'I have nicknamed Shax Merlin because he must be a wizard to make me look as good as he does.'
There is definitely a bit of magic in photography, and a bit of Merlin in all great photographers. Sure, skill is certainly required, but it also takes a slight of hand to summon rays of light to cascade so beautifully over the human body. Striking images of the male form combine both reality with illusion, they blend what is present and visible, with all that an inventive imagination can conjure up and create.
Thanks to a suggestion from Unlimited Male, I was first introduced to the work of photographer and filmmaker Shax Carter last summer. I first featured Shax's imagery last September spotlighting his creative collaborations with model Jason. (HERE:) Shax shared that when he meets a model that inspires him, and that he enjoys working with, he likes to make them the focus of his work over a period of time.
Shax's work with Jason included several shoots that spanned the course of a year. I really loved seeing seeing the changes in both the work, and Jason's look, throughout the three shoots that I featured on the site. Shortly after posting his work with Jason, I noticed images from his work with model Atlas Kolbjörn on Instagram. 20 year old Atlas has a great look I was immediately drawn to. He bends his youthful good looks with a mature confidence that brings a unique energy to each images that Shax so beautifully captures.
I didn't want to get ahead of myself, however so decided to wait until I finished the series featuring Jason before bugging Shax about featuring Atlas. This proved beneficial as like his work with Jason, Shax and Atlas were in the middle of a series of shoots. Starting last spring, they have worked together three times, the most recent, a winter shoot completed at the end of December. As eager as I am to feature the most recent shoot, I wanted to start at the beginning, with the images from their first two shoots together.
Shax and Atlas connected on-line, and were both eager to work together. New to modeling, Atlas was looking forward to building his portfolio and focusing on the working great photographers to focus on the professional side of the modeling industry. After checking out Shax's portfolio, he was anxious to get together and see what they might create together.
'The first thing that struck me about Shax's work was how clear the images were. Since I'd never done modeling before. I have since nicknamed Shax Merlin because he must be a wizard to make me look as good as he does.'
For Shax, the goal of the first shoot was predominantly a chance to meet, get to know each other and to gauge Atlas's level of comfortability. Shax describes Atlas as initially very polite, yet at the same time, he could tell he was looking forward to the shoot and to capturing some great shots. They initially started off with portraits and worked through various poses with different pieces of wardrobe. As they continued to shoot, a creative rapport quickly developed.
'I'm pretty positive that this was Atlas's first shoot ever, and we worked our way into shooting a few nudes, after first doing portraits, different wardrobes and underwear shots. He was comfortable with everything from the beginning, there was no awkwardness. As we progressed, he was comfortable just sitting around and relaxing while I changed lenses/lighting. '
'Shax was super fun to work with because we would feed off of each other's ideas. He would give a suggestion and I would build on it until each shot was masterful.'
This series of images are all from their first shoot together. Shax brought several wardrobe options to the shoot and asked Atlas to bring along some of his favorite pieces as well. Even though his was his first official photo shoot, Atlas exudes a confidence and natural sensuality in front of Shax' lens and I especially love so many of the creative poses they were able to capture. If you want to see the results of their second shoot together, check out more on the NEXT PAGE HERE:
& Check out Atlas' new website HERE:
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