Saturated Cloth Studies #611, 2010

The third model I began to work with during the fall of 2009 was a man named Jeremy. Jeremy is the person I photographed the most; I could almost do a book on Jeremy alone. Every time I had an idea or concept of a new direction I wanted to explore, Jeremy was the guy I called. Today’s image was originally a study on the red cloth. I have always been fascinated by the use of light and beauty of balance in the paintings of Caravaggio. I had spent many days looking for various fabrics that would replicate the fabrics used in so many of his works. So I call this fabric a Caravaggio Red. It seemed to set off and balance with the natural skin tones. I had the walls of my studio finished with a heavy texture and then painted gray. I chose gray to control the light in the studio and to keep reflectance from bouncing around the room. But the gray also seems to have a hint of many different colors and the room actually changes color according to the light that fills the room at the moment. I tend to balance the color pallet of my light and exposure to a slightly warmer temperature, to affect a sort of candle or incandescent source. To me, it heightens the romantic context of the subject and mood of the subject. The warmer tones tend to bring out a greenish color of the gray in the walls, which I totally love. This image is my first real exploration into finding that balance of color, tone, and light. The images from this series were strictly meant to be a test and the images never intended to be shown. As Jeremy and I began to look at the images, we were both captivated so much that we pulled them from the trash and began to show them. The response was astonishing and the whole series become beautiful works of art.

Last week when my dad went into the clinic for some tests because of the heart issues he was having, I spent the afternoon with him and his wife Norma, waiting for things to happen. I mentioned my upcoming trip that I was working toward planning next month. He was kind of shocked or surprised that I was leaving. He had no idea of what I have been working on this year. Though he only lives an hour from me, I don’t really talk a lot about things I am involved in. I have to say he is aware of these types of images I create and I assumed since he was on Facebook, and the rest of my family was aware of this project, that he also was aware of it. It feels like much of my life has been lived on a certain awareness but a lack of communication, mostly because I am not sure how to relate what it is I do to them. So a couple of days later I sent my father the link to the Kickstarter program I am currently using to raise money to move this project to the next level. I called him yesterday to check in and he was just blown away by what I am doing. He said he is going to make a pledge to help me make it happen.

I have recently been updating the campaign to include reviews of what others have been saying about my images and work and he was completely captivated that I had achieved such recognition. I was completely floored by my father and his response to the whole project. Thanks dad for your love and support.

The other thing I have to mention is yesterday Glenn worked like crazy all day to create a new Facebook page for THE NAKED MAN PROJECT. It is awesome!!! We have posted and linked many of the Facebook acceptable images from the blog to this page and oh my god what a journey I have been on. I completely forgot how amazing some of those old posts had been. I feel like I am so caught up in trying to make this all happen, that it’s consuming all my inner thoughts and perspectives. I promise I will get back to that once I get this Kickstarter campaign out of the way.

Today is dedicated to Bob Peterson, who keeps pushing the button each day and says I like what you are doing, and keeps encouraging me when the uncertainty begins to creep in. Thanks for believing in what I am doing. Who wrote on my Facebook the other day when I was having doubts, “No, you can't put the geni back in the bottle and keep this to yourself. It belongs to all of us now.” Bob your words of wisdom always seem to dispel the insecurities. This is what the global community it truly about.

VIEW FULL IMAGE: Saturated Cloth Studies #728