Contemplations

"Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first, the lesson afterward."

~Anonymous

 

As interesting as the above quote is, there's a ring of truth in it that cannot be denied. So far, I have no idea how I am doing on my test, nor even how much longer it is. More still, I have no idea as to the lesson I am to learn or even if its one I CAN learn. In school, I did fairly well on exams. Even if I didn't study or prepare myself for them, I had a knack for knowing HOW to take tests, especially ones that were multiple choice. I learned to deduce the correct answer in most cases to at least earn a low "B". In the event where the answers took essay form, I learned to basically BS my way around for at least partial credit. It was the fill in the blank questions that usually got the better of me. Even then, I could answer some of the questions by continuing to read the following questions, hoping for a clue.

 

Where am I going with this? Good question, because I am not all so sure. My current challenges in a city with drastically high unemployment still remain. Yes, that's the more obvious and probably more pertinant situation that I most needs to resolve. However its the conundrum of my photographic art that has me slightly puzzled at the moment. I often meet potential models in my comings and goings of daily living. As I meet someone I may happen to be interested in shooting, I make no hesitations in introducing myself and asking. It just so happened that earlier this week, while at a Denny's restaurant, a young lady I spoke to about my work asked me what it was that I did with my art since I made no real effort to profit from it. Of course I explained that as any artist, my endeavors are to exhibit and share it. I explained that I did so on my web site and blog. She looked at me, as if to say, "That's it?". Or maybe I just read that into her pause, as she starred at me, waiting for more in my answer.

 

Another potential model even earlier than the last, asked if I was any good. With my chest thrown out and a slight smirk on my face, I tried to resist a prideful or boastful answer, so I kept it simple and said, "Of course." But then she asked, "Says who?" I found myself searching for an answer that wouldn't set myself up for a response like the one you get when someone says, "Beauty comes from within." To which the popular response is, "That's what ugly people say".

 

 

So how much creditablility does an artist need before he's officially "good"? Does that warrrant being famous and well-known? Then at what level do you achieve that? Does local cred count? How do you get famous in the nude art arena? How do you establish yourself as "good"? I know I like my own work, but then that's kind of like asking a mother if she thinks her child is a handsome or pretty. Is doing art for the sake of art not enough or are credentials necessary to validate your street cred? Who knows? These are just a few other things I have to figure out for myself. Now that I have time on my hands, I can contemplate these things.

The Trunk Monkey Chronicles

" Find your niche and what you like, be professional, sometimes be patient and appreciate every memorable experience and great opportunity that comes at you." - Lorelei

I don't know if you realize it or not, but you already know you can read me here on this blog, but did you know I am ALSO a co-editor for Chris' Univers d' Artistes blog? Didn't know that did you? Okay, I may have already said it a couple of times here, but I'll be helping out over there from time to time. Chris St. James is posting EVERYDAY and I know its got to be wearing out Unbearable Lightness trying to keep up. Chris is a freak-n machine. So, by request, I just did a post on Lorelei.

It turned out great as I did a 10 question interviewed with her. I loved her answers and not cuz she hyped me, but because you could tell she was speaking from her heart and that she really took the time to give me some good feedback. I'm not doing any copy-pasting or reprints over here, but you can click on the jump link over there and check it out. Actually, I will copy over one request she made:

"...visit MAXIM.com and VOTE for your homegirl ! I'll be in week 6 of voting April 27 through May 4th until noon, much love if you can vote for me everyday til then, just takes a few clicks and no typing. Thanks!"

Life is good. I'm working. Dave's coming next month. My uncle is here for the weak. I'm happy. Yeah I still got a few issues to solve and things to work out, but that'll be the deal til I'm dead. What I want are NEW problems. "Gee, where am I going to invest all this money and what charities should I contribute to this week?". "Goodness, how am I going to find the time to shoot ALL these models I keep getting requests for?". "Should I go with the lace-up Berlutis or the buckle-down Lobbs as I accept my Ig Nobel Prize for Art tonight?". See what I mean...NEW PROBLEMS. Everybody should be working towards new problems rather than the elimination of problems in their lives all together.

I've been working on more of my non-nude images lately. I've taken several, but they sat on the proverbial shelf since I just couldn't bring myself to do the edits. I had too many nude works to edit. Its cool going back over old work and trying to get back into the mindset you had when you released the shutter. I worked on a series of compositions I did while on my way back from Phoenix last year during my road trip with Felix and Summer. Remember that? This couple is a shot (above) I took while visiting the Phoenix Art Museum. They seemed like an interesting couple that I knew I wanted to photograph, but I didn't want to harrass them. As it happened, they were leaving the same time we were and I got them in the parking lot. They were cool about it and flattered. Unfortunately, I was out of cards that day and can't find their contact info. Damn it.

