A Second Stuido Session with Miranda and Monique

After the session in the Halifax studio, Monique was keen to model again (as was Miranda, but given her long involvement with my work, that was no surprise), and after some discussion, the two models decided to take the train up to Moncton to spend a weekend modeling (I could work with them for two of the three days they'd be here). As there is an obvious difference between work with a new model and images that build upon that first session, I was very enthusiastic about their visit, hoping not only to work with them more in the studio but also with an available light session or two.

Digital original

As with almost every other studio session, I began with some simple portraits and then moved on from there. One of the real advantages of working with multiple models is that there is less need for direction or pose suggestions - the interaction between the two models is often enough to present poses naturally - all I have to do then is modify the lighting to suit the pose, and find the composition.

Digital original

While I had the view camera with me for the session, I only made a single 8"x10" negative; I haven't decided if this is because I preferred the spontaneous workflow permitted by the smaller digital SLR, or because only one pose really said "large format" to me. Whatever the reason, I ended up with a very strong set of images, ranging from portraits to more abstract body images. In some ways, it is the abstracts that engage me the most, with the overlapping lines and forms being drawn out of the two models.

Digital original

Often, when working with multiple models who are not intimately involved (i.e. who are friends, not lovers), there is a little hesitance on my part to suggest poses that might be construed as too personal, but with Miranda and Monique there was already such a comfort level between the models that this wasn't an issue (this was not at all surprising, given Miranda's previous comfort with working with other models, most recently Kylie). It is not that the images are particularly intimate or erotic, more that the kind of closeness that is required of models to create the images we made during this session is not something that is reasonable to ask of models that are not comfortable with each other.