Photos submitted for consideration to be published in Shots magazine's Spring 2022 Issue 155, with the theme of "Collaborations." The deadline for the call for entry was March 1, 2022. My photos were not accepted.
My artist statement:
Good figurative photography results from the vision and skill of a good photographer. GREAT figurative photography results when that is combined with the vision and skill of a great model. In my experience there is nothing more exciting than when two people create something together that neither could have envisioned separately.
The classical way of thinking about "artist" and "muse" is both incomplete and condescending. By definition, a "muse" is "a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist." In this framework the muse is passive except for the creativity she (almost always she) inspires in the imagination of the artist (who is almost always male). This is not true collaboration, but rather a mirror in which the artist sees himself.
I have been fortunate to work with many great models over the years, individuals who are every bit as much an artist as I am and without whom my photography would be vastly inferior. My longest and most reliable collaborator is Katlyn Lacoste, a Seattle painter and model who shares my passion for creating figurative art that is both sensual and wild, infused with humanity but rooted in the earth. We've hiked trails, climbed mountains, swam in lakes and captured moonlight. And we've made some amazing art.
Often, we've brought along a third artist, someone whose creative energy has contributed as well. But it's the artistic vision that Katlyn and I have shared over the years, and the hard work we've invested together, that has resulted the collection of images you see here. I'm proud to claim equal credit--because they wouldn't have existed any other way.
© Sensualight Photography
