This was one of the few personal projects I shot in 2010. Lexi, a dear friend, was visiting from the states and I asked her if she’d pose in studio for two creative portraits using a one-tone colour palette of pink.
I’m not quite sure anymore where or why I thought up this quite random idea but the shoot was none the less very fun and a great creative process assisted by friends.
We spent an evening in the studio painting found (in a dumpsite) objects pink as well as an old metal bath tub I’d seen in a derelict yard outside our studio. I shopped a number of stores empty of pink razors (of which I still have a bag stored somewhere) and bought a selection of other random (pink) items to fill in the fantasy story line look of the shoots (buckets, towels, rented candy floss machines etc).
It was a fun and messy shoot and one of those experiences that I guess adds to ones creative experience.
The images had no particular function except to exist, really. The building, sourcing and thinking-up of a scenario for the brief amount of time it takes to actually document it (making it a brief reality) has always been one of my joys of the photographic process.
A snap of some of the people who worked together on this shoot and also a bit of a “behind the scenes” look at the scenario before its post processing stage…
(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…
I properly met and first photographed artist Lynette Bester in 2008 while she was preparing to print her entire body with printers ink for an art work to be showed at the Association for Visual Arts in Cape Town.
A detail from my visual diary of the time. A working page with test strips created while I was processing “Shooting Godiva” images of Lynette Bester.
Lynette tells the story…
I had just come out of a long abusive relationship that had left me questioning my own body confidence and self acceptance. Serendipitously Leah, who had been a student of mine was now my colleague and for the first time we found ourselves in the little staff room talking about art, body politics and our up-coming bodies of work. I knew Leah had for a long time explored, quite successfully, the photographing of the erotic female body and most importantly I understood that she sought to empower the women in her photographs. Her photographs were meant for the women who posed for her to cherish and not for any implied male viewer. Leah and I were not friends yet, that was still to come.
Lynette Bester’s whole body print titled “Godiva”, 2008 for the Association of Visual Arts group show “Baring”
I had been invited onto a show at the AVA, Church Street, Cape Town, called Baring curated by Eunice Geustyn. For the show I wanted to do a nude body print of myself on a single sheet of paper. An aggressive act: dirty, naked, confident. My sister was going to roll me up with printer’s ink and print me onto a single large ream of cotton paper.
Leah was interested: she wanted to photograph the process. That was the first time she came to my home, meeting my mother and sister, and the first time I was able to be naked in front of anyone for the better part of a year. My body print was called Godiva – a nick-name my father had for me because as a child I enjoyed being naked so much. My father had passed away in the previous year. Leah’s photographs were called Shooting Godiva, there close up details revealed an ambiguous sexuality and tautological strength. Leah was also curated on to the exhibition Baring with three photographs of my body covered in ink and in the process of printing.
I hadn’t looked at these images for years and found the negatives again the other day. Below are a selection that I had rescanned.
It was a new experience from two perspectives: It’s not often you get to witness somebody acting out such a scenario, including all the logistics that go with actually landing on a giant sheet of (expensive) paper to make a perfect print first time (which Lynette did) but also because the way the light hit the printers ink and highlighted the details of her skin and shape was remarkable and very very beautiful.
The element of nudity is played down by the ink coverage but the tactile nature of the images is highlighted….
I photographed Lairen Terblanche in December 2013, she is to date one of three female fitness competitors I’ve shot so far,- always an always intriguing experience because of the very particular and strong body image they have which is not necessarily in line with that of the stereotype pushed by fashion and advertising of women’s body images.
Here are some images from our shoot which took place at two locations in and around Cape Town and was a shared with her friend and fellow body builder Isobel (more on her later).
Lairen sent me a large number of reference images for her shoot and highlighted a few poses which she found particularly fitting to her sensibilities (the one shown above specifically and the shot shown of her leaning back in the water shown below).
Working with such muscularity proposes some challenges as I’ve become somewhat adjusted to photographing women for quite a specific sensual look which provides a paradox when approaching a body with masculine associated traits.
Lairen first contacted me while I was shooting with Playboy South Africa, her body type was not matched to the brand identity and so she ended up commissioning me privately to photograph her. She was very happy to have her images published here and so I also asked her to answer a few questions to help bring across the way she sees her body…
Why did you want to do a photo shoot of yourself and how have you used the images?
I have always wanted to shoot with the Playboy Photographer and be in Playboy myself to be quite honest. I felt that if I wanted to portray my body in a sexy, yet respectable and classy way, semi naked… that I would want to shoot with someone that has the best experience. I have used the photos on social media and we are enlarging a shot or two for the house
How was the experience of shooting for you? What were the most memorable things for you about it?
Incredible. Exhilarating. Exciting. Fun and at times nervous, lol. memorable in being able to say I shot with the incredible Leah …. and doing it with my best friend in the whole world
How do you feel about your body (as a competitor body building competitions)?
I LOVE MY BODY, whether its on stage or off stage, in season or off season. I am proud of my body. I want to show woman that muscle can be sexy.
How do you feel about your body (as the subject in the images I photographed of you)?
Just so proud.
It was an interesting process to work on your images after I photographed you, this was because I know how carefully you work to sculpt the shapes you have achieved. Do you feel the images are a true and beautiful reflection of how you look?
yes. yes yes yes. No doubt.
Considering that you compete in fitness contests with your body how do you feel about your body in terms of beauty and confidence? Society has very particular notions of beauty, where does body building fit into this and how does it effect the way you feel about yourself? Your confidence?
I do this for me. I don’t do this for anybody else. What is important is that I LIKE me, I LIKE the way I look. and THATS what matters. If I have been doing this for anybody else. I would be deeply disappointed. I lead a fitness lifestyle overall. I love training, competitions are just PART of it but I DONT train to compete. everyone always has an opinion of everyone else. I don’t. As long as you are happy, that’s what matters. I am a woman and I LOVE my muscles. I find it disrespectful to say the least, on how people in general who don’t take care of themselves ONE BIT, get to criticize someone like me who works incredibly hard.
