Above:
Friday, November 23, 2018
scben: Peak Season
'I like shooting my own photos, because I have control of both the photo and the pose, and I can see along the way what works and how I can make adjustments to get the shot I want. It's still a lot of trial and error, and sometimes it is nice just to relax and let someone else use the camera.'
When I began FH, I mostly focused on images created by two, an artist and a model. Although taking selfies wasn't new (some of used to use Polaroids) selfies didn't really become popular until about 2012. Since then, many have moved out of their bathrooms and into the woods with their camera's, talking more than just their close-ups, but works of art.
With an artists eye and hands, selfies have become self portraits and I've enjoyed covering many artists who've become both model and photographer. For many, it's a great way to continue creating when a model or photographer is easily available, and there is something so beautifully poetic about artists and solitude, and for many, the most intense creativity, occurs only when totally alone. .I have enjoyed exploring the work of many self portrait takers over the last several years.
I first featured the work of scben back in 2015, (Sharing The View) and it was this set of images that first inspired my desire to do a day focused solely on the theme of Autumn and the color palette that washes over the season. scben shares they don't usually get the a lot of the bright colors of fall in South Carolina. There are less reds and oranges, and more yellow's and browns, the colors that dominated when the season has peaked and the end of Autumn is near.
Cliff Robertson in Autumn Leaves (1956)
Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall
With the exception of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, I'd not seen many Joan Crawford movies. That didn't stop me however, from getting caught up in Jessica Lange's portrayal of the actress in Feud last year. In the series, 'Joan' references a few times the movie she just completed and how pleased she was with the results.
On set with Cliff Robertson, Crawford and director Robert Aldrich
That film was Autumn Leaves and I had been meaning to watch it for awhile. With a title like Autumn leaves, you envision a romance set in a beautiful small Northeastern town in the middle of October. Not even close....
The Here From Eternity moment
I'm not sure what month the movie was set in, but the location was California and there wasn't a falling Autumn leaf to be found. In researching the movie I learned the changed the title from The Way We Are to Autumn Leaves only to be able to use the Nat Sing Cole song in the film. The song is beautiful and the film is good, but the title makes little sense and has no real connection to anything in the film.
This was my first time seeing Cliff Robertson on film. I think I may have seen him on television when I was a kid as although he would have been much older than when he made this film, his friendly face looked familiar to me. That friendly face is exactly why Robertson was perfectly cast as Burt Hanson. Burt pursues Millie (Crawford) and they eventually fall in love and marry.
Burt however has 'issues' and certainly makes Millie pay for purchasing such a heavy type writer. Despite his issues, Robertson was incredibly appealing in the film, a little Tom Hanks like, but with a darker edge. In researching the handsome actor I didn't find any nudity, but he flashed a bit of skin here and there. I have downloaded Picnic and although I couldn't find The Big Show on-line, given my love of circus movies, ordered a copy from Amazon.
Gidget (1959)
Robertson (as the big Kahuna) with James Darren and Sandra Dee
The Big Show (1961)
Picnic (1956)
Robertson with Kim Novak and William Holden
MW Photo MD: After the Fall
Andrew
For most holidays, the beautify of the outside is often brought inside to help celebrate the occasions. Real fir, pine and spruce tree's at Christmas, pumpkins for Halloween and Lily's on Easter. However....anyone who celebrates and decorates for Autumn knows that except for maybe fall mums, it's difficult to replicate the extraordinary beauty of fall inside your home.
Actual Autumn leaves don't really hold up, nor last to long, when brought inside. There however, a large selection of fake and replicas, some that if you squint hard, almost pass for real. Regardless, it's really the colors, the oranges, reds, browns and yellows that exude that fall vibe.
In addition to the visual signs of Autumn, it's also the smell and fell that signifies to your senses what season it is. The feel of crisp fall leaves on skin is one we've all experienced. As adults, some of us forget, or thinking jumping into a huge pile of leaves is only something we did as kids. I still remember my mother shaking her head, positive that there was dog shit was on every maple leaf we leaped into and rolled around in.
I guess the lack of doggie doo doo is one of the pluses of using artificial leaves as Mark ( MW Photo MD) used in this shoot. It was Mark's work with Andrew that I first showcased when first featuring his work in January 2017. (Put into Practice) The hockey gear shoot was one of the first shoots for both model and photographer and although still working on perfecting his skills, Mark's shots of Andrew beautifully exposed the talent of both photographer and model, and an anticipation of the work to come.
Jonah
As I continued to follow, watch and enjoy Mark's work, it was clear he was enjoying pushing boundaries and limits, both his own as well as his models, and working on new concepts and themes. When I asked Mark last fall if he'd done any Autumn or Halloween themed shoots, he soon after responded with these shots of Jonah Model.
Jonah proved the perfect model for the shoot and as you can immediately see, is incredibly natural in front of the camera, and a sensuality that he skillfully interacts and plays with for both the camera and of course the viewer. Jonah made viewers feeling welcome to join him jumping in and rolling around in that pile of leaves in the backyard, or on the pile building up on the bed...
'See how nature comes alive even as her falling leaves dance joyful goodbyes'
For most holidays, the beautify of the outside is often brought inside to help celebrate the occasions. Real fir, pine and spruce tree's at Christmas, pumpkins for Halloween and Lily's on Easter. However....anyone who celebrates and decorates for Autumn knows that except for maybe fall mums, it's difficult to replicate the extraordinary beauty of fall inside your home.
Actual Autumn leaves don't really hold up, nor last to long, when brought inside. There however, a large selection of fake and replicas, some that if you squint hard, almost pass for real. Regardless, it's really the colors, the oranges, reds, browns and yellows that exude that fall vibe.
In addition to the visual signs of Autumn, it's also the smell and fell that signifies to your senses what season it is. The feel of crisp fall leaves on skin is one we've all experienced. As adults, some of us forget, or thinking jumping into a huge pile of leaves is only something we did as kids. I still remember my mother shaking her head, positive that there was dog shit was on every maple leaf we leaped into and rolled around in.
I guess the lack of doggie doo doo is one of the pluses of using artificial leaves as Mark ( MW Photo MD) used in this shoot. It was Mark's work with Andrew that I first showcased when first featuring his work in January 2017. (Put into Practice) The hockey gear shoot was one of the first shoots for both model and photographer and although still working on perfecting his skills, Mark's shots of Andrew beautifully exposed the talent of both photographer and model, and an anticipation of the work to come.
Jonah
'In every change, in every falling leaf, there's some pain and some beauty. '
As I continued to follow, watch and enjoy Mark's work, it was clear he was enjoying pushing boundaries and limits, both his own as well as his models, and working on new concepts and themes. When I asked Mark last fall if he'd done any Autumn or Halloween themed shoots, he soon after responded with these shots of Jonah Model.
Jonah proved the perfect model for the shoot and as you can immediately see, is incredibly natural in front of the camera, and a sensuality that he skillfully interacts and plays with for both the camera and of course the viewer. Jonah made viewers feeling welcome to join him jumping in and rolling around in that pile of leaves in the backyard, or on the pile building up on the bed...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)