Tag: Leah Hawker cape town photographer

“The Housewives”, Private Commissions:
This is Louise

Post author By Leah
Post date September 10, 2015
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This is Louise

(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 beautiful Louise in September 2006.

She may have been the first private commissioned job (in this genre) that I photographed on location.

Louise inspired me then and she inspires me still. She had a strong sense of self and a confidence about herself and her body that I admire.

We started her shoot on Witsands beach early in the morning. It was overcast and freezing, a few surfers were braving it out in the swell, we began in the dunes, a little way back from the beach. Louise must have been quite cold but she was also determined and absolutely accommodating to each of my ideas. Her goosebumps show the temperature but also add to the vulnerability of the open-air environment and therefore to the tone of the resulting pictures.

I brought a handful of natural props to the shoot but focussed more on highlighting the moody ambience of the morning and the beach textures in contrast with her femininity.

We shot a series of different bedroom-type looks later.
This part of our shoot together was a creative medley of props and looks we had pre-discussed. We used lingerie, accessories and backgrounds to create variety, some playful and fun tones, others more sensual or themed. The below images are a few examples.

Louise had opted for a more outdoorsy feel overall and so, towards the end of the day, we left for Llandudno beach to catch the sunset, set against giant granite boulders there.
Just to the left of the main beach are a small series of mini-beach-alcoves which are beautiful and very secluded for shooting in, it depends of course on the time of the year, sand and the tides but we were lucky- the rock was perfectly exposed, tide was out and the light was magical.

We brought and used minimal props,- just a few items such as cloth and oil which complemented the textural quality of the environment.

Looking back 9 years on work I shot at the start of my journey is gratifying. Each interaction with a woman I document is like a peek into the nature of women, femininity, their/our vulnerability and strength.

These images of Louise remind me not just about how much I’ve learned since I worked with her but about how each experience I’ve had has moulded my own understanding of our individuality and identity within the culture we reside.

Women I've Shot

Corporate Commission: Alan Walt Architects & Ass.
The Client Christmas Card 2007

Post author By Leah
Post date May 1, 2015
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The Client Christmas Card 2007

I met Alan Walt in 2007 when he contacted me via a recommendation from Heidi Erdmann of The Photographers Gallery ZA. Alan creates a somewhat controversial or abstract “christmas” card or seasons greetings type card to his clients at the end of each year. He strikes me as the kind of person who likes to ruffle feathers, challenge perceptions and so on and he uses this opportunity to do just that with his clients.
Previous cards had not been related to issues pertaining to sexuality or gender specifically. I got the feeling that he got a kick out of challenging my notions of the subject since it was the subject we would deal with for his commission if he wanted to collaborate with me as a creative.
I can’t remember exactly how the final concept came up. He wanted to incorporate his company name “AWA” into the product in a subliminal way and we discussed references and ideas and decided to use the [taboo] oriental art of Karada (rope tying) as the vehicle.

I had used Karada references, especially those of Nobuyoshi Araki a few years previously and we discussed then in context of incorporating the — I had used Karada references, especially those of Nobuyoshi Araki a few years previously and we discussed them in context of incorporating the ideas or art in Alan’s project.

I sketched my idea, we confirmed the look and went ahead with the job.

I generally work alone, I prefer it since communicating my creative vision, shoot process, etiquette with nude models or trying to maintain my patience with others working on my set frustrates me.

Alan wanted to be present at the shoot which I found totally unnecessary and purely voyeuristic as apposed to useful (he did not attend).
The shoot took place on a small budget, it was before I had my own studio and I shot it in my lounge using a mix of friends, acquaintances and family members who had willing accepted my request for them to pose for a group nude portrait all the while tied into a rope harness.
I sourced the rope from a local rope supply store in Lakeside, Cape Town and incorporated garments with fabric that would be a little reminiscent of a kimono lifted up to expose the body underneath it.
The tying process was a struggle,- it takes a while to create such an end result and with 5 models one can’t make the first overly tight while she has to wait for a good two hours still until the shoot commences. I did this alone and had an amazing amount of patience from the 5 women.

The end result was good and very close to the initial sketch of the concept. Below is the final image.

I shot the images digitally, this was my second year working with my first digital camera and was also at a time when I was still working at least 50% with my film cameras.

Alan put together a small amount of text which appeared on the back of the card. When I read over it now, 8 years later I’m surprised I agreed to it.

I shot a small series of details at the end of the shoot which I’ve only selected and messed around with now (below).
I like the strong graphic play between the rope and the body shape.

