Charlotte in Argyle and Denim

A new post after an extended hiatus. When it rains, it pours. When work becomes non stop there’s little energy for much else. Been thinking a lot about live work balance. When you love what you do, it’s easy to pour yourself into what you’re tasked with. Fortunately it was a temporary situation and now I get some breathing room. Time to do nothing is just as important as working your ass off. Anywho, enjoy these images of Charlotte. Post tintype session. 100+ photos after the Jump.

Mia, Tintype Commission

Mia reached out to me a few months ago via Instagram wanting to set up a tintype shoot. These days, I avoid the types of sittings where the subject hires me to shoot one or two plates. Its a much more fulfilling experience if we spend some time together, work through a number of shots, change wardrobe, feel things out, get to know one another. It becomes more of a collaborative dance as opposed to one and done. It meshes with the slow creation that is wet plate collodion photography.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to book a shoot, reach out. I only accept one sitting per week. studio@lacuna.one

This is my current working collodion recipe. This is some kind of bastard child between Old Reliable and Old Dead Bride.
In a 100ml beaker add a couple drops of distilled water.
To that, add .75g of Cadmium Bromide
and 1g Potassium Iodide
mix with a glass stir rod to dissolve.
add to that 60ml of Ethanol.
Stir and set aside.
Measure 60ml of USP Collodion using a graduated cylinder.
Pout it into the vessel in which you will keep your final salted collodion.
To the same graduate, measure 32ml of Ether.
Add the Ether to the Collodion and swirl to mix.
Always add your ether to your collodion and not the other way around.
Add the salted alcohol mixture from the beaker into the vessel and mix.
Add either one drop of iodine or a good splash of old working collodion.
Let sit for 24 hours and it will clear. Best to ripen for a week, but its usable right away.

In Memoriam. Sharon Marie Quinn.

I can’t remember how Sharon and I connected. Some modeling website perhaps. We grew up in the same town. Went to the same high school. She and I decided to start shooting together. Sets for the now, long defunct Zivity.com. She had a classic, vintage Playboy, girl next door, bombshell aesthetic that is rarely found. She, her husband and I would spend summer afternoons shooting various setups around the property I was living on. He was pretty easy on the eyes too...

We shot together on and off for maybe, twelve years. I can see my technique grow as she and I grew more comfortable together. Became better friends. I’m flattered and honored that I was the first photographer she felt comfortable enough with to pose nude. And one of the only ones. We had a lot of fun. It was helpful that her husband was super supportive and frequently present on our shoots.

Its a funny thing. The relationships you form with people you create with. I can’t say she and I were tremendous friends apart from making pictures together, but we kept tabs on one another. Exchanged random texts. There’s an intimacy that you step into with someone you’re shooting with. Especially if its nude or sensual or erotic. Its a construct you form to make the work you both desire, yet there is a residual closeness because you shared something together. . . It’s a really beautiful container. Someone once said that you fall a little bit in love with everyone you ever photograph. Yeah. . .

Anyway. Below are a few of my favorite images of her over the years. I’ll miss you Sharon. I hope they have bourbon in heaven. I’ll never forget you.

naked is not illegal

From time to time, I’ll post images that don’t meet the “community standards” of gate kept platforms. A simple figure study is somehow highly offensive. Think of the children.
This is a tintype of Julia I shot last weekend Something very classic about it. Oh, and yesterday was Edward Weston’s birthday. 136 I believe. . .

Nude tintype, figure study image.

Heather On White

Heather posted an image from this shoot today on her Instagram and I had almost forgot about it. There’s actually enough materiel from this day for at least two or three more sets. This is super stripped down, shot in the natural light studio on white, with a white plexiglass surface, ending with some yoga poses. There are hardly any safe for work images to use as previews so make sure you click through to see the whole thing.

Taylor. She Bends.

It feels a little weird and frivolous to be updating a nudie website while the world is on watch for the tipping point into world war three. Some say we’re already there. People, just like us, half a world away that just want to live their lives. Fall in love, do something meaningful, make dinner for their children, life a life free of fear. Yet munitions are raining from the sky and thousands of peaceful citizens have picked up arms to defend that sacred freedom. I don’t mean that lightly. The people of Ukraine have had a number of free years after having lived under the oppression of the Soviet Union. They’re not going back to that without a viscous fight. They’re being under estimated. It makes you take a step back and look around at our own situation. In one of the most “free” countries on the planet. What do we take for granted? I can sit here and write whatever I want and no one can do a goddamn thing about it. No brown shirt thugs will show up in the middle of the night and drag me from my bed. Its not like that everywhere. Count your goddamn blessings. Here’s a set of photos of Taylor. 80 or so more when you click through. She recently had her account shit canned at 25,000 followers. Go give her a follow: instagram.com/bendy_taylor/ And no, that’s not censorship. As much as it sucks, that’s just capitalism.