The other shots were of a stop we made on the way back by way of Vidal, California. Some of it was just junk. Actually, all of it was junk or stuff on abandoned properties. I still got a few good shots, but even then, it would have been nice to have somebody naked there.

I don't know how long it has been out, but I just discovered Trunk Monkey. Oh, I LMAO!

If you can't see the video, -->click here<--

All About the Fun

Maybe things will be settling back to normal pretty soon. I'm very hopeful, at any rate. My friend and roommate, Jeff is back home from about 11 weeks in the hospital. It'd be inappropriate for me to go into details, but the dude is back at home, trying to recover and gain his strength back. So welcome home, Jeff.

Photo work has been sort of sketchy as of late. I've still been shooting and editing, but I've not been posting much of my work on my online profiles or website. Part of that is cuz of Chris St. James' fault. Because of his mentorship, I've got this thing with titles now. Since I haven't been able to sit down title my shots and post them, they have been sitting on my hard drive waiting to receive a name. This goes way back to maybe a year ago when Chris first discovered me and took an interest in my work. He began to encourage me, mentor me, and be a friend. Well, one of the things he'd knock me on the head for was the lack of titles in my work. Since then, I think I've really grown from his help and I've cherished the relationship we've had over the course of, wait...I think its been closer to two years now.

I haven't even kept up with many of the blogs that I normally follow daily. I still track Univers d'Artistes regularly. Unbearable Lightness has done a wonderful job at helping Chris. These are two people that I've cultivated relationships with, but have yet to actually meet. I consider both to be mentors and will be glad when I am totally back on track following my friends' blogs and back to posting my own at my usual rate of twice a week. I haven't even talked to my good friend, Dave Rudin in a while. I'm really out of touch. I don't know what's been going on with Iris Dassault, who's like the model queen of this country. And I need to get back in touch with the happenings across the waters with my friends at Fluffytek.

I need to go on some interesting outings. I haven't done that in a while. I think that was one of the attractors for a good part of my readership which was to hear about my adventures in the wild. Yeah, I need to get out more. The weather is starting to warm up and ice is melting off the mountains which means water falls and full streams again. This is what I do. I gotta get back out there. Whatever I do, I think I'd like to take some models out with me on a road trip or something. And speaking of which, I want to make sure I encourage you to utilize the services of the models I present on this blog and my website. If you're planning to be in Vegas and feel like shooting, feel free to contact these girl's links or even myself and plan something. Brittani from New Jersey is coming to reside in Vegas permanently next month. (Damn, I've still got to send her a disk! Sorry B.) I'm happy about that. I mentioned her in my last post along with several others. I've still yet to shoot with Marley. She's waiting on a tattoo to heal up a little first. But you've also seen some of my mainstays like Faerie and Trixie who I shoot quite often and of course there are several more. I shoot with Lieara this weekend. Lorelei has taken off like a space shuttle. The Brittany II maintains her role as one of the most prolific models in Vegas. And then there is Sarah Jane...come on! Really, do I need to say more. All these different body types and looks. I've got like the Wal-Mart of models, here. And wait til you see my next posts of Melissa!

Gabriella is one of the models I've been shooting with who is very up and coming. This girl can be on the cover of any magazine by tomorrow. She's different than the normal style of model I've been shooting because she's very suitable for glamor work that you might find in Maxxim or even Playboy. I've always been doing the girl next door type to produce my artistic style of nudes, but with Gabriella, I've been exploring the more sensual, sexy, and even erotic style of the art nude. She's hella fun to work with and is an instant boost to anybody's port. I think I'm going to start highlighting models I work with on my posts. I don't promote these girls enough and one of my initial objectives to starting my Las Vegas Art Models Group was to support art models. All of these girls are fabulous with great attitudes. For me, attitude is more important than they way they look. Gabriella is super sexy, but she comes with a willingness to work and gives you what you want and then some. You're sure to walk away from her shoot with more than you bargained for. I like the girl. Gonna work with her some more. You will too, so give this artist of her trade a hollar. Isn't she sweet? Tell her I sent 'cha. We'll both get cheese points!

A Few Noteables

"Putting clothes on a model is akin to putting a parking lot over a field of flowers."

