Photography and Painting

This one is based, not on a painting, but on a photograph of a painter, Thomas Eakins, in his 19th century studio.

It struck me, apart with such amenities as lighting, and, if you're lucky, heat, the grubby ambiance of the artist's studio has changed very little.

Here is a photo of my old studio in a historic section of Houston.  Although it had two AC window units, it was sweltering in the summer and freezing in the winter.  But it was a marvelous space, with wonderful light, and I miss it. The owner decided it would serve much better as a location for a mid-rise condo.

Rob was waiting while I adjusted a light.

This figure of Rob was taken at another location, but fits beautifully in the setting.  

I used this background with several models.  I will post more of them.

Photography and Painting

This post is not strictly about a painting, but a work of art, nevertheless.


When I met the model, Rodolfo, at a party, I was struck by several things. First of all, there was his undeniable beauty.  He was a native of Peru, and that gave him an exotic air.  I had never known anyone from Peru. His speech, in flawless English, was low and melodic, and he moved like a cat.


The combination was too much, and I did what I virtually never do - I asked a perfect stranger to pose for me.  He agreed, and we have done several successful shoots.

But there was something else.  I had the strangest feeling that I had seen him before.  The almond eyes, the arched brows, the sensuous mouth and tawny skin - I knew them, but from where - and when?

I put the feeling aside and began to shoot, but it would be some time later before it finally hit me.  I knew that face.

The golden funerary mask of Tutankhamen.

I was actually privileged to see the mask itself when it toured the U.S. back in the '70's.  It is as breathtaking as it looks, and a sight I shall never forget. I never expected to meet the original.

The image below was not taken specifically for the mask.  It was a casual bathing suit shot.  I added eye make-up in Photoshop, and superimposed the headdress, necklace and beard from the original.  I painted on the bracelets.

I present it here in honor of the new Tut Exhibition currently touring, which opened at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Houston last week.  You be the judge.

Photography and Painting

The last in a series with Darin, this is a simple transposition against the background of the original by Thomas Eakins.

The original.

Photography and Painting

My shoots with Darin resulted in several poses like this one, which slips seamlessly into a Von Gloeden setting:

The original, taken by Baron Von Gloeden at Taormina, Sicily.  

Early 20th century.

Photography and Painting

In this painting by Alma-Tadema, "Whispering Noon", two young maidens share confidences in a classical setting.

Again, I simply added Darin to the painting, where he sits, not noticing, as the girls whisper about him.

Photography and Painting

Another of the romantic paintings of Alma-Tadema, the lovers "Xanthe and Phaon"

This time, instead of substituting a figure, I simply added one, of Darin sitting quietly on the edge of the pool.  Xanthe seems to be momentarily distracted by him, as Phaon, oblivious, continues to worship her.

I had particular fun with the reflection of Darin in the pool.  Look closely:

Photography and Painting

Albrecht Durer's "Adam and Eve".

Durer's intricate engraving was a challenge to imitate.  It took a number of filter techniques in Photoshop to approximate.

It was difficult to find a model with the appropriate musculature.  I was lucky in Darin, who was a pro, and a joy to work with.  

The shoot was a complicated one, but I think the result was worth it. 

Photography and Painting

The 19th century British painter Alma-Tadema was wildly popular with his late-Victorian audience.  His cool, romantic history paintings, set in idealized settings of Rome and Greece, gave his patrons a safe and safely remote view of the titillating pagan past, often with elements of discrete nudity thrown in for good measure.


His meticulously-rendered backgrounds are a favorite of mine, and I use them again and again.


One of his paintings, "Expectations" is shown below:

Wade, a young model I was using for the first time, in his first nude shoot, showed up with an unfortunate body shave.  I prefer little or no shaving or trimming with my models; I think it looks premeditated and cheap, and tends toward gay porn.

In any event, Wade did not know what he was doing, and had shaved completely to the pubic line, but left his legs, which were quite hairy, unshaven.  The unintended result was somewhat animalistic.

I shot him in various poses, but one struck me as particularly faun-like, his spread toes resembling hooves, so I added horns and placed him in Alma-Tadema's idyllic setting.