Kalima

Another quick set in between tintypes. During a tintype session, there’s three or so minutes between shots when the plate is in the silver bath sensitizing. Or, “cooking” as I often call it. sometimes we’ll use that time to refine the next pose. Sometimes we’ll use it to make tea, eat honey and fuck around with the digital camera. There is a pause in the shoot between plates. This is that pause.

On another note. Yet again today I’m confronted with the disconnect that many photographers experience. The idea that photography is easy, or is just taking a picture, or just pushing a button. Whether it be in a casual way or in a very professional, commercial sense. What we do, if we’re doing it professionally, at a certain level, is the culmination of YEARS, DECADES, of experience and knowledge. Its not just the ability to make an image the fulfills the requirements, but file management, lighting, set building, production, execution, delivery on and on and on. The elements that go into this industry are as vast and complex as any industry. Yet we’re frequently seen as someone that just takes pictures. Its very frustrating to deal with. The need to educate our clients is very real and its a blind spot they have that we need to fill in. They don’t know what they don’t know. The lesson is how to take that resistance, that head wind and use it to an advantage. I’ll let you know when I figure out how to do that.

Enough seriousness, back to the honey eater. Thanks for reading. Click the images to get to the whole gallery.
Cheers!

Lenore Volume One

One of my favorite shoots from the Me in My Place days. I can’t recall how I found her, but I’m sure glad I did. We shot together in her then home in Oakland on a warm morning on the Vernal Equinox. The first day of spring. I love these old Oakland houses and she had it decorated in a perfect, bohemian, slightly macabre style. This one is a little naughtier than normal. Sorry, not sorry. Lenore is on a hiatus from social media, but you can still follow her Instagram here. She moved to New York shortly after this. I’d love to shoot with her again some day.

Lucy in Red

A few years back I was on the East Coast for some work. I decided to extend my trip by a few days in order to check out Philadelphia. I’d been there once as a kid, did the whole history thing. Liberty bell, birth place of our Nation, etc, etc. For some reason, there have always been a number of independent models of note to come out of Philadelphia. I booked with three of them over two or three days. We shot together in between cheesesteaks and historic wanderings. I booked an Air BnB in Fishtown. It felt a lot like my place in Oakland. Old, brick, former factory of some sort. Plus, bonus, it was like, three doors down from a really good brewery and restaurant. Super dangerous to be walking distance to fresh beer. That town has got a lot of grit. I feel like the area I was in was just or still going through gentrification. A lot of art, coffee shops, beer, etc. I’m pretty down to go back. If only for the cheesesteaks.
This set with Lucy Magdalene was the first batch in the space. Actually had pretty great light and atmosphere. Lucy has a knack for finding amazing abandoned spaces. It seems like those are all over the East Coast. Schools, mental institutions, factories. It feels so much older than the West Coast. She’ll take you to one if you book a shoot with her. Highly recommended. She’s got a lot of beautiful work on her Instagram. Give her a follow.

More Heather Monique

Heather became a mother last week! Mom and baby Felicity are healthy and home from the hospital. In honor of this amazing woman who I’ve gotten to know over the years, I present our second shoot together. It centered primarily around the tintypes, but as is my custom, I tossed in some digital shots around and in between, as well as some Polaroids. Heather is the embodiment of working hard and constructing the life you desire. It’s been inspiring to watch. Instagram here, and from there you can find all her other content.
Love to you dear Heather!