- David Winge

I'm bringing back Lorelei again for this one and maybe the next one too. Between her and Lissa, I have a ton of edits that I am still working on. I'm working them in between some other freelance work that I've been at for a while as well. Something's gotta give! I've got to better manage my work flow, so any of you's photogs out there with some tips of managing a RAW work flow, give up the goods.

In other news, its also good to see some other sites out there promoting artistic nudes and the artists who create them. I happened to be commenting on a deviantART image made by Jarda Balek who was looking for some critiques on a technique he was experimenting with for this photo. Well, it was a little bit later that I noticed he was featured on Univers d'Artistes. I check him out and I've begun since then to see him all over. So now he's linked to my blog as well. So go give him a look-see on his new blog World of the Nude Art Photography.

Also, another noted photog I came across who's worthy of mention is David Winge. He's got some fabulous artwork that you should definitely check out. Because of the unique spelling of his name, I remembered seeing if often as I'd check out websites of models while looking through their portfolios. "Winge" kept popping up as the photographer of many great images that caught my eye on several model sites. One model in particular is GroovaciousK. This is a model I've elevated on my list of "Models I HAVE to work with at some point in the near future". She has such a voluptuous shape that begs the attention of my lens, so hopefully real soon, I'll be able to make arrangements to shoot with her. She and David are both located in California so maybe this won't be so hard of an endeavor. I just need to get to Cali. You can see more of GroovaciousK at her deviantART site.

Banned????

Talk about a rough week! Trouble has been stuck to me like a tick on a hound dog over the last week or so. But before I get into all that, let me get in a few points that I've made notes to cover for my next blog posting.

1. I just had another great post of mine that landed on Univers d' Artistes. Chris liked my recent post Jerry Uelsmann and Spencer Tunick so much that he re-posted it on his blog. I might also add that his posting was much better than the original post here on my own blog! The man really knows how to promote. So I know you've already read me on this blog but go check out how Chris has recyled my post into something better.

2. Candy Poses , (also her lastest work) is not Tuesday anymore, but she's definately back in the "mainstream" art nude modeling genre. In a previous post I talked about her in her dealings with Five Naked Models, where she was Tuesday. That was her day of the week to make a video log (vlog) commentary on the subject of modeling as a nude art model. She also used to author the blog Feminism Without Clothes. For reasons of her own, she had a change of heart, killed the blog and altered her priorities a little. However, I've now seen her working with noted photogs (such as David L. Le Beck) and she's got another blog up and running called simply "Candy Poses: Images from a Fine Art Nude Model". So she's back on my list of models I wanted to someday work with. That's how all this got started. I think she's beautiful, fabulous and an excellent model.

3. "What We Saw Today" is the new blog started by collaborators, Unbearable Lightness (model) and Joseph Crachiola (photographer). She was online with Iris Dassault as one of the Women of Avalon, which will hence forward be known as - ) Simply - Nude ( - . If you follow Unbearable Lightness the way I do, be sure to go over and check her out. If you author a blog of your own, do her the well-deserved kindness of adding her link. It goes without saying to make sure you stay tuned in to Iris over there with the exceptional, RJ Berry.

4. Chrome - This is the new web-browser by young behemoth, Google. It has nothing really to do with photoworks, but I've recently switched from using Internet Explorer mainly because there are times when IE gets hung up when Chrome will not. Also, if a tab on Chrome does stall, all the other open tabs keep functioning perfectly. One bad tab doesn't mean you have to close out Chrome. IE can't say that. Ease of use and simplicity round out the main reasons why I like it over IE, Firefox, or the other web browsers. I have no idea how it sacks up against Safari.

5. So speaking about a rough week. I think I previously mentioned some complaints about my blog being too edgy. A few days later, I get contacted from Meet Up.com about a nude image on my home page for my Las Vegas Art Models Group. Apparently someone reported me for having exposed breasts on a public forum. Okay, so I realized I was in violation and made the changes. This past Sunday, a park ranger drove up to my group while on an outting and hammered us for being professional photographers in the park without a permit and purportedly shooting nudes. Well now we are banned for life from said state park (not a year...LIFE!) and were kicked out effectively post-haste. I hardly got a word in edge-wise. I'll not go into details on the matter cuz I just don't need the heat right now, nor do I want to bring any more attention to anyone else.

