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Thursday, December 19, 2024
Cheers to the Naughty List : Liam by Alex Arreola
'The Nice list is way overrated!'
Although Santa may keep a close eye on us all year long, when it comes to most other people in our lives, the naughty list is a little more seasonal. You don't often hear parents at the mall, or in a grocery store, threatening to call Santa in July or August.. Even when a child is acting up, that threat isn't really used much at the beach the summer, or at church, in early May. Most parents, if they want it have meaning, save that ultimate of threat, for just the months of November and December.
That means we can be naughty for at least ten months of the year. That gives us plenty of time the rest of the year, to act up, give in to urges, and be our true, and authentic selves. It's not that hard to reign it in a bit over Christmas, when we're visiting our Grandparents, or at the office Christmas party.
There are advantages to making the naughty list, something artist and designer Alex Arreola knows well. He's made being, or his case dressing, a little naughty, part of the foundation for his work. I was first introduced to Alex's work through photographer John Mar. Alex's designs donned the beautiful bodies of the models I was featuring, (HERE:) and had me wanting to see, and learn more about his creations.
Although Alex often uses jewelry in his decorative designs, give the time of year, a a color change was sin order. Instead of the usual silver and golds, for this shoot, model Liam Shimizu wrapped in just red. Given Alex always goes beyond using tradition fashion, Liam's beautiful body is decorated in only thick red rope. This year, Liam's definitely on the knotty list!
Bob Burkhardt: Woolen Week!
'Sweaters are like blankets, but you you can wear outside.'
We all love our summer shorts and tank tops, but like it or not, Saturday marks the first official day of winter. It also begins the busiest sweater season of the year. Sure, many people wear sweaters all year long, but for many of us, Christmas week is the busies woolen week of year. Even if not wool, but are cotton, synthetic fiber or some blended combination, it's the week to pull them out and put them on.
They may be shoved in the back of the closet for the other 51 weeks, but holiday week, they're the star attraction. Despite the itch, you can't pose for a family portrait without your best sweater on. Just try it without, I guarantee you, someone, usually your mother, will have something to say.
It's a busy, busy week with social functions requiring more than the usual shirt and jeans you usually wear. There's those ugly sweater parties and the office holiday function. Family gatherings and meals that for some reason, require you to dress up. There's church, and visits from aunts, who look to see that you're wearing the sweater that they gave you last Christmas.
Photographer Bob Burkhardt knows the value of a great sweater, at the holidays, and during a photo shoot. Bob encourages his models, in this case the delicious Chris, to wear them just the right way. Although the Burkhardt method, naked, except for the sweater, might not go over so well with Grandma at the holiday dinner, it does make a statement and would cause a splash at the office party.
RMark Photography: Striking The Right Orb
Jake
Tobias
'It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!'
Carter
When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to decorate for Christmas. I used to drive my mother nuts to haul the boxes down from the attic. I started in late November, and didn't let up until she finally said yes. My mother didn't like to decorate too early, so it was not until around December 10th or 12th that she'd finally give the ok. Not the tree mind you, that didn't go up until around the 20th, but the other decorations I could go to town with.
Jeremy
When I was about 9 or 10, she came up with a plan. I couldn't decorate our home until around the 18th, but she drove me to the home of my great aunt and uncles, as well as two single aunts, to decorate their homes for them. Mom figured it would get it out of my system, and off her back, as well help out our elderly relatives. I enjoyed it, and was usually give a few bucks and some home made treats, but didn't curb my desire to haul out the holly at home.
Marc
One of the things I loved about decorating was pulling out the boxes. It was the 80's and 90's when I used to decorate for my relatives, and most were still storing their treasured ornaments in cardboard boxes. It was little later that everyone jumped on the plastic storage bin craze. Now we all know that Christmas is about smells as much as anything. Cinnamon, pine, chocolate and peppermint. There were smells from my mother's baking, I only smelled at Christmas.
Cody
I'm not talking about those wonderful smells though, I'm talking about the smells from those cardboard boxes that came from the attic. I especially enjoyed opening the boxes from my relatives, boxes that I had no idea, what treasures lay inside. Yes, part of the smell wasn't necessarily healthy. A good dose of musty cardboard, floating up from boxes that spent too many years stuck in attics and basements.
Conner
Part of the smell however, was history, fragrances from memories, and of Christmas' past. I can't exactly explain it, but for anyone who remembers unpacking boxes full of decorations, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The older relatives loved to tell stories as I took out each decoration, a comment about how long they'd had it, where it came from, or which relative it was passed down from.
Christian
My favorite smells, and favorite stories, came from the attic, and boxes from my great aunt and uncle. They were about 70 at the time, and their boxes were full of those huge glass ornaments, large, colorful orbs, and long, thin gold and silver icicles, all made with thin glass in shapes and color combinations you rarely see today. Over the many years of decorating for them, I think I only broke one. They were clearly not happy, but reassured me was ok. I remember they tried to have it fixed, without success, but because of the memories connected to it, had the glass put into a clear plastic orb to keep.
Alex
I still get a shiver or excitement when I pull the glass balls out, today, from my garage and from big plastic bins. The smells aren't the same, but the tradition still evokes the same memories. I get that same feeling every December when Roger from RMark Photography sends on his newest set of Christmas balls.
I've been featuring Roger's collection of Christmas ball images for over five years, and like so many things associated with the holiday, it's become a festive tradition. These year, Roger added several new and naked, models to his annual series. Like most our own decorations, each year we mix some, that you've seen before on FH, and some, are brand spanking new. I love the many poses the models make with the ornaments. I think I especially love the way the orbs their holding in front of them, look so stunning, with their orb shaped behinds.
Loga
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