Travis Torso, 2009

During most of the fall of 2008 and into the summer of 2009, I redesigned the studio and it underwent construction. It was time to expand beyond the confines of my tiny painter’s studio.

Through this six-month period, I was without a space to work and concentrated my focus on its completion. It took the summer to get into the space, get it up to working speed and get back on my feet, but by the fall I was ready to go. Now that I had a space within which I could really move around and adjust lighting, my possibilities were unlimited. The market was beginning to fall into a slump and my commercial portrait work took a nosedive. To fill the open time I began to actively recruit models to work with in the new space and really put the new space to the test.

One of the subjects I was most drawn to was a young forestry student name Travis. It took forever to get Travis in the studio but once he saw the results of that I was trying to achieve we became great friends. Now he becomes one of my favorite subjects when I need to test new lighting ideas or theories. Today’s shot is one of the first images I ever did of Travis. We both so fell in love with this image that it has since become my avatar. It represents my work and I use it as my signature icon to most of my male nude portfolio. To me, it was a classic representation of all elements designed into one: the pose, the twist, the light, the color, and the balance of image in shape and contrast. I suddenly knew I was going to be heading in a new direction and that my possibilities were limitless. This was the simplest of images to create. My signature had always been my use of light. Now I was about the embark on a journey that would explore the possibility of taking an ordinary subject, bringing them into the studio and photographing them in such a way as to bring out the extraordinary beauty they could not, or possibly would not, otherwise discover within themselves.

I am currently a bit overwhelmed. It feels like I have a lot to do in very little time, and suddenly a bunch of new projects are coming my way. It seems like when it rains it pours, and right now I am drenched. The Kickstarter program seems to have become a major consumption of my time and energy. I am trying to network with people I have known and get pledges so I can feel secure moving on to the next step. I am only $600 away from that goal, but I still have the feeling that it all could fall through and I will be left floundering and struggling to get there on my own. It seems at the beginning the pledges were very strong with some big supporters and I am not getting the smaller ones I had anticipated. The pressure is immense and often times overwhelming. It is cutting too close to the trip and this makes me a bit uncomfortable. I should have started the process earlier and thought I had, but ran into some complications with Kickstarter that put me about three weeks behind the timeframe I originally wanted. I am also trying to get the portfolio underway and plan the details of this great adventure and trying to resist feelings of doubt and dread about putting myself out there with my images and work. I often wonder, should I have kept this all to myself, bottled inside? It has been a remarkable journey of discovery this year and this seems to be the culmination as to where it is all leading. I feel it in my heart, and my connection to those I have met along this journey is so strong. What the heart has once known it shall never forget. The Naked Man Project: Searching for Exposure

I wish to dedicate today to Marklin Fleshman, who has supported me as an artist since the beginnings of my Man Art days of May 2010, when I first began showing my images. He always seems to be my barometer and gives me a kick in the butt when I am feeling lost or drifting off course. He has helped me to find and see things in myself that I never knew were there. Thanks, Marklin. Though I have never physically met you, I feel you are my brother.

This image was also used in the blog post: Objectives of the Naked Man Project
VIEW FULL IMAGE: Travis Torso #106