"Mr. Tunick has been arrested five times in New York, although all the charges have been dropped. Last year, he was arrested while trying to photograph a group in Times Square". - "Court Rules Nude Photos Can be Takeng on the Street" ,John Sullivan, New York Times, 20 May 2000

Still, suffice to say, I could use some input on dealing with situations like this. I don't want to be banned from this place, although there are many other places (non-state owned) to shoot in. If I could afford an attorney, I'd consult one. For now, I'd like to get the insight from people with experience dealing with such predicaments or introduced to an open forum of sorts to get creditable input on said matters. Some of my photo heros and other photogs I watch have dealings with Johhny Law. I've never had a real desire to profit from my work or become famous for my art, but now that I've been banned from somewhere, becoming famous is the only way to make it all worthwhile. So one way of looking at this is ... I am forced to become a celebrity now.

Finally, there's just not enought that can be said about Lorelei. As much as I can use her in my artwork, I will. We worked again recently and had I left with some promising opportunities that I'd like to explore with this young lady. Its so easy to be overly-complimentary about her that I won't even try to indulge you on it any longer. Just understand that you can expect to see more of her involvment in my work. Great attitude, Great model, Great person.

On a final note, I'll leave you another interesting story. Check out this article on an artist who's self-portrait was recently banned because her nipples were too large!

Centenial Posting, Introducing Lorelei

"Never forget that the nurturing and preservation of your own muse is job one. Lose it and you may be losing a great deal."

"True muses stay dreams forever unless artists connect them to exploratory work."- both quotes by Robert Genn

"The Latest Muse"

For the 100th time, I am addressing you on my Photoblog. Its taken just over a year, as I missed my blog birthday/anniversary on the 2nd of August. I've looked back over my posts from then and I really like where this is going. I think I've made some satisfactory progress and am pleased with my commitment to maintaining it. Oh sure, sometimes, I leveled off to just one post a week, but when you apply a little smoothing to the stats, I've been there for you. "Are you not entertained?!" (That was a Russell Crowe, "Gladiator" reference...)

Over the last year, I've made some major changes. Switching over to digital from film was the most major I'd say. Without a darkroom here in Vegas, the appeal for film lost some of its romance for me. Now, I can hardly imagine my workload if I were to begin again shooting film. If someone right now gave me a darkroom of my very own, I probably wouldn't know what to do with it. (Breathe, Dave...) Actually, I would. I just wouldn't get to put it to use much. I do, however, still have every intent on getting my hands on a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. I am still fascinated with it and would love to use it exclusively for my landscape and special portrait work. I wouldn't use it without a darkroom, though. It was interesting, today I was visiting Edda at B&C Camera. In walks a girl from Connecticut who is purchasing medium format film. I couldn't help but ask what she was shooting and before she answered, I had guessed the 67 and was correct.


This past Sunday was another interesting day. When it comes to shooting nudes, I can shoot for basically as long as I have juice. Battery juice, that is. I've yet to have a model that can keep up with me in that regard, and especially in extreme heat conditions. Well, I've now met my match with Lorelei.

The term Muse originally refers to the nine daughters of Zeus in Greek mythology who presided over different elements of the arts. You'll find the dictionary a definition meaning to gaze or meditate on. Well, artists who use the nude figure as live models refer to the best of these as muses, who exhibit a measure of passion and commitment to their trade. Lorelei is such a muse.

We met up on Sunday to scout out a trail and do some shooting while we were out. We ended up shooting from sunup til sundown and that includes during the middle of the day. We just stayed in the shade during the hottest parts. That still didn't keep us from cooking at times. The sun was still high overhead and seemed to linger. We found one spot that was so gorgeous that we both knew we needed take advantage of it. The problem was that it was just sunny to get good shots in and trying to wait 3 hours before the sun dipped behind the mountains just didn't seem like anything we wanted to do and we were low on water. Heading back to the car was not an option. So how do we get the shot?

Well, as it turns out, we found a shaded area and decided to do some candid shots. We chatted while I shot with no posing directions. We also discovered that we had a couple more bottles of water than we thought. The next thing we knew, there was no visible sun. It was 3 hours later! So we hurried back up to our spot to get the shots we needed before we lost too much light. It was amazing. By no means do I ever want to over work a model, but Lorelei was a real trooper. She was having too much fun to stop and I never seemed to get enough shots. I've often talked about some models who I could simply shoot all day. Well, Lorelei is one of them and we did. I can tell you we've already planned some more shoots as she has a kindred spirit complimentary to mine. I think its her hair that really sets things off. During our initial interview, she had it up. When I asked her to let it down, I was floored. We did our second interview shoot and almost every single shot was a keeper. I don't mean to be overly complimentary of this girl, but damn! You can't tell me that you don't agree. The only downside is that I now have to edit all those images...some 600 plus, I think. When I have enough, you can look for more of her work on my website, hopefully soon. Thanks, Lorelei.