I've put together a list of specific projects and dates for 2018. Check it out by clicking the link above. For a more general description of my current work, read on:

1. Compelling Stories and "Imperfect" Bodies

Over the years, my photography has evolved from an emphasis on creating pretty pictures to telling compelling stories.

I'm looking for unique individuals with unique and personal ways of expressing their sensuality. What's your story? What makes your lived experience different? What challenges have you overcome, and how are these hard-won triumphs reflected in your body, your lifestyle, those you choose to love, and the way you express that love?

My reference to "imperfect" bodies is in quotation marks for a reason: I believe that all humans are beautiful regardless of what mainstream society regards as their imperfections. If you are a confident, sensual individual who happens to be older than the typical model, or who happens to have scars or physical disabilities, or who happens to live in a wheelchair, I'd love to work with you. Share your empowerment through photography.

Along with your fine art photographs, I'll set up my camera on video mode and let you tell your own story, to go along with the images we capture.
 

2. Unique Individuals and Women of Color

The human species comes in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, colors, ages, and configurations. We are also amazingly creative about the ways that we modify our bodies with tattoos, piercings, hairstyles, and clothing. I never tire of capturing this diversity on camera. If you don't see anyone who looks like you in my portfolio, chances are I'd love to add you to it!

Washington state is less diverse than the rest of the country, so I'm particularly interested in balancing my portfolio with models who represent the vast diversity of human appearance and experience. Women of color are not "unique," but they are lacking in my portfolio. This includes anyone of non-Caucasian heritage.
 

Binding Love 3. Couples

I really enjoy working with couples, because there's an energy that comes from interaction between two people, especially those who know each other intimately. And yes, I have experience photographing couples interacting intimately, and enjoy photographing sexual expression in a way that is artistic and compelling. But that's only one aspect of what I'm interested in capturing. The private language of touch, the wordless communication of the eyes, the shorthand of two people who are comfortable with one another is a beautiful thing, whether it's sitting quietly together or the million-and-one ways people express love.

My interest in photographing couples is not limited to traditional heterosexual couples, nor to the 1% who are young, fit and resemble celebrities. Love is love, no matter who you are, and I'm interested in portraying that through my photography. I'm seeking couples who are older; couples who are lesbian, gay, transgender, or gender fluid; couples of different ethnicity; couples who live with disability; and any other "invisibles" who otherwise never seem to be included in galleries that portray a monoculture of human relationships.
 

The home is our most personal and private of spaces. We put on a good show when we have guests over to visit; but our truest and most naked selves are revealed when we are home alone. I'm looking for nudes both casual and posed, in everyday home settings: sitting at a table, standing in a kitchen, in the natural light of a living room, on a staircase; or out of doors in a backyard setting: porches, doorways, decks, or working in the garden. 

Home models may be of literally any build, style, or level of experience, though it's vital that you're able to convey a sense of being in a "lived-in" space. In other words, I'm not interested in your most creative modeling poses -- I want you to look like you're in a space where you're comfortable letting your guard down for the camera. To that end, I'm willing to pay extra for models who are willing to pose in their own homes or apartments. For your security, I can provide references from models I've worked with before, and friends or escorts are welcome.
 

5. Urban Nudes and Other Unusual Settings

Because we usually hide our sensual selves away behind layers of culture and clothing, there is a mischievous part of me that enjoys turning those conventions on their heads to portray the human body in places it is not usually discovered. 

Even in our cities and towns, surrounded by the hard geometry of human civilization, our wild nature is hidden just beneath the surface. Nudes in rural or urban settings make this point well: on rural roads and bridges; in abandoned buildings; in alleys surrounded by graffiti; in doorways; on empty playgrounds; on balconies and viewpoints with the city in the distance; on park benches and staircases and in picnic shelters; or posing next to urban statuary.

Rural settings are also good, with one foot in the careful organization of civilization and the other in wild nature. Possible photography settings include cabins, horse barns, farm fields, fences, large open yards, wood sheds, rural roads and bridges, and train tracks.

Related themes: nudes that are just out of sight -- hidden behind a doorway, for example, as unaware crowds stream by; portrayed not as titillating exhibitionism, but as a metaphor for the secret parts of our lives that are hidden just out of sight. Another theme: nudes that look out of place -- places you're not used to seeing the human body unclothed; again, portrayed not for erotic purposes, but in a way that makes you ask, "what's going on here? What's the story behind this image?"

Yet another interest of mine is challenging the basic rules of "decency" as they apply to the human body. I believe strongly that the human body is beautiful, not obscene, and that rules that arbitrarily keep it under wraps even in the most natural of settings deserve to be challenged. Laws that discriminate against a woman's right to be topfree for her own comfort and enjoyment, in settings where no one would bat an eye at a shirtless man, are especially vexing.