The result is below: 

Photography and Painting

This photograph of Rob, one of a series of dance poses, was not intended specifically for this painting, but I thought it fit the spirit of the original.


Because he does not exactly match the figure in the painting, I had him step out of the frame.

The original, "Primavera", by Italian painter Sandro Botticelli:

Photography and Painting

Marie-Louise O'Murphy, by the 18th century French court painter Boucher. Marie-Louise was a favorite of Louis XV, and gave Madame Pompadour a run for her money.  She was much admired for her posterior, and shows it off here to her best advantage.

Michael, who looked equally good coming or going, was particularly effective in this pose a la O'Murphy.

Posed on a sofa in natural light.

Photography and Painting

Oedipus and the Sphinx, by the 19th century French painter Ingres. 


Brandon posed with red satin drape.

 The original:

Photography and Painting

A romantic 18th century painting  of Cupid and Psyche, by the French painter Gerard.

Rob was much more suited to this image of Cupid.

Shot digitally with a one-light source, manipulated in Photoshop.

Photography and Painting

By the late 18th century the constraints against nudity in art had relaxed somewhat in Spain, but it still had the ability to shock. Goya's "La Maja Desnuda", "The Naked Maja" was perhaps the first really explicit female nude painted in the modern era.


The model, and indeed the painting, has always been something of a mystery.  The popular belief is that it represents the Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya was reputed to have had an affair, but that is far from certain. More likely it is a composite piece.  It, and its companion, a painting of the same model and pose clothed, were never exhibited publicly in Goya's lifetime.

Because of its somewhat impressionistic rendering, it is difficult to reproduce photographically.  The figure seems to float away from the bed and bedclothes, not quite touching.  The model's pose is confrontational, as is the model in Manet's "Olympia", painted some three-quarters of a century later.

I used the same model in both.

Photography and Painting

Nudes were frowned upon in 17th century Spain, and rarely displayed.  The court painter Diego Velasquez produced this rare exception of Venus at her toilette, gaining acceptance with the discrete back view.  Know as the "Rokeby Venus" for its donor, it hangs today in the National Gallery in London.


Here I have substituted a graceful male figure, admiring his reflection.

The original:

Velasquez, The Rokeby Venus

Photography and Painting

Photographic figure superimposed on Cabanal's "Birth of Venus", an overwrought 19th century work.


The lush female figure of Venus has been replaced by its masculine counterpart.

The original:

Cabanal, "The Birth of Venus"

Photography and Painting

When Manet's Olympia was shown in Paris it caused a sensation.  It depicted a successful courtesan in her boudoir, staring frankly and un-apologetically out of the frame. It was sexual liberation at its rawest, a hundred years before its time, and it shocked its audience to the core.


In recreating the picture, the main ingredient was this in-your-face sensuality.  I chose a model who had this quality naturally, and enhanced it in the direction of the pose.  


What you see is what you get.

The original:

"Olympia", Edouard Manet

Photography and Painting

Rob as St. Sebastian, after the Italian painter Perugino.  Artists of the period often painted the subject of St. Sebastian being martyred, as it gave them a "legitimate" reason to show a male figure nude or nearly nude.


Rob's body type did not match the original, but his attitude and stance are true to the genre.

The original, below:

 "St. Sebastian", Perugino

Photography and Painting

At around the time I was experimenting with digital photography I had the idea of incorporating figures into the settings of some of my favorite paintings.  Many of them were female nudes, for which I began substituting male nudes.  Below is one of the first:

After Manet's "Luncheon on the Grass"

The model, Brandon, was posed to imitate the female figure in the original. Some of the drapery he is sitting on is real, the rest is painted.

Shot with an Olympus digital with one light source.

The original, by Edouard Manet

Figure

Shot with Olympus digital, one light source.



Expressions

Sitting on a sofa at an open window, with me sitting on the floor in front.  I put the camera on a tripod and we just talked - about what had happened since we last saw each other, about his experiences in New York theater, about his hopes and ambitions.

From time to time I clicked the shutter.

Shot with a digital Olympus in natural light.  Click on image to view properly.