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My rule was not to shoot more
than 3 rolls of film. If I couldn’t
get what I wanted in three rolls then I had a problem and the shoot was
brought to a halt. My backgrounds were always bothering me on
wide-angle lenses. I didn’t like to see everything, especially
since I
was more focused on the subject. I could have framed the shot and
utilized the background architecture but I was after motion and
movement. By now, my walls were filled with fashion photographer
tear
sheets. I studied their work trying to figure out how much of the
image was created in the shot or in post, better described as the
printing phase. I was always so frustrated with this extreme beauty
that I had a tendency to look for more obscure ad campaigns from Europe
that dealt with erotica or simply, mood. As testing continued, I
began to receive negative responses from the models. They had no idea
that I was not interested in the makeup, hair or wardrobe. I
simply
wanted to capture them in a heartfelt mysterious world. Since I worked
on the edge of light, generally wide open and shutter
speeds of a 15th to a 30th of a second I would inevitably create a
different
image just by default of the setting combinations. My heart
really
grew fond of long lenses. It seemed to duplicate the way I saw the
world. Okay, now I’m stuck on a super long lens, racking
focus manually, wide-open apertures and criminally slow shutter speeds
all while I’m dancing around and chasing my model, who was also
moving.
This particular style would ultimately freak an agency or client. My
contact sheets were all over the place. Sometimes the model jumped
into the light and it would blow out the whites or she dropped way into
the black and we crushed them but this is exactly what I wanted. I
wanted different parts of the body to enter and exit the lights with
free
will. I liked the tests but I knew there was no place to send these
images. You must remember that digital was coming on strong and
clarity was dominating the feel in the industry. Ah yes… the
industry.
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