Obviously, the best models for this project are those with a strong nudist, naturist, or exhibitionist streak -- or at least someone comfortable enough in their skin to not mind being seen. I'm not interested in causing a scene or getting arrested, but I am interested in artistically exploring the lines we draw between public and private, decent and indecent, sensual and naturalistic. I will work with you to choose time, date, location, and weather to minimize potential issues, and I'm happy to work with your level of comfort being nude in a public or semi-public setting.
 

Humans are so often characterized as being separate and apart from nature. But we are wild animals ourselves, and something within us yearns to return to a state of harmony with the earth. Possible photo locations include the verdant forests and trails west of the Cascade crest, and the desert canyons and forests on the east side; mountain viewpoints and fire lookouts; beaches on the Puget Sound or Pacific Ocean; among the stumps along the edge of a drawn-down reservoir; or on a canoe or rowboat in the middle of a lake. I'm also interested in the idea of being immersed in nature: wading and swimming in lakes, walking in he rain, covered in mud, or lying on the ground among the autumn leaves.

Some specific locations I'd like to shoot include:

• Fire lookouts: I have great ideas for late afternoon light, or even moonlight or starlight. There are fire lookouts in all four corners of Mount Rainier National Park that would be ideal.
• Wildflower meadows: Especially in early morning or late evening light. Mazama Ridge and Naches Peak in Mount Rainier National Park are two of the places I have in mind.
• Lakes and streams: Nude models and water always go well together, and there are many such options in and around Mount Rainier: Ghost Lake, Crystal Lake, Hidden Lake, Lake Louise, Bench and Snow Lake, and more, along with numerous mountain streams, rivers, and waterfalls.
• Rock: The contrast between nude skin and rough rock is beautiful, especially in black and white. Favorite locations for this theme include the Huckleberry Creek Trail near Sunrise and Sheepskull Gap near Chinook Pass in Mount Rainier National Park. The lower Ohanapecosh River has some beautiful sculpted smooth river rock, too, alongside clear green pools.
• Forest: Models photographed next to huge trees is something I've done many times before, so what I'm interested in doing next is more landscape-based -- that is, models as part of a large, wide angle forest landscape rather than in close-up. 
• Deep Wilderness: Some of the most beautiful and majestic settings in Mount Rainier National Park are a long distance from the trailhead -- Klapatche Park, Grand Park, Spray Park, Van Trump Park, Mildred Point, Third Burrough. I'd love to work with models who don't mind hiking three hours each way on a steep trail in order to spend a few hours making extraordinary images. The trails themselves are great settings, too -- a nude model wandering a wilderness trail, surrounded by towering cliffs and trees, makes a great image.
• Wild Woman: The idea of a "forest nymph" is a popular theme in photography, but the "nymph" is usually portrayed in a very idealized way. I like the idea of turning this on its head, and photographing the model smeared in mud, with hair tangled with lichen; or possibly so caked with dirt and leaves and moss that she blends in with the natural setting around her.
• Reservoirs: Many of our local reservoirs look really ethereal when their water levels are drawn down during the summer, with massive stumps sticking out of the mud. Several reservoirs local to me (Alder Lake, Lake Kapowsin) have remote corners where a nude model could readily be photographed wandering among the towering stumps and cracked mud.
• Wild Weather: Sunlight is nice (and warm), but rain, fog, and wind make dramatic photographs! I took photos of a model near Chinook Pass a few years ago and, at the end, included a few shots as she wandered nearly invisible in the fog. To my surprise, these were some of the most popular images from the set. I would love to explore this theme further -- wind-swept, rain-soaked, fog-blanketed models in the forest. Here in the Northwest, this is not for models who can't tolerate the cold! We'll shoot in short bursts with lots of warm liquids! It also requires a lot of flexibility of timing in order to take advantage of weather conditions.
• Olympic Beaches: It's a long drive from where I live, but I would dearly love to photograph models on the wilderness beaches of Olympic National Park, with the sand, the surf, and the cliffs and haystacks of volcanic rock looming in the background.
• Erotic Themes: Or, "wildness in the wilderness," if you will. Erotic modeling by individuals or couples, rope bondage, erotic play; artistic and sex-positive.
   

A brand new interest: shibari (decorative) rope bondage. I'm just beginning to learn techniques and would love to find some people to practice with. Ultimately, I see shibari as an option, for willing models, to enhance photography in wilderness settings.
 

Your Ideas?

Many of the best photographs I've ever taken have been based on ideas suggested by the people I photograph. If you have something in mind that you've always thought would be fun and creative to photograph, you're probably right! Share with me your ideas, and let's be creative together! Recently, for example, I've been talking with a model about a "messy kitchen" photo shoot. A few years ago, a model proposed a "bad mother" set, featuring a very pregnant model posing with cigarettes and vodka. I love helping to make creative ideas a reality!

 

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See my portfolio for examples of my work, and my booking page for more information. If you have any questions, write to me on my contact page.