'It was rather flattering to be stylised as Michelangelo's David.'
Those who love visuals of the male form know that Michelangelo's David is one of the most iconic depictions of the male body art. It has also been the inspiration of many painters, artists and photographers, including Ian from macpics, who used the famous sculpture as inspiration for his work with Australian model Robyn David.
Some of you may remember my profile and interview with Robyn from back in 2015. (The Melbourne One) The piece included some of my favorite images of Robyn by a variety of photographers including Steven Granger, Darron Sandford, William Eicholtz and Lucas Ferrier. I was introduced to to Robyn's work through his work with macpics, and did a small follow-up featuring Ian's figure study themed shoot with Robyn.
For that first piece, we didn't use full nudes, as we wanted the focus to remain on figure and body, not necessarily specific body parts. Some of my favorite images from the shoot (especially the last image in this piece) were full nudes, so I recently asked (bugged) Robyn if we might revisit the shoot, and theme and use all of the shot available. Robyn graciously agreed. Then it was just a matter of again asking (bugging) Ian for the complete set of images which he generously sent on. the text below is from the original piece, but most of the images featured here were not previously featured on FH.
After seeing Robyn on Ian's portfolio, there was something about his images that stuck with me and had me wanting to see and learn more. Robyn has such a great face with such expressive eyes, not to mention his amazing hair. There is something both modern, yet distinctly classic and timeless about the poses and angles that Ian captured.
Robyn has a bit of a 60's or 70's vibe. It is not just his beautiful shaggy blonde hair but there is also a carefree, almost spiritual feel about him. His look, along with the colors and poses Ian captured, reminded me of a blend of classic Renaissance sculpture mixed with 1950's physique photography. The visual combination, especially with the deep red contrasting Robyn's hair, skin and the white of the fabric, create a series of striking visuals.
Ian shares that the theme for the shoot came when he was checking out Robyn's portfolio before their shoot and one of the images of Robyn's he saw reminded him of Michelangelo's David. He then got the idea to shoot Robyn using classical statues as the inspiration for set-up and pose.
The the 23 year old Melbourne Australia model says working with Ian, and recreating the classic statues was an interesting experience a lot of fun. Robyn reports that Ian brought along a few example shots and the worked with them to develop each shot and pose. Robyn has spent years working out, and experimenting with different eating plans to transform his body to look as he does today. 'It was rather flattering to be stylised as David, really!'
''Robyn was great to work with, cooperative and easy-going. He took an active part in creating poses and didn't just let me direct him. If he felt that he could do this or that better where the pose was concerned, he did, and he was the one who turned the white material into a loin-cloth. I'd never thought of doing that way, although I've tried to do something like it with other models!'
I loved so many from this set, it was impossible to narrow down my favorites. If you're enjoying Ian's shots and want to enjoy a few more, check out more on PAGE 2 HERE:
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