Sitting In A Tree: Robbie Franco by Graham Martin

'Whether deep in an English forest, or a studio in the city, London artist Graham Martin’s love of capturing the male form ensures that regardless of model or location, the essence of each man in front of his lens will translates beautifully through in each and every image. '

I wrote the words above as part of an introduction to portfolio piece featuring the work of photographer Graham Martin for the most recent issue of tMf Magazine. While spending time with Graham's images, I was struck with a quality I really loved. Both with his in studio work and especially evident in his location work. I can only describe it as enchanting, maybe even slightly mystical. Graham seemed to be letting models to use their imaginations, to have fun, explore the Forrest surroundings and play. When you play, anything is possible and it almost felt like at any moment they might turn a corner or peak beyond a tree and run smack into Mr. Tumnus.

Photography has been a passion for Graham Martin since he was a child. His creative expression was not restricted to photography; he surrounded himself and filled his life with all aspects of the arts including art, music and drama. More recently however, he has dedicated his time specifically to photography and his site MenArt was launched to showcase his work with some of the countries most beautiful men

Recently, Graham collaborated with Amsterdam model Robbie Franco who some of you will most certainly remember from my profile, (No Limits) this past March. I commented in that piece how much I loved the level of expression and emotion Robbie is able to convey through his work. In these images from Graham, I love the erotic drama Robbie expresses through his eyes, body and pose. I especially love the images of Robbie in the tree. Not only beautiful but also organic as Robbie looks so comfortable in the setting. It is as if he belongs there and not a model, posing in a location.

Robbie attributes the success of the shoot, especially the tree shots to couple of things. First, he felt a strong connection with Graham. Robbie says Graham is the best! From the first minute they met, he felt comfortable with how professional and kind Graham was. Throughout the nine hour shoot, Graham clearly communicated what he wanted and gave specific and helpful direction. Robbie also channelled into the trill that many feel when completely naked outside. Along with the freedom felt, there is also an element of risk which Robbie says made the shoot both fun and exciting.

'Robbie came to me from looking to do an art shot and from the moment I saw those deep warm eyes I was hooked on his look. We wanted to capture the many sides of Robbie, he is fun, romantic, soulful, hot blooded, that will be the Spanish background, very sexy and there is a little horny devil buried inside there that didn’t take too long to tease out! So I made it my mission while working with Robbie to explore all these different sides throughout the shoot. First in the street showcasing Robbie as a more than capable fashion model. Then over to the studio where we were allowed the privacy to show of Robbie’s full accreditation!'

'Then... it was out the woods where the true exhibitionist came out. But also the fun side as he climbed trees like a big child and played in the forest like an excited teenager. This location was my favourite as Robbie laid back and enjoyed the sun displaying his great looks like a peacock loud and proud and happy to display his talent and manliness.'

Graham Martin

Graham Martin MenArt

Graham Martin on ModelMayhem

Robbie Franco on ModelMayhem