Maxime Bernier: Le Visage

I was 15 the first time I visited Quebec. I had never been to Europe but I felt like I was there as I walked the streets of old Montreal. I felt like I had stepped back in time. Over the next 10 years I was back and forth to Montreal over a dozen times. I had two good friends attending McGill and would often go up for weekends. The best croissants for breakfast, the architecture, the culture. My attempts at speaking the language were usually met with polite smiles and the odd annoyance from shop owners who told me not to bother. I am sure for those who live their, the experience is much different but for someone who had so many amazing times in the city, it seemed magical.



J'avais 15 ans quand j'ai visité le Québec pour la première fois. Je n'avais jamais été en Europe mais je me sentais comme si j'y étais en marchant dans les rues du Vieux Montréal. Je me sentais comme si j'étais retourné dans le temps. Dans les dix années suivantes j'ai fait l'aller retour vers Montréal une douzaine de fois. J'avais deux bons amis qui fréquantaient l'université McGill et qui souvent fêtaient les weekend. Les meilleurs croissants au déjeuner, l'architecture, la culture. Mes essaies pour parler la langue furent acceuillis habituellement avec les sourires polis et de curieux agacements de la part des commerçants qui me disaient de ne pas m'en faire. Je suis certain que pour ceux qui y vivent, l'expérirence est très différente mais pour quelqu'un qui avait eu des moments si sensationnels dans cette ville, cela semblait magique.



Maxime Bernier reminds me of my time in Quebec and the beauty of the city. He has an amazing body and I especially love that he has kept his natural chest hair. Maxime also has such great face with exquisite features highlighted by his beautiful greenish blue eyes. The 20 year old nursing student keeps in shape by supplementing his time at the gym with judo. Although busy with school and a job working in a restaurant at a seniors centre, like most 20 year old Maxime also loves to find time to party.




All images above from Alternate Hypothesis.

Maxime Bernier
Stats:
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 151 lbs
Chest: 40"
Waist: 30"
Shoe: 9.0
Hair color: Brown
Hair length: Bald
Eye color: Green
Skin color: Tanned

You can check out more of Maxime on Model Mayhem HERE:

Next 4 images from Delisoft:





Remaing shots by Behind The Lens

Favorite Pic of the Day for April 8th

Above:
Michael Hargis by LightWeaver.
-See more below-

Check out my previous birthday post for April 8th featuring John Schneider, Ben Freeman, Adrian Bellani & Taylor Kitsch HERE:

Just Because: Bill Cosby

When I was a kid, everyone was watching The Cosby Show but I never got it. I mean I saw it's good points but I just never found it funny. Even at 10 I preferred Cheers. But... years later when I was 18 or 19 I saw Bill Cosby live. I had not laughed that hard ever before in my life. 'the dentist' sketch still brings a laugh. So did this clip! Go Bill!

Thanks to OneAngryQueer for the tip!

Kudos to the PR Department for Crazy, Stupid, Love

The PR department behind Crazy Stupid Love know what they are doing. The shot above of Ryan Gosling has the trailer popping up on every blog (like mine) on the net. This movie had me at hello, mostly because I never miss anything starring the brilliant Julianne Moore (I should have skipped Jurassic Park 2 though...). Gosling is just icing on the cake!

Old Hollywood: Michael Hargis by LightWeaver

'The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his mother or his wife or God, to give him that confidence. He's got to have some inner standards worth fighting for or there won't be any way to bring him into conflict. And he must be ready to choose death before dishonor without making too much song and dance about it. That's all there is to it.'
Clark Gable



This post should actually have come after the post below. I say after, because these studio shots of model Michael Hargis by Jay A. Rickard (LightWeaver) came at the end of a very long day of shooting. For some reason though it fit better to begin with them. When I first profiled Jay's work last fall
(Gage Houser by LightWeaver) I was impressed by how much he gave to his models. His joy came from working with new talent and helping inexperienced models with building their portfolio's and creating dramatic, memorable images.

With Jay's latest collaboration with Michael Hargis it is clear his goal is of making his models look the best they can is still firmly grounded. But...there is a difference in Jay's latest work, , it is subtle, but it is clearly there. A strength, a confidence in his vision. When viewing Jay's shots of Michael I see not only the vision created by photographer and model but also Jay's years of experience, his skill and power as an artist shine loudly through.



As I said, these shots came together at the end of a long day. Jay says he was pretty tired out after the location shoot and admits to feeling rather lackluster and unmotivated. Once a few shots were taken however, Michael's energy took over and became contagious and Jay was fully amped again.

Jay says that Old Hollywood was the inspiration, he and Michael share a love of old movies and the style and look of the time.

'We both are big fans of the old Hollywood style of photography so that’s where we started. Anything Hitchcock, Clark Gable. Bogart. What fascinates me most about that era in addition to the filming of the movies were the publicity stills of the stars that were taken at the time. George Hurrell is one of my top photography heroes. He was brilliant. He took the most amazing stars and turned them into flawless Gods and Goddess in still photos. Unlike today when similar affects can be done digitally George Hurrell had the talent to do it right without the help of a digital production team. Him, his lights, camera and the subject. Actually he did do some touch ups but it was done on the negative! Can you imagine? He was the true master and any time I get a shot that even remotely captures that same vibe, I’m a truly happy photographer'
-Jay A. Rickard-



33 year old Michael says Katharine Hepburn is one of his favorite actress's from the time. 'She worked with all the great male actors. The Philadelphia story is a classic!' It is interesting to note that 1940's The Philadelphia Story was written especially for Hepburn for the stage by writer Philip Barry. With the help of her ex-lover Howard Hughes, Hepburn acquired the film rights and sold them to MGM. The Film , co-starring Cary Grant and James Stewart became one of the biggest hits of 1940. Interestingly though they were not who Hepburn wanted. Although she got to choose the director, George Cukor, she was not able to get the two costars she really wanted, Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable.



'No man has ever made a vest, tie and hat look finer. Not even Clark Gable'
Jay A. Rickard

I think George Hurrell would be honored, but I don't think even he could have used, or Gable could have worn, a jacket and scarf in quite the same incredibly hot way.