(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 photographed this client in March 2008 at both Llandudno beach and the Ruth Prowse photo studio while I was still still part time lecturing there.
Our studio shoot was based mostly on ideas of body symmetry, movement, dramatic lighting and form. Her body, which to this day is one of the most lean and toned ones I’ve ever worked with, definitely leant itself to this and many of the images came out very beautifully.
I remember that this was one of those shoots where I was still grappling with lighting even though I got it right, I was frustrated.
The shoot we did on the beach was fantastic: early morning light, rough gigantic granite boulders and the lithe sculptural shapes of her athletic body which were even more defined with oil.
