The Guy With The Camera: Chez by Nohea Dunn

'I was the guy with the camera taking photos.'
Ken (Nohea Dunn)

I think most of us remember, or actually were, that guy in high school who always had the camera round his neck. The chronicler of events. Sometimes annoying and many times ridiculed by those, who for various reason, struggled to have their image captured. But, as many times as people asked 'why do you always carry that stupid camera with you?' others were asking, 'Can you get me a copy of that pic from...'. The images from this camera, often developed in the photography lab dark room, ended up in many peoples bedrooms, framed on walls, gifts for girlfriends and of course in the school's yearbook.

There is a secret these guys with the camera's know that those in the pictures did not usually figure out. The person smiling brightly for the camera was not always the person in focus. Behind the lens we were able to capture things many did not know we were focused on. The hot guy in the bleachers behind the player on third base, the butt of the guy walking down the hall beside the girls posing in front of the camera, the shirtless jogger running on the sidewalk near the tree you appeared to be focused on.

Ken (Nohea in Hawaiian) Dunn was one of those guys who dabbled with photography in high school and into college and then dental school as well. Ken was the guy in his high school with the camera taking photos. Currently he is an active duty dentist in the army, having just completed his 25th year of service. The army has given the Austin photographer the opportunity to do extensive travel, Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam and Europe. Ken also lived in Hawaii for 8 years, giving him plenty of great places and locations to photograph. When I first saw Ken's work there was something, not sure exactly how to describe it, it was subtle yet clear, a nuanced feel which set his work apart from other images of the male form. It might be in part the culmination of the artists experiences. but there was something I connected to. Ken's work with Chez, especially the images on the stairs above, have become some of my favorite images from his portfolio.

'While in Hawai`i I was lucky to have access to a black and white photo lab so I spent a lot of time with black and white from the shoot to the final image. I got interested in hand tinting of B&W images there as well. From Hawai`i, moved to Austin, TX and stumbled across a Meet Up group that focuses on photographing male models. I made the move to digital and joined the Meet Up Group. Since I had never worked with models or in a studio with the lighting, I was excited about learning those aspects of the art.'

These images of Chez came from one of the sessions with the Meet Up group, in this case three photographers working with one model. The shots were taken at the home of one of the groups members and it was one of the other photographers, who had shot another model there, who suggested the stairs as a shooting location. Ken chose to keep his setting a little darker with more of the spot light effect.

'I tend not to shoot full frontal nudes as I find that curiosity can be more sexy.'

'Chez is one of the nicest and easiest models to work with I've shot. Truly just a good guy - no arrogance at all. As I spend a lot of time during the week in San Antonio, I'm hoping to schedule a shoot there with him soon.'
Nohea Dunn

Nohea Dunn on ModelMayhem