Figure with Wings

Another image we all seem to have in common is the nude with wings.  There was a pair in the prop room, and Carlos was willing, so I got it out of my system.



Figure on a Set

Carlos was performing in a production of LOVE,VALOUR,COMPASSION!  His sultry look reminded me of a Von Gloeden figure, so we arranged to shoot on the set one night after the performance.

A three-light set-up shot on film and sepia-toned.



Poster figure

Yet another poster shoot.  Did anyone in the theater keep their clothes on in the '90's?  There must have been a production of "The Sound of Music" somewhere.



Figure, Back

The model was a photographer friend who liked to dabble in modeling.  To tell the truth, he was much better on the other side of the camera.

Nice back, though.

Shot on film with one light source.



Figure

And the poster shot we couldn't use, alas.

The last of this series.



Poster Figure

The pose chosen for the poster.

In the days before desk-top publishing and Photoshop, the printed figure was painstakingly cut out by hand and photocopied.  The typeface was also cut and paste, although we did produce it on a computer.

The final product, a poster and program in black and white.  Crude by today's standards, but effective.







Poster figure

Another from the poster shoot.  Every pose was perfect.

Series shot on film.



Figure

Another image from the "Last Splash!" poster shoot.

The model, an actor, was not tall, but he was perfectly proportioned, and had a long, elegant line.

It was difficult to decide which image to use.



Variation on a Theme

Virtually every painter, sculptor or photographer of the male nude, from Flandrin to Von Gloeden to Maxfield Parrish has succumbed to this classic pose.  I don't know what it is, but there is something about it that is irresistible. 

When the right model strikes it at the right time, I am no exception.

This was shot during a session to produce a poster and program photograph for my play "Last Splash!" (Sunday, August 14, 2011)



Figure with Roses

Figure with roses, from the back.  I love the color!



Torso with Roses

Posting a little late today; just got back from lunch.

I discovered these color negatives in the file, from a shoot with Lindsay (Saturday, June 25, Sunday, July 10, Monday, July 11, Friday, July 15, 2011).  I very rarely shot color in the film days, because I couldn't process and print it.

I never envisioned Photoshop and negative scanning; I wish I had shot more.

The color quality is something I haven't been able to match digitally.



Stage shot

Another "lobby" shot.  Unfortunately I don't recall the model, or his name.  The play ran for quite a while, and there was something of a turnover in the cast.

Cute though.



Standing Figure

An impromptu shot on stage.  The model was exceptionally graceful, and enjoyed playing with his shadow in a one-light set-up.



Stage shot

Another "Lobby Shot" (Tuesday, August 2, 2011), this one not suitable for the lobby.



Stage shot

Another actor, who appeared in productions of "Last Splash!" and "Christmas Present". (Saturday and Sunday, August 13 and 14, 2011)

In "Last Splash!" there is a character, "Boy on a Rock" who never speaks or engages with the rest of the cast.  He is seen on a platform above the stage sunbathing in a Speedo, which he very slowly removes during the action of the play until he is nude.  At a critical moment he disappears, not to be seen again.

In "Christmas Present" he played the "present".

Intense on-stage, calm and cool off.



Figure in Light

There was something about this model that seemed to call for dramatic light and posing.  I'm not sure what it was; it may just have been his strong personality.

In looking back, I find that all the shots we did in two different sessions are like this.  We did nothing "soft".  Very much the opposite of the "Timmy" shoot. (Friday, July 22 - Mon, August 1, 2011)

I don't know what I would do with this same model today.



Figure in Light

From the same shoot.  The model was unusually graceful in his movements, with a compact physique, and needed no direction.  As an actor, he know how to move.

Film with one light source.



Figure on an Ottoman

A figure on a draped ottoman, with one light source.

This model was an actor cast in one of my plays, "Last Splash", who also posed for the poster and program, below.

Talented and quite beautiful, he had to bow out of the production during rehearsals.  The poster and programs had already been printed.





A Little Christmas

Mikel in a poster shot for my holiday play, "Christmas Present" in which he played the title role.

The play is a romantic comedy in which the main character, a playwright whose lover has dumped him the week before Christmas, is surprised by his best friend with a gift-wrapped stripper, who is then stranded on Christmas Eve.

Mikel played the "present" to perfection, with just the right combination of sexiness and comedy.

Shot on color film and digitally enhanced.



Figure standing on a set

Coming to the end of the Mikel series, reluctantly.

It was late and we were a little tired.



FIgure on a Set

Although I've seemed to focus on the sensuality of the model - and can you blame me - this shot shows his lighter side, just breaking into a smile. 

He could never be really serious for long; that was his charm.



Figure seated

The image speaks for itself, but I suppose if one had to choose an adjective, the word would be "smouldering", a term I don't think I've ever used before in this context.

All the images in this series were shot on film using a two-light set-up, if anyone really cares.



Figure on a Set

Mikel in a full frontal pose, unabashedly sensual.  There is no compromise with this image; it is frank and open, no-holds-barred.

The model and the pose are one.



Seated Figure on an Empty Set

Mikel, seated.  It was late night and the dark, empty theater heightened the mood.

There is something about an empty theater that is inescapably eerie, at least to me.



Figure on an Empty Set

Introducing a new model, Mikel, in a shoot done on an empty theater set.

Mikel is one of my favorite people, at the same time incredibly sexy and wonderfully funny.  He is one of those people of whom it could be truly said that he lights up a room when he enters it.

He is also a multi-talented performer, campy and irrepressible.

I always had a good time when he was around, and more than once he made the theater grind a pleasure.

This shoot was no exception, and warrants a series, so you will see him for several days.



Narcissus

Rob as Narcissus.

Shot on film, scanned and digitally manipulated.



Figure

Another in the theater series.  A somewhat reluctant actor; a beautiful person.

Shot on film with one light source.



Figure

From the same theater shoot as "Figure on Black" (Tuesday, August 2, 2011).  It was my task to photograph the cast in discretely nude poses for use as lobby photos and posters.

The careful observer will notice that I wasn't entirely successful with the "discrete" part in this shot, but corrected it in the final print.



Shot on film.

Boy in the Shower

Figure in natural light.  Danger defused? Or merely softened?

Figure on Black

The polar opposite of Timmy's shoot, done at the same time as a publicity photo for a theatrical production.  Here is raw sex at its darkest and most brooding.

Timmy is play; Rob is danger.

Shot on film with one light source.



The End

I debated whether this was too much, but decided to post it.  I find it playful and not really prurient; a pleasant exercise in symmetry.  I hope you agree.

In any event, I thought it an appropriately fond farewell to Timmy, for awhile.  You may see him again.

Shot on film in natural light.