I am splintered into two separate identities and still trying to figure out which direction to take myself. There is this seductive internal artist that love to explore his attraction to sensual imagery and the professional portrait business photographer who loves to do weddings, senior portraits, and entertainment. Of course living in Montana I must relay on the business side to sustain myself. Somehow the two styles have always seemed to clash and cancel each other. Years ago I built a website to showcase my portrait work but have always struggled with where to draw the lines. I did not want to show nudity on a site that caters toward the general consumer so as to not offend anyone and as a consideration toned down what I actually use yet sort of hinted at what I might also be interested in. Hence my more powerful and provocative work has been hidden for the past ten years and just recently begun to emerge. Do I have to create two separate identities to exist? If I do, how do I remain true to myself when I am a remarkable combination of both? How can I get these two worlds to coexist? Do they? Should they? Is it possible to somehow make money with the more provocative images and not to have to rely on the other? One of my goals of creating this project is to connect somehow, somewhere to someone that can help me get some kind of a show, calendar or publication. Am I doomed because I choose to live in a remote area of the world I love?
Glenn keeps asking me: “What is your target?” The answer keeps coming back to my reasons for beginning this project. To put myself entire self out there and share my creative talents with others. To create a retrospective of my images, of who I am and how I lived my life. You see I have had one of the most remarkable lives anyone could ever imagine and would like to somehow impart my vast experience on others before it is lost.
I want to share a quote from a conversation I had with Jim Ferringer, a sculptural artist and photographer, living in Indiana that hits the nail on the head. “The male nude is still a very taboo subject here in the US but I do believe it is slowly changing here, in a few centuries it might even be as accepted here as it is in Europe…......The male body is as beautiful as the female body and there is no reason it should not be seen as much. I will say there are just too many times when someone post a close up of their manhood taken by a crappy cell phone and post it everywhere, I question this as art and may even set the acceptability of male nudes back. “
VIEW FULL IMAGE: J R #184
2 comments:
Mmmmmmm you pose several interesting wonderings Terry . . . and I cannot help but be struck by your ability to tease connect with and tease out a subject's inner self - whatever that may be. I cannot help but be struck by your ability to use light to enhance and enrich that inner self. I cannot help but be struck by the remarkable collaboration those two complexities form with your photography. Seems like the lines of sensuality blend and waver between images whether they be an image of an 18 year old high school student, an 80 year old grandmother or a nude man 55 years old. When you bring out who we are through your images, your are revealing us and the us in us is a sensual being with an unique and individual sense of identity whatever that may be for whatever reasons that be.
Terry, it looks as if you've figured out the HTML for linking to other sites--at least in the sidebars. One suggestion I'd make is to make the links open in a new window. You can check my blog and see that (except where I've missed a link), all links open in a new window, so that my readers don't get taken away from my blog. It's an easy job to do, just add the phrase "target = _blank" in the html coding. Of course it has to go in a specific location in the link. Drop me a note if you're interested in learning more about this.
Bryan
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