Three Muses (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Back in the fall of 2001, a friend of mine (Jeff Amos) gifted me with a partial box of 4"x5" Kodak infrared film; this about three months after I sold my 4"x5" camera. Not wanting to pass up such an opportunity (as Kodak 4"x5" infrared film was discontinued recently), I decided to save the film for a special occasion - specifically a studio session, as I knew I could access a 4"x5" there, if the situation warranted.

6x7 cm film

The more I thought about what to do with the film, the more I decided it had to be something unusual. In the end, I don't remember what gave me the idea, but I settled on a "Three Graces" session, with three female models, and inspired by the ancient Greek sculpture of the same name. The idea sat in the back of my mind until R_ asked me if it'd be possible to do another studio session with a second model- a couple of quick phone calls, and some major good karma, and the session was arranged, with three models - R_ , L_ and Miranda all more then intrigued by the idea I described.

6x7 cm film

In the studio, we began in the most formal way, copying the ancient pose, and exposing both 4"x5" and medium format film in the process. Very quickly, I grew frustrated by this process, and we shifted to more spontaneous poses, with the models and I working together to create poses true to the idea, but diverging from the inspiration. A number of the standing poses worked well, but it wasn't until the models began working with horizontal poses that the images really began to come together.

35mm infrared film

When the models were standing, it was hard to create poses that had the mirroring and repetition I was seeking, but once the models were lying down, it all changed. I quickly set the lighting to above the models, and the compositions leapt out. The results of these explorations are very pleasing, ranging from bodyscapes to almost abstract compositions.

4"x5" infrared fukn

In the end, the infrared film what was the motivation for the session turned out to be a
technical frustration - all the 4"x5" images were all underexposed because of how out of date
the film is. This is something that I can compensate for next time, assuming there is one.