Socially Distanced with Silvai

Silvai is a young model who approached me in the context of a beach-based bikini shoot. Thorough pre-shoot communications have always been a must. However, the pandemic has added further checks and measures.  Having established mutual vigilance and therefore, minimal risk to each other, we worked on shoot plans and locations. 

Beaches aren’t usually problematic, so long as you select a suitable space and are sensitive to those around you. Discrete changing and shooting spaces are the most obvious considerations. The ability to shoot fast is another definite plus but as with street photography, if your body language is confident, most people will keep a respectful distance.  

Silvai was thoroughly prepared beforehand, and we quickly found three backdrops where we would not be disturbed, and the gentle throng of families wouldn’t be offended.  Though sunny, 8 degrees Centigrade precluded her emerging from the sea, a ’la Ursula Andress in Dr. No but in warmer weather, would’ve been a perfect conclusion.    

Silvai has three years modelling experience but also a unique, quirky sense of fun, which really brought our shoot to life-from the very first frame.  I was struck by how intuitively and seamless her posing was. Nothing formulaic, she clearly understood her own physicality and which angles would prove most flattering. She was equally receptive to direction over the course of our two-hour shoot. I was relieved to hear she’s delighted with the results and would readily work with her in future.     

 

 

Creativity despite Confinement

I haven’t shot a model, or engaged in formal portraiture since late November, primarily due to the pandemic and consequent lockdowns. However, this enforced confinement forced me along other creative avenues.  

Product-based work has always been part of my photographic diet, but I’ve always been drawn to candid social/reportage stuff. Much of this boils down to being discrete, knowing your camera/settings, shooting fast, and being attuned to your environment.  

Aside from spotting creative moments, it can avert a combative encounter. Body language is equally important. Stand with confidence, as if you belong there and most people won’t notice. Act furtively and it's game over.  

Continuing this theme, I typically alternate between primes-23, 35, and 50mm 2.0, 2.8, and 1.8, which cater for most scenarios.  When it comes to people, a decent amount of emotional intelligence is key. I may shoot a homeless person but do so in a subtle, non-invasive way. People and their stories fascinate me. I shot a few portraits with Kenny back in 2020.

  

His story and that of so many just illustrates how vulnerable we are to ourselves, the will of others, or a chain of events. The more I learn, the less I am certain, and this can lead to an acute sense of vulnerability. Akin to motorcycling, this can ensure a heightened sense of awareness and quashes complacency but left unchecked, is potentially debilitating. 

  

Growing familiarity with the Fuji X100F has confirmed what a brilliant camera it is for reportage style work. Beautiful to hold, fast lens, and easily accessible settings mean I can capture scenes while remaining under the radar. A 50mm is useful when I want to focus on something or capture a candid portrait/interaction from a discrete distance.  

Living in London’s poorer districts before gentrification swept in, coupled with experiences of civil war, were good training grounds. Subtle changes in mood can indicate the onset of danger. The young woman wandering towards a checkpoint with a blank expression... Is she seven months pregnant or packed with plastic explosives? 

These things are nuanced and often incredibly subtle. Football hooliganism-the precursor to an incident is intense, not necessarily menacing before it erupts and becomes distinctly primal.  

I’m looking forward to a staged return to socially distanced modeling-based commissions and have received a few sensible approaches, which I am following up.  

 

 

Sally

While I’ve been planning shoots with select models, I’ve not been doing very much shooting, due to the pandemic and more recently, escalation in cases. I’ve been a little cautious about working in confined spaces, although thankfully, those studios at my disposal are very well organised in this respect.

Sally is a new model who has entered via the Instagram corridor and works shoots around roles within social care- a sector I am very familiar with, courtesy of previous careers, which thawed the ice very readily.

We covered a mix of themes from very casual fashion through to lingerie, which gave me the opportunity to watch how she moved and how to pose her in the most flattering ways.

This also enabled me to get a closer look at this Leica M6, which grabbed and held my attention rather longer than the owner might’ve hoped/bargained for. Sally impressed with her open, considered approach and willingness to take direction. Talking equipment, I shot this set using my trusty Alpha 6000 and Signa 30mm 2.8 prime lens. The otherwise brilliant 50mm Viltrox (which I also carried) would’ve made things a little trickier).

The A6000 is a good default for me, especially since I’m presently in temporary accommodation, most of my camera and other belongings in secure storage. Works well in the studio and on location, compact, though handles well, even for longer periods and quite good for street photography, since its less conspicuous than an SLR, or SLR sized CSCs.

 

Bodyscapes & Broken Camera Bodies

Bodyscapes are something I do from time to time and often as a way of introducing something interesting/quirky to a fine art shoot. After all, even with a highly-skilled, imaginative model, there are a finite number of possible poses. 

The most obvious route, and one I often take is asking the model to bring along scarves, lingerie to mix things up. It’d been the best part of eight months since Venise and I last worked together but she was excited by the brief and moreover understood it very well.  

There are exceptions to every rule. However, any kind of nude project requires comfort and excellent rapport between model(s) and photographer(s). Not something I would consider with an inexperienced model-unless they’d been a life model or similar before. 

I’d bought the model motorcycles for pennies on a popular auction site for this project during lockdown and the Samsung NX300 body had been stuttering and stammering for a good while. Essentially a pretty paperweight, I liked the retro rangefinder styling and we both felt it a better fit, (metaphorically and literally) than my default Minolta SLR. 

My little pear tree bestowed some fruit this year, so we reasoned it rude not to deploy its gift.  I shot these from her bedroom using natural, my Sony A7, and 50mm 1.8 lens. Not to everyone’s tastes perhaps, but we were pleased with the results.  

 

Bobbin

 Given the pandemic, I had been wary of shooting in confined spaces-studios or otherwise. Therefore, I cautiously took a drive to Rayleigh and spent an hour with Bobbin.  

Bobbin is a part-time model who has run this career in parallel to another in social care. She is warm, very self-aware and double jointed. Three attributes that certainly contribute to the creative process.  

Though not from a traditional “dance” background tone and definition developed through swimming were also very evident. Social distancing was very straightforward and easily maintained with a 50mm prime lens-in this instance, my full-frame E-mount. Being a studio setup, these were synced at F16 and 1/125.  

The A7, A600 and A6300 bodies are my studio defaults since remote triggers have proved anything but harmonious, with the older, Alpha series. Sheer and lingerie were our main themes with a quick bit of portraiture and headshots to break the ice. An hour of my time and very wisely spent.