Our Lady of Rapture

I Got to shoot some new portraits on Christmas weekend. This is the first one I finished. I also got a few artbooks on Chirstmas morning. I received books about Jan Saudek and Loretta Lux, and also got Twilight: Photographs by Gregory Crewdson and Graphis Photography Annual 2007. among the books I enjoy the one about Jan Saudek the most. It's an enormous book with images spanning his photographic career. I've looked before at Jan Saudek's work on his site*, but being able to see his work large and up close is entirely different then seeing images online. His work is a real inspiration for the pieces I'm creating right now and the book is really helping me refine my own style as well as borrow from his.

The idea that began the work on this image was when I was thinking of a mistress or seductress that would fit in this world that I'm creating. After the shoot though this image stuck with me above all the others and seemed to capture a moment of pure ecstasy and of course rapture. It reminds me a lot of Edvard Munch's Modanna. I chose red for the dress to inspire temptation and lust from the viewer and the wall was colored to contrast it and complement it. Blush was added to the cheeks to emphasize the overall feeling. I really enjoyed how this one turned out and only hope that future images can meet this type of mark.

*some images on Jan Saudek's site may be offensive to some people, view with care and not at work

The Typist

Two post in one night! This is the second photo in my new series. The idea behind this one is uncontrollable obsession. I believe this is reflected in the papers posted on the wall and in front of him. I really wanted to make it feel like the paper was consuming him. Also, the look he has is supposed to convey a disturbing sense, because simply by looking at him we are interrupting his world. The red of the paper helps to convey this tense feeling and is also there to challenge and discomfort us.

(On a side note, the model's personality is nothing like this, he is actually quite cheerful and it took some time to develop the look needed for the piece.)

Update 2/22/08 - Since I've now done a lot more work in this series I no longer feel this portrait fits in with the overall feel and look that I'm attempting to accomplish. However, I am still keeping it on this site because I feel that its important to keep a record of this series progression intact even though I know that not ever piece will make it into my final series.