When I saw byKent's shots of ZatBoofVGer on the ladder, I was struck by not only how much fun Zat seemed to be having with the shoot and prop, but how confident he looked in front of Kent's lens. Like so many of us, Zat's wasn't something he always felt, especially when he was younger and in school. It was well earned, from experiences, especially the difficult ones which both embed and change the way we see the world, and ourselves within it.
'School was a painful experience at the time that has progressed far more towards ambivalence over the years since. Particularly in elementary and junior high where, as the fat kid with parents that couldn't afford to clothe me in more than a few t shirts and some gym shorts in the winters of the Midwestern steppe, I was subject to a fair amount of bullying. Friends have always been something of a rarity, unfortunately, and I grew up as a child of solitude. I guess you could say I always had the reputation of being a nerd as well, since book smarts always came pretty effortlessly to me. But I was certainly no class clown, to be sure, nor did I ever care much for any sort of attention.'
'The bugbear of body dysmorphia will always be there, growing up as I did. But I'm ok with looking at myself in the mirror for the first time in my life so that's a step in the right direction. Mind-wise, I have a definitively inquisitive nature. I read a lot, I like to stay sharp. I'll always have a plan, a contingency, and a contingency in case the contingency fails and that's just who I am and the constant stress I grew up with. As far as my spirit goes, I've still got it. Without going into too much detail, unless you're terribly interested, I've gone through some very rough times in my life and modeling is something I can do with an underpinning logic and with the requisite amount of zazz. That's where you could say that comes from. Modeling is me exercising my artistic soul in a very particular way. So, long story short, is the confidence real: sometimes. It's like Schrodinger's cat.'
'I think I like modeling because I'm attracted to a number of different associated factors. There's no denying the appeal of a transgressive element in appearing naked in such a weirdly puritanical modern, industrialized society. But I've also always been attracted to mediums that acknowledge the synthesis and interplay between them. For example, I love comic books. They're often described, albeit somewhat simplistically, as a combination between drawn art and written prose. Video games are similar and probably my favorite artistic medium, incorporating pieces from all sorts of art, (visuals, written word etc.), and adding in the interactivity of the player. Photo modeling is, again, a 'synthetic' medium, collaborative between model and photographer.'
2 comments:
Pant, pant, pant....
He's adorable
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