it is about emergence.

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It was a real pleasure to work with Ingrid again; her intuitive approach to modelling (no doubt born from having modeled Nude for more than 2/3 of her life) really showed in both the strength of the images, and the fluidity of the session.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #5 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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The last session of the first day working with the large pool was with Miranda; she was a major part of the 2007 water pool series, and I was ecstatic when she said she'd be up for working with me in the larger pool - and that was BEFORE she learned it was heated!

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By this time, I was really aware of how long it took for the water surface to calm down, and impressed upon Miranda the importance of keeping still once we found a pose that worked; she did so perfectly, and the majority of the images we made together see her body rising out of an unbroken sea of light - exactly what I'd envisioned when preparing for this.

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The last set of images worked with Miranda's hair cascading over her torso, and surfacing in the water around her shoulder; I explored a variety of compositions, with and without Miranda's head, and finally settled on this version where the frame completes with her hair forming a miniature Sargasso Sea around her breast as it emerges from the water.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #4 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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The fourth session exploring the possibilities of the large water pool was spent working with Karen; this was our first time working together indoors (we'd worked together outdoors in 2009), but Karen is no stranger to the studio, or the water pool, having worked with Steve Richard for years. What was interesting was that one of her first questions was "What haven't you done yet?"; I found it impossible to answer (it seemed to be a "how do I know what I don't know?" sort of thing), but it did provoke the question of what did I want to focus on. Between Karen's suggestions, and my continuing to push in directions that had worked before, we made some really pleasing images!

Digital original, 2 frame focus blend

When I worked with the smaller water pool in 2007, I became fascinated with the half-faces that formed in the reflection at times; when they started appearing with Karen, I immediately asked her to stay as still as possible, so the surface of the water became as still as could be; of the dozen or so portraits I made, one had the reflection I hoped for.

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The most adventurous images in the water pool explored water rushing off skin as it emerged from below the surface; I'd experimented with this in earlier sessions, but the above image of Karen was the first that really showed what I wished to portray - a mix between the slow moving water around her, and the swiftly receding water over her belly and hip - a perfect mix.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #3 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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After finishing the set of images of Jenn and Krista, Jenn got out of the pool to dry off, and I spent another twenty minutes photographing Krista on her own. We began with a set of portraits with Krista just emerging from the water's surface; this image, with the near perfect reflection of Krista's face was by far the best of the several dozen I made of this composition (the simple truth of working with models in water is a huge number of images need to be made to accommodate the unpredictable nature of moving water).

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While the majority of my focus during these sessions was on making images of bodies emerging from smooth, glass-like water, there were times with the movement of the water across the body was just lovely; in this case, the pool water was lapping across the small of Krista's back, leaving behind the smallest pool along the base of her spine.

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Every time I have worked with the Nude in water pools in studios, I have made images like this - the incredible simplicity of a torso just the the water's surface is everything that the Surface Tension series is about.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #2 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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The second session was spent working with Jenn and her friend Krista; the two had first worked together with me in 2013, but this was the first time I'd worked with the two of them together in a studio. An unexpected challenge of working with the larger pool was how long it took for movement and surface rippled to settle down; it was frequently a minute or more before the water surface became smooth. With two models, this proved to be a real challenge, as even the unconscious shifting of balance or occasional deep breath was enough to unsettle things.

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An advantage of working with multiple models is that their bodies can be used to create a composition independent of the surroundings; in this case, the mirroring of the pose in opposite directions plays off the mirroring of their forms in the water around the two models.

Digital infrared original, 9 frame stitch

One of the last poses of the session worked with both models stretched out; it was this kind of image that really showed the advantage of working with the larger pool; in 2007, the pool I built was only eight feet end to end, and couldn't permit such an extended pose. Though this image pushed right to the edge of the diffusion panel which created the reflection on the water surface, with careful positioning of the camera, I could keep the model's bodies within the luminous reflection that is so integral to the success of this image.

There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.

Surface Tension (2015) Session #1 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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In 1998, I made an image of a model emerging from a tidal pool, breaking through the reflection of the evening sky on the water. That image stuck in my head until I began exploring studio photographs of the Nude emerging from water in 2005. That work in turn lead to a more focused (and successful) group of images made in 2007, created in a larger (6'x8') pool. Now, 17 years after making the first image, I have another opportunity to pursue the elusive muse of the line between water and skin.

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The first session of two days of photography was with Jen, who's first worked with me in 2006. Jenn and I have done some outdoor water images before, but this was her first time working with a pool in a studio, and the idea of heated water was a revelation to her. 

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There's no way these images could have been made without the kindness, encouragement and support of Steve Richard and Shadowhouse Studios.