I met Ursula a number of years ago and was thrilled to be commissioned to shoot a series of pregnancy portraits of her as well as capture some family moments afterwards with herself, her daughter and her husband.
Ursula was pregnant with her second child, and in her third trimester when we worked together. The pregnancy portraits we shot were very simple but bold. I lit her with one light, set back, to just highlight her silhouette plus a little bit more detail created by a poly board on her other side.
There is a decadence in the profile of a pregnant women which I love. The shapes are so beautifully abundant. Every line of the female body becomes enhanced so that a series of interconnected spheres take over the body.
Heavily pregnant women, especially when shot in this style, remind me of the Venus of Willendorf, a paleolithic sculpture associated with fertility and childbearing (picture below).
Ursula and I also shot a few images with her young daughter in an embrace, the resulting image I find to be a special reflection of motherhood.
Together their bodies become a knot of warmth, love and nurturing.
(Note: “The Housewives” was a term I fondly coined in 2006 after I started getting shoot requests from private, individual women who became my clients. Many of the women who contacted me were married and in their mid 30’s and were doing the shoots as gifts to their husbands. The folder in my archives is still called this and so I’ve stuck to it, in part just for the irony: most of these women are not “housewives” at all, but strong independent and forward thinking women who I have had the honour of documenting.
All are private commissions and the demographic has changed substantially over the years. Some I’m still in contact with, others I’ve totally lost contact with, some have become friends, some may wish not to have their real names used, others don’t mind, some may have their faces obscured for privacy reasons, others have generously shared their experiences of being photographed.)
I met and worked with Susan in December of 2009 in studio at Ruth Prowse School of Art while I was still part-time lecturing there. Her shoot was predominantly based on a story of different lingerie outfits and some nudes (which are the ones Ive included in this post).
The images, I believe, were made as a wedding gift for her fiancé. I would later document their wedding as well.
(Note: “The Housewives” was a term I fondly coined in 2006 after I started getting shoot requests from private, individual women who became my clients. Many of the women who contacted me were married and in their mid 30’s and were doing the shoots as gifts to their husbands. The folder in my archives is still called this and so I’ve stuck to it, in part just for the irony: most of these women are not “housewives” at all, but strong independent and forward thinking women who I have had the honour of documenting.
All are private commissions and the demographic has changed substantially over the years. Some I’m still in contact with, others I’ve totally lost contact with, some have become friends, some may wish not to have their real names used, others don’t mind, some may have their faces obscured for privacy reasons, others have generously shared their experiences of being photographed.)
I met and shot Lauren in 2007, it was at a time when many of the nude commissions I was doing were linked to the graduate body of work I completed at the end of 2005,- themes such as the French Main, the Bride etc were often therefore requested by my clients who had seen the grad work on exhibition.
“The Bride” – one of the images from my graduate body of work completed in 2005 which later inspired many of my clients private commissions…“The Kinky French Maid” – one of the images from my graduate body of work completed in 2005 which later inspired many of my clients private commissions…
Laurens shoot was done (if I remember correctly) at her Grans house one afternoon in January. We shot a series of different looks including a bridal themed series and many various B&W images utilizing interesting props I had collected – from lengths of strung pearls to body cinches.
I was definitely still in the relatively inexperienced zone of my career and there are so many things now that I would have done differently, but then I suppose that is the value of trial ‘n error/experience…
For example (if you were a student reading this it could be helpful):
I am now pretty much obsessed with getting my backgrounds perfect, I steam them, iron them etc so that there is not a crease in sight as they are a pain to retouch out later. Also creases and folds show up in high contrast when shooting against satin.
I stayed in touch with Lauren and messaged her to ask her if she’s be fine with me adding her images to this archive, what see said made me super happy…after all this time…
I absolutely LOVED doing this shoot with you. It was like a discovery of my womanhood. I felt sexy without ever feeling overexposed. I was comfortable at all times.
Its been probably 8yrs since that shoot and I look at the pics quite regularly still and can’t get over how amazing they are. It shows me that I am a beautiful, sexy woman. I would do them again in a heart beat!
Lauren was 21 or 22 when I worked with her and was by far the youngest commercial commission I had ever shot. It was a quirky and fun experience, and in the French maid themed series I used the great location to add depth to the look.
I think her Gran was having tea in the sun room at the time we were shooting this in her lounge, I wondered what she thought…
This small series of B&W photographs were probably the first nudes I ever shot.
It was a project assignment which one could choose to handle the nude in one of a selection of different genres (political, erotic, medical, abstract, documentary etc). Below are some of my darkroom test strips from the time as well as sketches/plans for my studio shoot (also a first at that time).
A double page spread from one of my first visual diaries, back in 2004. A culmination of planning, project briefs, test strips and doodling of the best kind.
My approach was very simplistic: the body + erotisised or fetishises objects/articles of clothing etc. I used honey, stockings, classic black lace lingerie, wire, oil, a series of butterflies I had photographed and cut out.
The images were exhibited in the Cape Town Month of Photography 2005.
“Working here with feminine paraphernalia, motifs of desire and gender binaries, the photographer weaves them into her photographic process to produce aesthetically alluring depictions of undercurrent themes such as constraint and seduction.
This series of black and white nudes was based on using simple carnal devices and incorporating the power of body language to answer the brief requirements of a series of images relating to the nude canon for exhibition at the Cape Town Month of Photography”
Detail from one of the darkroom contact prints from the series.
