Take Me To Church: Eddy by LightWeaver

'I love contrasts and Eddy is definitely the personification of thematic contrasts which makes him very unique.'

Jay Rickard

Contrasts, especially visual contrasts, is one of my favorite things to explore on FH. I love images that are able to capture different, often opposing features, blending them into great captures. I love when artists are able to blend delicate beauty and movement with unbound energy and physical strength. Although

Indianapolis photographer Jay Rickard (LightWeaver) always produces beautiful contrasts with in his work. One of my favorite parts of what Jay does so beautifully is his skill and ability to bring out the dramatic side of those in front of his lens. By surrounding his subjects with color, fashion and jewels as well as placing them in majestic locations, it is as if his models are absorbing all that is around them and channelling it through body and emotions.

There are many contrasts weaved through Jay's work with Eddy, foremost the model himself. Jay shares that despite his outward appearance, goth clothes and protective and decorative spikes and chains, Eddy is one of the sweetest, most sincere and kind hearted people Jay has ever known, much less worked with. Jay shares that these contrasts are one of the reasons Eddy is such a great person, not just to work with, but to know.

Although the images within this piece are from several different locations, some of my favorites are from an old church. Churches are also steeped in contrast, having the the ability to provide both comfort and pain. Their structures hold such history, the setting for ceremonies filled with such glorious celebration as well as inconsolable sadness and grief. I love the creative and visual contrast that Jay creating with his decision to shoot the goth wearing Eddy, in the church and on the alter.

'The first time he flew in to Indianapolis to shoot with me we had a lot of plans for the images we would be taking. Most notable were the nudes we shot in an old broken down church building that I rented for half a day. Since then that building has been completely rehabbed and is back in pristine condition. It's beautiful of course but I miss the idiosyncratic beauty of the urban decay.'

'We even shot nudes in the old sanctuary which is interesting because most of the altar furniture was intact. Some would say that series is sacrilegious and maybe they're right. But I love the art we created that day and stand behind it 100%.'

Although maybe not as divine as the old church, the second time Jay shot Eddy, he again place him in an old decaying building, a location that became one of Jay's favorite locations to shoot in. Sadly, the building has now changed ownerships so Jay no longer has access, but says he made full use of it on the day he spent there with Eddy.

There was a third shoot, but Jay sadly lost all of those images due to a failed hard drive debacle a few years ago. Jay has saved that hard rive though in the hopes that one day he might be able to have the data recovered. One of Jay's goals for this year is get back in touch with Eddy and again find an amazing location to shoot him in. 'Maybe one day I'll even have additional images of the puppy dog punk to share. Fingers crossed!'

'I recently developed some rolls of mystery film and one of them was a roll of 120 film that I'd entirely forgotten about having shot on that second shoot. We were up on the roof of that building and the film images turned out so beautifully. That was in 2009 so it only took me 6 years to develop the film. Not bad right?'

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