Tags Alan Walt Architects, araki, asian rope tying, AWA, Body harness, bondage, cape town photography, corporate branding, Karada, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, nobuyashi araki, nudes, rope bondage, rope tying, semiology

Projects Women I've Shot

PolaroidWomen 2014

I started shooting PolaroidWomen in October 2014, I still had one pack left of original Polaroid film hanging-out in the depths of our fridge which I’d bought in 2009 (expired 2007) and went and emptied a big portion of my bank account on another stack of Impossible film (the miraculous company that have managed to re-produce instant film for Polaroid after Polaroid stopped manufacturing film in 2008).

The-Begining-of-the-PolaroidWomen-project-by-Leah-Hawker-2014

I picked up my snap-shot Polaroid camera at Orms in 2006 I think and had only ever passed about 8-9 packs of film through it by 2013. I planned to use the project for OpenStudios 2014, one of the first few creative and art based projects I’ve re-involved with for the last 6 years (!).

The project resulted in a selected series of 35 framed instant images for the exhibition,- the images take a voyeuristic peek into a fantasy world of women in dreamy, nondescript natural spaces…..tiny portholes to a place where the ethereal is momentarily a reality.
Below are some snaps from the OpenStudios event:

Some of the images from the series below:

PolaroidWomen-9 Instant Images of Nudes by Leah Hawker Cape Town Photographer

PolaroidWomen-8 Instant Images of Nudes by Leah Hawker Cape Town Photographer

PolaroidWomen-7 Instant Images of Nudes by Leah Hawker Cape Town Photographer

PolaroidWomen-6 Instant Images of Nudes by Leah Hawker Cape Town Photographer

I aimed to approach the image taking process differently to my norm. Where I usually control and stage my work quite particularly, here I asked my models to be natural, carefree, awkward, real and just playful. I guided some more than others, depending on the location and woman I was working with.

I shot in about six different locations for the series, ranging from swimming pools in Franschoek, orchids, rivers, shooting ranges, forests and beaches,- all with a sort of anonymous composition which leaves the environment and the women to be anyone, anywhere, a slice of time, a dream.

I plan to continue the series into 2015. For now the remaining framed pieces left over after the Open Studios show are hanging at Exposure Gallery in the Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock.

Tags cape town photographer, cape town photography, Cape Town Polaroid, Exposure Gallery, Impossible project, impossible project instant images, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, nudes, open studios 2014, open studios cape town, original polaroids, polaroid, Polaroid exhibition, polaroid nude series, Polaroid photographs, polaroid project, PolaroidWomen

A Collection of Female Attire

The Collection: Stockings & Socks
#31- #33

Post author By Leah
Post date April 25, 2015
No Comments on The Collection: Stockings & Socks
#31- #33

(Please note: This is the “archive” of the collection of shoot props (generally lingerie/womens attire somehow) that I have gathered over the last 11 years of my career.
They are catalogued by number, and description for now as well as any other relevant information about their individual histories- how I came to have the items, what shoots they might have been used for, etc.
The style in which I document an item may vary according to the type of garment/object it is).

#31 – Knee-high socks
Knee-high cotton blend mens sports socks, sprayed green. I think I eventually found these at SportsUnlimited in Canal Walk after a mammoth search for any sock-style knee highs.
I was doing the pre-production for my first (!) Playboy Playmate shoot. The shoot was Rugby World Cup themed (all gold and green) and planned to be published in the September 2011 issue.

I found white socks a day before the shoot and asked the friend who was assisting me at the stadium to spray paint them green. I wouldn’t recommend this technique as they’re totally patchy- but it was the best solution at the time. Included is one of the published images from the locker rooms in the Cape Town stadium where we shot with Jade Fairbrother as Miss September.

#32 – Stockings
Thigh-high, black fishnet stockings, one size fits all. There’s this term “one size fits all” which would typically get attached to a mass-produced product like this and all it does in most cases (where the item doesn’t fit you) is leave women feeling inadequate I always think.

#33 – Knee-high stockings
Stripped semi-opaque and transparent, red knee high stockings. I bought two pairs in red and two pairs in fuchsia pink from a stocking factory shop in Woodstock years back.

Tags a collection of female attire, a collection of underwear, black fishnet stockings, cape town photography, feet, jade fairbrother, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, legs, one size fits all, playboy south africa, playboysouthafrica, Playmate shoot, red knee high stockings, rugby world cup 2011