'Visiting South Florida from Ireland, Conor was not easily convinced to pose for this project....'
We all see people, places and things every day, what's fascinating to me, is when we actually notice the things that we're looking at. Although I'd had paper routes and odd jobs, I got my first official job the week of my 16th birthday. The job required a bus ride to and from, and given I lived outside of the city, my wait for the bus home was sometimes as long as an hour. I waited, I watched and looked around, I read, and listened to my Discman as I waited for that bus.
Behind the bus top was an old abandoned building, and the side facing my stop was painted with about an eight feet high mural. For months I looked at that mural, but really didn't see it. I'll never forget the one day I noticed. It began with a fish, a colorful goldfish near the bottom right hand corner. I'm not sure exactly had me focus on that fish that day, but I finally payed attention, realizing for the first time, the artwork in front of me was an aquarium, full of fish, bubbles, treasure chests and spectacular colors.
There are many images, models and artists on the site whose work I immediately noticed. There are others, that I see, yet the noticing comes later. I noticed the incredibly imagery of photographer
Anthony Timiraos the first time I saw it, and quickly got in touch. Anthony's work with Conor however, was a more recently discovering. I'd seen it before, Conor was featured in Anthony's first book,
expose, but with a book full of incredible men, and incredible bodies, I didn't notice Conor's immense charm and sex appeal when initially enjoying my copy of
expose.
Last month however, Anthony posted an image of Conor on his
Instagram. The image, a portrait shot, had me captivated with Conor's beautiful face, lips and eyes. I wanted to see, and find out more. When I got in touch with Anthony, I was surprised to learn about Conor's appearance in
expose, but headed strait to page 44 to check out more. Although there were not full frontal shots, Anthony's images and words about his work with Conor only intensified his appeal.
Conor was visiting South Florida from his home in Ireland and met through a mutual friend. Anthony shares that Conor wasn't easily convinced to pose for the book, but after reviewing Anthony's website and then discussing the shoot with his girlfriend, he called Anthony one night and simply said 'I am ready.' Although Conor was ready, and posed for Anthony completely naked, he wasn't quite ready to have his penis showing in the published set of images. Although according to the artist behind the lens, it was a great looking penis, Conor is a minor sports celebrity in his home county, and represents his local club in Rugby and Gaelic football throughout Ireland and the UK.
'As soon as he entered the studio, the clothes were off and he was ready to pose. His beautiful soft Irish skin reflected perfectly with the combination of natural and studio light. His piercing Irish eyes combined with his confident looks provided the right attitude. What does not show is his dedication and hard work. This rugby player with a great sense of humor shared many Irish jokes during the shoot and yes, I reciprocated with a few gay jokes and shared many laughs. We also discussed everything from politics to travel, perhaps we did more talking than photographing. My first Irish born model - a fun afternoon and new friend.'