AcidWashedGenes In reply to sweetylulu [2009-08-27 17:03:00 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome. Great work!

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sweetylulu In reply to AcidWashedGenes [2009-08-28 14:03:28 +0000 UTC]

thanks

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AcidWashedGenes In reply to peterpazucha [2009-08-27 17:03:20 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome. Thanks for posting your work, it's wonderful.

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AcidWashedGenes In reply to peterpazucha [2009-08-27 17:07:39 +0000 UTC]

The photo is fantastic, it's a definite favorite of mine for sure! I am fascinated by the human form in all shapes and sizes so it's nice to see a unique spin put on the subject.

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peterpazucha In reply to AcidWashedGenes [2009-08-27 20:24:51 +0000 UTC]

I'm really playing with making skin more and more of a landscape in whatever way works for each specific model. I love the different textures of skin. I wish I could get more african-americans to pose for me for that very reason -- very different texture. And then some bodies just cry out for certain treatment..... I'm still very intuitive. It's what's right for THAT body at that moment.

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AcidWashedGenes In reply to peterpazucha [2009-08-27 22:08:19 +0000 UTC]

I really appreciate your approach to nude art. You treat the body as a canvas or landscape instead of a mere sex object. How long have you been doing this?

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peterpazucha In reply to AcidWashedGenes [2009-08-28 00:51:56 +0000 UTC]

Perhaps the question to be asked is not how long have I been doing this, but what have I been doing before this.

The simple direct answer is about 5 years.

But I've been a photographer for over 30 and for almost all of that time I specialized in landscape and architectural images. Very few people in any of them. And a few years ago I was looking over my historical portfolio and realized how few people there were and made a conscious choice to change directions in my work.

I love the flow of landscapes -- especially the textures and variety of light (and consequent shadows).

I love the structure of architecture -- the stark lines, the delineation, and the practice not often enough followed of suiting building to location.

My work with humanscapes, with the Landscapes We Live In is a direct result of those two regimens. I am exploring the human container -- these skin-suits we walk around in -- as if they were nothing more than landscape or architectural entities.

As for the "sex object" issue....

I'm a guy who's been married to my best friend for 40 yrs. More than that I have always had more female friends than male friend -- I blame that on the fact that I hate sports and love cooking; I spend more time at JoAnn Fabrics than most women and I'm always out looking for props to make the ladies I shoot look better. Simply put that mindset has enabled me to befriend almost all the models who have posed for me over the years.

I suspect that my earliest images were NOT as disconnected from sexuality as they are now. Each year I listen to more stories about the way women are treated -- I do not have to "test" the stories for truth because so much of what I hear from any one model I have actually seen during my lifespan -- but hearing the stories as so many threads in a single fabric (excuse the mixed metaphors) has had a tremendous impact.

The fact of the matter is that when I shoot a model I feel as if I am shooting a close friend. I want them to look their best, I want them to be proud of the images that we create, and I want them to return to the studio again and again and again. I dont shoot people I don't respect, and in my mind if I am reducing the entire person to nothing more than a sex object that there is little that I could do that is MORE disrespectful than that. A woman is more than two boobs and a pussy. For that matter those are words that I NEVER use in the studio. I refuse to even rely upon slang for body parts in large part because every person has their own connotations that go along with slang -- some positive and some negative. I don't want my models seeing them self in anything less than a positive light; and slang is one way that happens.

I shoot a lot of plus sized, and more than plus sized women. For a very good reason -- when it comes to humanscapes straight is not better. The curvier the better. Sure, an 18 yr old who weighs in at 87 lbs might be tight and fairly complected, but she's all skin and bone. When I get a gal in studio who's 170 or 220 or maybe even 300 I have the "problem" that they often do not see themselves as beautiful -- because they buy into contemporary standards -- but there is little that makes me happier than shooting a large woman and having her love her images, having her see her own beauty, having her be able to hold her head higher because someone saw the beauty that she always knew was there -- but couldn't find anyone to articulate.

It's been a long journey, and I'll admit that when I have a new heavy-weight model in the studio, and I'm confronted by cellulite or varicose veins or scars or whatever that I often have to take a breath and step back and FIND the thing that will make that person glow with pride. Sometimes it's easier than others; but then I figure if the model has the courage to walk into a strange photographer's studio and drop her duds on the dressing table and venture into the studio as naked as the day she was born -- well then it's my job to make her glory in her own nudity.

I try very hard to KEEP my images non-sexual. Almost all my models are non-model-models. And they all work for free (TFCD) They are moms, welders, accountants, teachers, and students by and large. It is rare for me to shoot an exotic dancer, they don't seek me out because they generally WANT images that are sexual. But my non-models want respectability, they want some pride in what they do, and they want to leave the studio feeling good about spending some adult time and being respected and treated with dignity. Oh, I do the odd pubic shot -- but not a lot. I do a lot of breast shots, it's not just men who are preoccupied with breasts -- a lot of my models are in love with their breasts because they give them power over men -- but what I focuss upon for any single model is a function of what the body looks like that's in front of the lens at any one time. Depending on the body I shoot what's best on offer: tummies, legs, breasts, back, neck, collarbone, legs, arms, butt... whatever. Effectively I find specially beautiful parts of THEIR body and show them to them in a light they never saw them self in before.

I dont NEED to view them as sex objects because they are so much more....

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AcidWashedGenes In reply to Galacticspiral [2009-08-27 17:07:55 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome. Thanks for posting your work, it's fantastic!

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AcidWashedGenes In reply to mangastyledraw [2009-08-27 17:08:11 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome. Thanks for posting your work!

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