Leena in Tension

This space is generally used to announce new photo sets on the member’s only site. I’d like to begin using it as a more general, broader topic blog. Starting now.
I’ve been dabbling in NFTs. Mostly to educate myself about this new and expansive technology. I feel strongly that if you don’t endeavor to keep abreast of what’s going on in art and technology that you’ll get left behind. Or at the very least, miss out on some potentially sea changing innovations.
I entered the photo profession just as digital was transitioning to mainstream. Most everyone was still shooting film. Most clients were not comfortable with digital files. I was. I’d been using a Macintosh since 1989. Photoshop since I could afford a computer that could run it. I think I still have my 3.0 floppy disks around here somewhere. When the digital revolution hit, I was positioned to embrace it. And to help photographers I assisted to embrace it. The new profession of Digital Tech on photo sets emerged and allowed me to pay rent while honing my image making skills. Working alongside photographers, managing their data and workflows, helping them operate their cameras. The photographers that survived, embraced and learned this new technology as innately as they knew film. The ones that didn’t, didn’t. It reminds me a lot of this time that we’re in now. And its not just about the NFT. Its about everything that surrounds it and supports it. The concept of the blockchain, cryptocurrency, wallets, marketplaces, minting, etc, etc. Its a whole world. Just like digital photography isn’t just about the digital camera. Its about everything that surrounds and supports it. File/data management, workflow, filetypes, compression algorithms, colorspaces, etc, etc.
I see people on line all over the place, shit talking NFTs and it feels so familiar. I remember when computers were just “fancy typewriters”. I remember when the internet was just a fad. I remember when people said that no one would want to shop online when you could just go to the store. It’s completely natural I suppose. We don’t embrace change as a species. We’re resistant to it. But the cliche holds true. The only constant is change. You can try to swim along with it, or you can get pulled under and left behind. I don’t know what will be come of this current NFT/Art phenomenon. It may all collapse. Cryptocurrency may collapse. It may all get regulated out of existence. Web3 may never come to fruition. But I do know, that the lessons and innovations that are happening at breakneck speed will carry on. They’ll be applicable in the next iteration. I do kinda, really love the juxtaposition of this brand new medium coupled with my preferred medium of 1860’s wet plate.
But hey, what do I know? I’m just a guy with a camera who pushes a button for a living, who’s just a little bit curious.

Enough of that, about the below image. I was commissioned to shoot a cover for a newsletter by The Society of Janus. This was my favorite shot of the evening. Pictured is Leena, an accomplished Shibari rigger and model. We shot a number of poses/ties that night. One of which ended up being the cover. I may share that shot later. This is a 4x5 inch TinType and available to purchase as an NFT on OpenSea. Many of my NFTs come with unlockable content that allow you to receive the original, physical plate. Which is part of the reason why they’re priced as high as they are. They’re one of a kind, physical objects, represented digitally with a high resolution file and minted on the Ethereum block chain. Also, this one is particularly dear to me.
When you look closely, you’ll notice rope marks on her body from previous ties. You’ll also notice a fragment of my fingerprint on the lefthand edge. This happens sometimes. I probably should wear gloves when shooting tintypes, but I don’t. I love the tension in the arch of her back. The tie to her hair, and her toe hooked on that rope. You can’t hold these poses for long. Tintype is not a particularly quick thing to shoot. Timing was everything and tightly coordinated. There’s a lot going on here. Probably one of my favorite images of all time.

Devi Model

I can’t recall how I came across Devi. What stands out most is a pictorial she was in for the short lived Belle SF magazine. Belle was a really nice quarterly publication. Natural models and photography. Right up my ally. I think they only put out eight issues total. Her feature was really eye-catching. I tapped her to shoot some tintypes and later on, these digital shots for Me In My Place. We shot on a gorgeous afternoon in Northern California in her mid century modern home. Couple setups, this one and another to come. I really need to book with her again. I’ve got some ideas. Maybe when the world starts to feel normal again and the days get warmer. (In hunting down her URL, its looking like she’s shadow banned on Instagram. That’s the practice of them suppressing a user’s profile if they don’t like their content. If I search for Devi, even though I follow her, she won’t show up in search. Instagram is the devil.) Follow along with Devi here: GooglyMonstor Click thru for lots more images from this day.

Kali in Honey

Kali had this vibrant Honey Birdette lingerie set we had to shoot in. HB seems to be everywhere these days. They make nice things. And something about the color combinations is simultaneously fun and uplifting as well as 80’s nostalgic. I dig it. I shot a lot of this set with a soft focus filter in camera. Its kind of a special thing. It was gifted to me by a talented portrait photographer. He had a set of these filters commissioned, hand made. It’s what’s called a Harrison Field Filter. Popular in 40’s cinema. An artisan will take a sheet of glass, sprinkle ash over it, lay another sheet of glass on top and fuse them together. Cut circles from the sheet and mount them in a threaded holder. No one makes these anymore. Dead art. Enjoy! Follow Kali here. Click thru for 60 more images.