JayK: The Knight Watcher

'Yes, I do enjoy walking at night. The world’s more to my liking then, not so loud, not so fast, not so crowded, and a good deal more mysterious.'

Cornelia Funke

Regular FH readers are undoubtedly familiar with JayK.  If you don't remember the model, dancer and self-portrait artist, it's likely you're familiar with his beautiful ampel magnificently sculpted derriére. Over the last few years I've featured JayK's work many times, (HERE:) spotlighting both his self-portraits and body shots and his work with other photographers.

Many of JayK's images, especially those he took himself, were taken onside on location.  On beaches, int he pool, while on hikes.  Most were taken in the daytime, in relatively quiet and deserted spaces.  JayK's love of being outside proved an artistic asset the past year, when studio shoots, along with his stage work, came to a halt.

'This past year, I focused on staying healthy and exercising. I did a lot of bike riding and at-home workouts. Since I work for a very small clothing brand, I was able to work at my sewing job after a month.  As things changed, I was able to work through my catering job in various odd places that needed some workers here and there.'

Dancers and entertainers love to be on stage, but with theatres and nightclubs for the most part shut down, performers also know how to get creative.  As a lover of the male form, I noticed that many artists looked to, as much as possible, create the experience of a live performance on-line.  I've seen many on-line drawing classes with nude models, and JayK managed to do a few 'stripper-ish' gigs online as well.  Overall, he just tried to keep an optimistic outlook and used his extra time at home to focus on his artwork.

Because so many people were at home, many were also outside.  There were more people biking and walking and working on their lawns and in their gardens.  This made doing nude shoots outside a little more risky.  Although JayK loves to perform naked on stage, he tries to avoid giving free shows to his neighbours....  One solution was to head out for naked walks and bike rides late at night when you were less likely to run into joggers and dog walkers.  If I lived near JayK, I certainly be signing up for shifts on the neighbourhood watch...

'I took my naked walk close to where I live. Anytime I get naked outside, I've taken a look around first. I look for cameras, I look for lights on in houses, I look out and listen for people. While I 😘 how it feels to have the outside air on my skin, I don't want people to see me. So that was very late at night and the houses were far away from the actual street.'

Jayktheknight on Twitter