'But soft, what light through yonder window breaks.'
William Shakespeare
The words above are spoken by Romeo in the famous 'balcony scene' from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Although the scene takes place late at night, Romeo imagines his beloved is bathed in sun, transforming the darkness of night into the light of day. Shakespeare often uses the themes of dark and light within his works, usually to contrast the experiences, options or choices his characters face
For artists, dark and light are the two essential elements required to beautiful not only light, but contrast the beauty between body and form and surrounding space. I love images which rely on natural light, and FH readers are keenly aware how much I love, and am endlessly fascinated by imagery which include windows, and incorporate window light. I have written often about the reflective and mysterious elements of windows and mirrors and the added depth they can to bring to images of the male form. For most photographers, utilizing windows is about light, but for me, they often expose much more.
Window images can feel almost transcendent, increasing the in scope making one location seem sometimes like two. Not only do we see the room in which the model is shot, we wonder what lays beyond the glass. What is the model looking at, and who might be out there...looking back in. You never know when you're in front of a window, especially when you're completely naked, who might be enjoying the view. This voyeuristic feature is another reason I love the inclusion of windows as an element and theme.
I am sure by now, most of you are asking why 'I'm babbling' about light, you just want to know more about (and see more of) the blonde Adonis by the window. Photographer JW Johnson shares that Joe's great looks come from his German background, and in addition to being one of the hottest models JW has seen and met, was also one of the nicest. Polite, respectful and courteous, JW reports it is both his looks, and his attitude, that make Joe a model he loves to work with whenever he gets the chance.
If polite and courteous weren't enough t win you over, Joe also works full and recently moved in with his grandparents to help take care of them now that they're older. Although straight, Joe also like to have fun when he shoots and can be quite a tease in front of the camera. Joe is popular with all those who have had the pleasure of shooting him and it was actually a friend of JW's, a photographer from Little Rock, that recommended that he Joe to JW.
If you visit JW's website, (JWJ Photo) you quickly see it contains a huge collection of models that he has worked with over the last decade plus. I spent quite a bit of time going through some of the many pages in December, looking for my favorite Christmas themed images for Unwrapped, the first piece I did featuring JW's work. When I went back to search for a subject for a follow-up piece, I didn't get any further than page 1. When I scrolled down and saw JW's post titled, Joe in Arkansas I knew instantly I had found the shoot I wanted to showcase next.
Joe has an incredible body, long, lean and looking magnificent lying on the carpet in front of JW's patio glass doors. Joe's blonde hair, great body and classic good looks are beautifully captured by JW. Joe has a great smile and his chiseled face looks as if it were professionally sculpted to photographed. JW didn't initially plan on putting Joe in front of so many windows, but circumstances, the afternoon sun, not to mention a couple of visiting swimmers, led them to head inside.
JW had scheduled two models to shoot last July 4th and Joe was the second of the day. They began by driving to a waterfall south of town to make use of the sun's natural light and the beauty of the water and setting. Joe began the shoot clothed, dressed all in white in under the waterfalls. Joe removed the white, and changed into some stars and stripes boxers to pay homage to the holiday but that was as much as Joe could take off at that location. As the day went on, people began to show up at to cool off in the flowing water.
Shooting inside didn't cramp JW's creativity, in fact JW decided to try to shoot Joe with as many light sources as they could find. He began in at one end of the house with a window welcoming in light from the south. They moved from window to door, bathing Joe's naked skin with south light and north light and finally in the beautiful softness of shadowlight.
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