Faded-out jeans

Leila Swan and Hana - 072612

I once had a love
that was as deep as the indigo
in my favorite jeans.

I wore both too often for a time,
The love tore away from me.
The jeans continued fading out with each washing.

I threw out the jeans today - the indigo is gone.
The denim's faded like her love - both faded for them.
Neither were under my control, but they both bled out from my indiscriminate use.


The River - Bruce Springsteen

Institutional bigotry just got personal.

Griffin - 072512

I am pretty torn up over the news that a friend (and a model I've photographed) was fired from being a Boy Scout camp counselor for being gay.   I do not have the full story and have not talked with Griffin about the ordeal, so I wont comment on the specifics of the incident.  His firing (and that 10 of his colleagues quit in protest) though made it into the Sacramento Bee newspaper.  Here is a link to that article. 

Hey Griffin - Good luck in your struggle. 

Jolene Hexx and faded memories

Jolene 072012

 Kodachrome - Paul Simon

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
My sweet imagination...

I worked with Jolene Hexx in late May while in Las Vegas.  She is a local that has great professionalism and is a very high quality model and person to work with.  Her energy worked so well with the mood and feel of what I wanted. I highly recommend her to all the photographers in Las Vegas.

We had two major themes to our photo shoot.  The first was using the couch for quiet time.  The second was using an LCD projector.  Jolene rocked both themes and I am wanting to work with her again.  For today, I want to share some of the couch series.

Jolene - 072012

For these images, I wanted a vintage feel and used a post production "cross processing" technique to give them a feel that is more like a faded memory of mine than truly capturing the details of the complete moment.

I always think back on those key memories and  notice certain elements gain emphasis while other details fade away.  Some of these memories have faded to just certain elements.  The scent in the air, the music we listened to, the wind on my face, the curve of a hip or the sigh softly released in a quiet sensual moment.

I wish my memory for emotionally important moments in my life weren't fading like this.  I have so many useless bits of knowledge that I would gladly give up to keep these memories whole.  I guess though that it is better to remember the essence of them than nothing at all.  

Thanks to Jolene and her beauty and energy she brought to the session.  I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

I have a question for you.  Which do you prefer of the last two?  I love how her hand is touching her face in the one with her eyes closed and I love how beautiful her eyes and lips are in the bottom one.  

Jolene  - 072012

Jolene A - 072012

Jolene B- 072012

Lady Justice decides...

Judgement on the roads of indulgence I choose to travel down - 071312

I am currently working on a few art series of photos and collages.  The first is on my objectification of women (more on that at a later time).  The second concerns the justice that is coming upon me, my gender, my race, and all of humanity in the next half century as epitomized by Lady Justice. 

I visited Dublin Ireland in July 2006.  One of the interesting things I saw was their statue of Lady Justice (see photo at this link).   What do you notice is different about her?  No blindfold.  I guess justice is not blind in Ireland.  She got me thinking about that iconic statue that is present in so many cities, states and countries.

Lady Justice - Las Vegas - 0717

Last year we discovered the Lady Justice statue in Las Vegas.  To be fair, she isn't in the courthouse, but at a law office building near the courthouse.  I love how her sword is almost as tall as she is.  You can't tell from the photo, but I would guess she is about the height of the average woman.  As for the pose and extreme drama of her stance, I will let you make your own observations.

After seeing the Las Vegas Lady Justice, and all the other Lady Justice statues I've looked at,  I am starting a series on how justice will pass judgement on the sins of the list I mentioned above - me, my actions, my gender, my race, my sexuality and sexual decisions, my transgressions,  my country, and all of humanity.  In this new series I plan to have different models play the role of Lady Justice.  She doesn't always have to bare a breast, be a woman, or be blind folded.   The Lady Justice must though be passing judgement on something I feel must be brought to trial.

I believe all of the personal, group and humanity areas that I listed above are going to be judged soon for what we have done.  Beyond my personal things, someone will have answer for the transgressions against women, other races, differing sexual orientations, religions, cultures, economies (the creation and treatment of the poor), and earth as an environment.  These can be as personal as my decisions, choices to as grand and global as genocide, oppression, environmental destruction and war. 

The top photo is my first such attempt at capturing Lady Justice in judgement of me and my personal decisions and choices I made.  It isn't finished, but I am liking the mood.  Special thanks to Fae for giving me the perfect expression I needed for this image.  Any feedback is appreciated.  You can click on the image for a larger view of it.

As for judging - here how one man judged and sentenced Lady Justice.  Back in 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft was offended by the Lady Justice statue he had to see at the Justice Department that dared to have an exposed breast.  He had her covered up.

Fae

Fae - 07012

Fae was the second model I worked with in Las Vegas.  She is a true gem to create with.  Her energy and spirit shows in her work.  She has fun modeling and I got a lot of good stuff to work with from our two sessions.  I have a collage of her I will share in a few posts that is part of a growing theme I am exploring on Justice and Lady Justice.

Fae and I created a number of images using the natural light in the living room.  We also used the LCD projector.  Once again, she is another model who loved experimenting using the LCD with me.  Until now I only used my my own images to project on the models.  I have used a Dali painting, but all photos were mine.  I used one for a couple of those shots,  Robert Frank's famous Highway 95 and appropriated it with Fae and another model.  I am still trying to find my boundaries with appropriation.  Barbed wire and others are my source images.

To all photographers visiting LV, Fae D-Cay is a golden model to work with.  She will make you smile and give you the magic to help you create art.

Fae2 - 070112

Fae and Robert Frank (color) - 070112

Fae and Robert Frank (BW) - 070112