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Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Artistic Accordance: Andrew Delta by Implicit Ditto
'What fun is a shoot if you don't take the time to get to know the person who is capturing you? '
FH viewer know how much I love to explore process. When an image grabs my attention, it grabs my interest as well. I want to know how it came together, how it was created and how the artist and model felt about the experience of working together. Sometimes, when I ask about a shoot, I don't get a whole lot of information back. Other times however, like with this shoot featuring Implicit Ditto and Andrew Delta, my interest and curiosity was more than satisfied.
It must be difficult for a social, chatty photographer to work with a model who just wants to come in, take off his clothes, and get the pictures taken. It's not that uncommon though, for creatives to have different ideas about process. Not every model and photographer forge a creative connection. Some of my favorite shoots to feature however, are from creatives who enjoy the process equally, and sometimes even greater than, the finished results.
I understand this completely. As someone who performed myself, my favorite piece was always the rehearsal process and collaborating with other actors, musicians and directors. I always felt the best part was over before the curtain went up on opening night. The sense of working together to build something was my motivations. As you'll read below, both Andrew and Mike, (Implicit Ditto) have a parallel process when it comes to how they view and approach their work,
How did you both first connect?
I first stumbled across Mike's work on Instagram while I was scrolling, I believe it was the shoot that he did with my friend Eddie Burke that caught my eye. I loved the images they got together so of course I hit the follow button and things developed from there.
The majority of models I find on Instagram. I'm a bit of a sleuth in tracking guys down. I recall that Andrew reached out to me via DM and asked about working together.
What first struck you when you saw each other's visuals?
Andrew:
What really caught my eye are the rich warm colors in his photos, it almost gives a dream-like to the already dreamy subject matter. I also love the candidness in all of his photos, nothing looks forced, it's like he captures the model in their natural element/ their natural beauty.
Mike:
Andrew has such a great physique, including that incredibly chiseled chin and profile. I loved the placement of his tattoos and he has a really free and uninhibited playful energy about him. You could tell by looking at his photos that he was incredibly comfortable in his skin and being in front of a camera. It's always such a gift when you come across that combination.
When was your first nude shoot and have you gotten used to (comfortable) with nude shoots?
Andrew:
Haha, honestly I think my first photoshoot ever was nude. I was about 21 years old when one of my best friends Victor Crulich asked me to model for him. Being the type of person to always try new things, I accepted and now I have dozens of nude shoots under my belt and many more lined up. To be honest I have never really had an issue with posing nude in photoshoots. I spent a lot of time in sports during high school and college ( wrestling, MMA, tennis), and with that a lot of time was spent in locker rooms, so I think during that period I grew very comfortable with nudity and my body.
Tell me about the experience of working with each other?
Andrew:
Mike was awesome to work with! He made me feel super comfortable and welcomed throughout the whole shoot; it's so nice working with personable photographers who are genuinely interested in getting to know you. Having a background in graphic communications I always get excited when creative inspiration comes up, so I always vocalize it to the photographer. Mike was super receptive to the input and also had a lot of great ideas as well, so we flowed back and forth getting a lot of great shots and geeking out about art and lighting.
The whole process was super enjoyable, but I really liked the video segments that we did toward the beginning. I almost never get to do that during photoshoots so it was great that mike was experimental, the video turned out great!
Mike:
Andrew was a dream to work with in that aspect. He is so wonderfully comfortable and accepting in his body. Additionally, he's done quite a bit of modeling work already, and because of his focus on his Only Fans, he's really learned how to be natural in front of a camera. I am moving more into video and we were able to utilize his comfort level in that area as well which also made my work easier. Andrew really just went with the moment. I would suggest a location and a look and he would just melt into it.
Curious how much talk goes on during shoots, if it's easy, or long periods of silence?
Andrew:
What fun is a shoot if you don't take the time to get to know the person who is capturing you? Seriously though I love networking and meeting new people, and Mike was so easy to talk to. I think the only time there was silence was when we got into that flow state where he was snapping away and I was posing and making adjustments; just us working to get "that" shot.
Mike:
A photoshoot can be quite an intimate experience and I have the utmost respect for anyone who's willing to stand in front of a camera. To that end, it's important for me that the model feel comfortable and at ease during our work together. I'm naturally curious about people and I enjoy learning about the lives of the guys I work with so I tend to ask a lot of questions. Since Andrew has been doing shoots like this for some time, I was able to spend less time posing him and more time just moving with the flow of the shoot and talking while shooting.
OnlyFans?
Andrew:
When you subscribe to my OnlyFans you are able to see all the uncensored photos from my photoshoots, you know all the stuff that Instagram doesn't want us to post. Fans will also have access to over 100 collab videos with some of the hottest content creators in the adult industry. New photos are posted regularly and one new collab video is posted per week, plus I do my best to respond to fan mail.
Mike:
I'm always intrigued by someone starting an Only Fans site. I applaud them for taking the bull by the horns so to speak and building their own brand. Creating a successful online career is hard work and it's a finicky field. So I loved hearing about how enthusiastic Andrew was in this endeavor. I recall we talked about how he had gone to college and landed a corporate job and absolutely hated it, so he dropped it and took up his dream of becoming a porn star as well as starting his own fashion business. Who can't admire that kind of determination.
A DeCoteau Disappointment
I know I'm not the only one whose experience disappointment at the hands of director David DeCoteau. Throughout the late 1990's and early 2000's, I far too often found myself renting, watching, then returning one of his films with less than satisfying results.
I think like many, I discovered the directors work by accident. I saw some shirtless hottie on a movie's box cover at Blockbuster, and rented it with the hopes of seeing a little skin. At the time, still in the closet, the films seemed like 'safe rentals', but looking back, I'm sure the employee's all knew what his movies were all about.
The Bold & The Beautiful
They seemed safe, as they were packaged to appear to straight, mainstream audiences, there was usually a hot girl on the video's cover, along with her two or three shirtless male co-stars. She was the straight bait. As soon as you got a few minutes in however, you knew that wasn't the intended audience. Although the films were mostly bad, it's not that I didn't enjoy some of the scenes and some of the moments. There were some pretty hot scenes of beautiful men in tight boxer briefs.
Teasing can only go on for so long though, and eventually DeCoteau to add some mild nudity. Sadly... not in 2011's 1313: Giant Killer Bees! Given the year it was made, I would have thought for at least a quick butt flash. Why then would I buy, yes buy 1313: Giant Killer Bees! Well, actor Tanner Novlan of course!
Novlan (r) in 1313: Giant Killer Bees!
This past December, I posted a 12 Days piece featuring Tanner's work on Hallmark. (HERE:) While doing the research, I was noticed Tanner had actually appeared in DeCoteau's 1313: Giant Killer Bees!. I tried without luck to find a digital copy to download or buy, but without success. So, I headed to Amazon and bought one. What a mistake! I should have known had there been any decent moments with Novlan, they would be already on-line.
The movie was low budget, campy and badly acted, but those weren't it's biggest crime. DeCoteau had Novlan in the cast and not only didn't get him in his tighy whities, but didn't even get him shirtless. That truly is a crime. Novlan would have been modeling at the time and given all the underwear he modeled, it's more than a crime there wasn't even a second of skin from the actor in the film. He only appeared for a few minutes, and I believe was the only male member of the cast to keep his clothes on.
Given I purchased it though, I had to at least do a few caps of Tanner's co-stars who did strip down to their white boxer briefs. For some reason, after getting bitten by the bees, yes, bitten, not stung, they went into a hypnotic trance, causing them to strip down to identical undies and chase after their clothed counterparts.
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