You'll find John Emrys at his official site, Duclerck, Model Mayhem.
"Original Liisa"Jump"
When I think of John, the first thing I feel is his deep and compassionate kindness. He told me to work a little less ! He's kidding me. And the second one, wow!, here is a talented photographer. All is there. And yet :
"At an impressionable age when the Apollo mission made its historic lunar landing, my first career choice was bio-genetics. Balking at the concept of one plus two equaled three, I kept seeing the answer as a pleasing shape. My love for physics and chemistry prevailed upon a right-brained streak, leading to a discovery of the nature of light and how it plays on everything."
Of course, when he asked me to contribute, I went on his site and I immediatly loved what I saw. So here is he.
He choosed a lot of these photographs, I added some. I hope he'll understand why. Because there is no hazard in this site.
Welcome on board John ! And thanks. Take care.
"Duo DressHorns"
Mostly self-taught, John has spent the past twenty-five years generating commercial photography for such clients as Clinique, ScotiaBank, The Wool Bureau of Canada, Labatt’s, H20 Cosmetics USA, Playboy Lingerie and numerous editorial magazines. He has recently produced a fifth fine-art project for the distinguished Canadian artist, Michael Snow.
His awards : several CAPIC, Nikon, Profoto and PDN Gold and Silvers, many of them for his ‘Body for Soul Lingerie’ LA campaigns and ongoing self-promotional series.
Lately he prefers shooting fine-art nudes more often than not. A belief in the pure difference between perception and perspective has remained, while continuing to make use of metaphor in his photography.
"Alex bedroom chair"
"Alex livingroom solo"
"Alex bathtub"
"Crystal front window"
I had my first taste of pro photography given to me by an ex-Franciscan monk who had changed careers, mid-stream. Somehow, he had secured the management position of the black and white darkrooms at the local paper, and later, he also sold me my first Hasselblad. To this day I have no clue how those elements were connected.
It was shift work that didn’t allow much of a schedule for shooting my own stuff or for having a social life but it taught me a mitt-load about film, printing, not the least of all, deadlines. (As a form of stress relief I also learned how to bake and was known to the editorial staff as producing a particularly excellent cheesecake, although that’s another story). I was mesmerized by the shoot, soup film, print process, and how each part yielded unique emotional experiences layered within the same image.
"Caro Cafeteria"
"Crutch"
"Nicole head"Being mostly self-taught afforded hours of creative fulfillment, which conveniently leaves others blameless for my level of accomplishment. So much so, that the obsession became a life career. It’s a pang that to this day can’t be satiated, no matter how many servings of cheesecake are heaped on the table.
And so, the journey into professional photography, or more accurately, just a plain artistic headlong plummet of never getting the absolute perfection of what I wanted to express, began.
I’ve gathered some amazing things along the way. When I was an assistant learning the craft, one of the pros I worked for bet a client he could make hundreds of chickens look at the camera all at the same time. And then doubled it. The client lost the bet. Maybe it had something to do with that re-furbished monk, I’ve never been sure. I’ll bet the client never forgot it, either.
"Tamsen-full length"I learned how to rescue E6 roll film from a three-day tropical soak in a leaky Ziploc : how to not trip the teargas canister again in the camera safe, how to make one of those chickens stand like the Rock of Gilbraltar, and much more.
"Crystal white chair"
With remarkable privilege, I’m still here after 27 years. Still fascinated by the whole process; that it’s mostly a digital workflow now doesn’t really hinder either the vision or the concept.
Someone said they found it astounding that I’ve spent most of a lifetime trying to capture moments that when added together, might not amount to a couple of hours of gathered time.
Small price to pay, it seems.
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