IMAGES MALE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

VISION STATEMENT FROM THE BODY PAINTING ARTIST (ANNETTE)

 

Include a burst of red color -- a cardinal on his chest over his heart and then another cardinal on his face and in another wherever seems appropriate but in general, there's going to be mostly bark texture conforming to his muscles.

 

I also like the idea of blocking out parts of his body with pure black to see if we can kind of change the perception of what the human body is and put them against a black backdrop. I want him to appear as a tree with birds nesting interacting with it.

 

The negative space is masking.  The quick sketches show areas of Ethan we can paint black (red pen marks on two images above).

 

The cardinals will be there to add life and color but the tree masking is playing with his structure and will be dependent on how he poses his body in various positions.  My goal is to have him appear more like a tree than a human compositionally but with his human features present.

 

PHOTOGRAPHER NOTES:

 

By a combination of boosting the contrast post-production and some painting in of black, I was able to deliver on Annette's vision for blocking out parts of Ethan. I also enhanced the saturation on some images to further push the boundaries of Ethan as a tree. On a few, I removed his head completely.

 

I was also motivated to produce some images that were more traditional model shots (featuring his face and all body parts). By directing light around areas including body parts painted solid black, you can make out the complete form. I choose a black background to provide a complete focus on the model's body.  Ethan also brought his fierce animal expressions to some of the black box poses for another look. As usual, a few select props add texture or color (coral, bark from a tree and leafs) as well as help to create a story.