Between The Bushes: Marco by Virgin Islands Pictures

Now that spring is finally here, we will all, hopefully be spending more time outside soaking up the warm, nurturing rays of the sun. With the warmer weather, many people venture out to walk their neighbourhood streets, and other familiar places they see every day. I remember a time however, when I was much younger, when walking was not about moving in circles for exercise, instead, we walked to actually get somewhere. Exploring areas of our world that although close to home, had yet to be actually seen.

There was an excitement about rounding unknown corners, opening fences set up to keep us out and peaking over hedges grown for privacy, not beauty. Then there were always those chains going from one pole to another. Put there to stop us maybe, but instead, became an invitation run into the place the chain was trying to keep us out of. As we get older, many of us sadly lose our desire to explore. We become more timid, more conforming. The ups and downs of life having sucked our need for adventure and replaced it with the need for safety and comfort.

I'll always remember however, the excitement of wandering, and the thrill at coming across something we had not known was there. Turning that corner, peaking between those bushes only to be met with a visual stimulating reward. Sadly, I never came across anyone like Marco Sweet, except of course in my fantasies. But imagine, wandering through the backyards of strangers only to push aside those bushes to discover a hunky construction worker just completing his final project for the day. Even though the home owners that hired him are out of town, he still looks around to make sure he is alone before stripping down, stretching his tired muscles and slipping his tired, sweaty body into the cool water of the swimming pool.

Thankfully, Marco's quick glance around the yard did not detect the set of eyes, memorized between the leaves of those bushes in the corner of the yard. Thankfully also, this spring fantasy was captured by photographer Calder Van Gogh from Virgin Islands Pictures. When I first saw Calder's image of Marco that I used as pic of the day, there was a beautiful fantasy quality about it. Marco's muscled, Greek Godlike body. reaching through the tree's towards the brilliant sunlight above. Something about the image made me think, that although clearly alone, Marco was perfectly fine with being watched and admired. In reality, Marco actually does work in construction, and according to Calder is quite good at it! 'One of those fellows that has a natural ability with wood and creating spaces.'

Raleigh, North Carolina's Calder Van Gogh name most likely sounds sort of familiar to most. A combination of the photographer and sculpturs two favorite artists. Calder says these images were shot about 5 years ago when Marco was about 26. Calder says his photography skills, as well as his camera's and photography equipment, have improved greatly over the last five years since these shots were taken. The equipment used back then however, both Calder's and Marco's, did a mighty fine job creating the perfect spring fantasy! Hopefully Calder will support a follow-up post in the future to share and showcase some of his more recent work!

Virgin Islands Pictures on ModelMayhem