'Woody is one of the most free spirited upbeat men I’ve ever met. We found each other at the Russian River and decided to do a nature shoot on our day off. Any day spent with Woody in front of your camera is a great day!'
Last week, one of my FH Flashback's was the April 11th, 2013 piece Under Roo. Checking out the piece again, reminded me how much I loved the work of San Francisco photographer Joe Mazza. I found myself immediately heading back to Joe's portfolio. Joe has always been generous about sharing his work, so when I asked him about another feature, and a couple of his most recent shoots that I loved, he welcomed my choosing my favorites.
There were several recent shoots I wanted to feature, (all on Joe's new site The Male Image) but it didn't take long to decide it was Joe's work with Woody Fox, that I wanted to start with. Many FH readers may remember seeing my previous piece featuring Woody's work with Ryan Scott. (Hung) In that piece, Woody was hanging naked, high in the air on ropes near the ceiling of a majestic old beautiful barn.
In addition to the incredible shots, the second reason I why I wanted to feature this particular shoot now, was location. For the last five or six months, given the snow, the polar vortex and the windy winter we just came through, most of FH's features were studio shoot. Although I love studio shoots, I, like so many, was anxious to get outside. I'd also never heard of Northern California's Russian River and looked forward to exploring more... especially with Joe's images of Woody as our guide.
The river was originally known among the Southern Pomo as Ashokawna, east water place or water to the east. Juan RodrÃguez Cabrillo and his expedition may have made it as far north as the Russian River in November 1542, before storms forced them to turn back south towards Monterey. The river takes its current name from Russian Ivan Kuskov of the Russian-American Company, who explored the river in the early 19th century and established the Fort Ross colony 10 miles northwest of its mouth. The redwoods that lined its banks drew loggers to the river in the late 19th century.
Although for this shoot Woody's not hanging from a barn roof, Joe ensured Woody's acrobatic skills were still put to good use. Joe describes Woody and an amazing performer, and if you're ever in Las Vegas. Joe shares that Woody exudes enthusiasm an fun and that his personality, his Australian accent, and his genuine interest in others, can literally charm the pants off you!
'Woody is an unstoppable force of nature. One of the sweetest guys with one of biggest personalities I’ve ever met. Originally from Australia, Woody is one of those free spirits who’s traveled the world open to new people and new experiences. While he loves modeling, his first love is Arial Acrobatic’s and is currently living and working in Las Vegas as an aerial performer.'
'When I work with a model for the first time, I like to get a sense of who they are, what they can bring to the shoot that’s unique and interesting and then craft a shoot or a story that would showcase what’s special about them; It wasn’t hard to find that with Woody. We discovered this location earlier in the week and made a plan to come back when the light was perfect.'
From the moment we got there, the shoot was one of the those rare experiences of pure joy, creative chemistry and fun. He’s a big kid, always playing with poses, acrobatic moves and often times I would watch what he was doing and just placed him in the right spot, composed and framed him and let him do his thing. When the shoot was over we both felt creatively excited about it and new we had something fun and unique. Ultimately, these images were published in DNA magazine, which was a childhood dream of his; which made me really happy!
Joe Mazza on FH:
2 comments:
Woody has a naturally beautiful body that he developed to the peak of fitness for his amazing aerial act. The force of his positive personality enhances the physical beauty to create something of great joy, and inspiration. And Joe Mazza captures that essence with amazing photos. Many thanks to Woody for sharing his being and to Joe for his talent.
Woody has nice wood
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