Elena Indoors

Elena and I have worked outdoors several times, but this session marked our first chance to work indoors together (while Elena lives in Halifax, she is far enough away from where I live to make it difficult to meet up to work together without a car being involved).

Digital original, 6 frame stitch

As is my usual approach to working with a model, I had no definite plans in mind for the session, so once Elena arrived, I simply threw up the white sheets, and began to see what would happen. These sessions focus so much on the model's personality and interaction with the camera that it is impossible to plan images ahead, even if that was my style, as too much is dependent upon the interaction between myself and the model. An indoor session with the white sheets reduces the influence of the space around the model (reducing it to clean, simple white), and while the room lighting is still present, it takes a back seat to the model as the real focus of the images.

Digital original, 12 frame stitch

While I am used to indoor sessions focusing on the model's face as much as body (the vast majority of my nude portraits have been made indoors, as opposed to outdoors), it was a real surprise to discover how powerful Elena's gaze was during this session, and how often small smiles crept into the portraits. I seldom make images of models smiling, but Elena's personality is so rooted in her smile that it was impossible during this session to leave it out. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if the smiling portraits would work, but in hindsight, I am glad I made them, both because of how well they worked visually, and, perhaps more importantly, because of how honest they are in representing Elena as a person.

Digital infrared original

Overall, the session was a great success; I alternated between closely framed nude portraits and more loosely composed full body poses, and made a number of interesting bodyscapes to round out the session. The work that Elena and I produced outdoors was so focused on the interplay between the body and the landscape that I'd somewhat forgotten how well she responded to the camera on a personal level - something that carried almost all the images we made during this session.