July 28, 2015

Nikola Borissov in backstage






“Cet obscur objet du désir”

“Jenata dnes” (”Woman today”) magazine, Oct’08
Viktoria Yovcheva@Ivet Fashion
Styling : Djina Sheovska
Hair and makeup : Iveta Petrova
1st assistant and backstage photography : Ivan Manchev

Published :






















On stage :







And my favorite since I know Nikola, member of UdA since 2008 :

Svilena Kidess, actress
"Don't smile !"





July 26, 2015

Mic Ardant : his making of


We were talking Mic Ardant, famous French photographer, and I about the artistic creation, him in photography and me in writing. And, in fact, we live the same incredible passion and we share the same deep feelings about our art. My pen, his camera, my words, his models, my breathe, his lights, and so on.

Here are his own words to describe the making of a Photograph :




"Naked White Smiling Nude"


















1 "Fulgurance" - 2 "Le doute" - 3 "Insolence"








" There is the search for the model, the search for a concept which adapts itself to the model, even in the case of an improvised session.
There is a way of dressing her, and undressing her, to guide her, to impose the poses, to seduce her so she made spontaneously what we wish that she made, to force her, in a sense, so that she puts a lot in our set, before being able to choose the angle, the good distance, the ideal focal, looking in the zoom for the best framing and settling so that the flash works, so that she doesn't close her eyes at the time of the release, and it if it's the case, we don't see it in the viewfinder at the time of the shot because the viewfinder is blind during this precious moment…




"An Insupportable Happiness"



And then the post-production, the workframing in the millimeter, the definitive choice of the treatment of colors, luminosity, a little more contrast, a whit of saturation, an retouch of balance of colors … Finally the signature, to the right, to the left, how to include it in the composition, the frame, the molding of color, what nuances to choose … All this elaborated according to the moment in conjunction with what was " already made " and what goes out of us without we can explain it …What runs the movement and determines the action.



"Luminous Idea"


July 22, 2015

Andrew Kaiser (Absolute Reality Studios) for the first time



I lived two years in San Francisco, exactly at Sausalito. To reach my office, I passed across the Golden Gate Bridge four times a day. It was like a dream. And it's still the most beautiful period of my life. Some years later, I still miss San Francisco... and I'm sure it will be until my dying day.

Andrew Kaiser made these splendid and original cliches which turn me upside down.

Done in 2007




"Last stand"






" As for words...I tend to let my pictures speak for themselves. I will say however that I am a firm believer in the fact that all human beings are beautiful ; short, tall, fat, skinny, old, young. It doesn't matter and I am very tired of this notion that only one type of person is desirable. I'd like to think my work is doing its small part to speak out against that."






"Body Arch"










"Figured Bridge"










"Human Bridge"










" I Walk Alone"










"The Bridge"









Here is the first issue of Luminous Magazine by Luminous Press, Available at LuLu !

" The idea was to create a quarterly magazine without the goal of publishing what sells but more to publish what is interesting. It was with that thought that Luminous was born.
The first issue features eighty pages of photography, art, and interviews from such brilliant minds as Holly Bynoe, Tara MacPherson, Reg Mombassa, and a whole lot more !"



Nudes of 'ordinary' women by Jane Lancashire


This is a topic dear to my heart and about which I wrote in my personal blog. Following that post I contacted Jane Lancashire, after seeing her website. 

Jane is a photographer who specialises in doing nudes of women who do not model, either professionally or semi-professionally, and who want such images for themselves, just to feel good about themselves.


The results are stunning as you can see from the photographs :







Says Jane:

It is such rewarding work, celebrating the natural, feminine curves and reminding women how beautiful they are. The creative journeys I share with clients make this a particularly enjoyable type of photography.

Clients will find that even if they have some reservations about removing their clothes, this passes almost immediately and almost everyone has commented on how liberating the experience is."

The testimonials on her website, from women who have experienced being photographed nude, often for the very first time, are proof that what she does is amazing, in terms of helping women to feel beautiful and confident.





Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore it is perfectly possible to obtain high quality images when photographing women who may not be conventionally beautiful, but as people they are interesting and have a beauty which the camera may (or may not) capture, depending on who is taking the photograph. Jane knows how to make a woman unleash the inner goddess which is in all of us.


When I see Jane's images I feel that the only difference between me as a model and any of her clients is simply that I am more used to being photographed and feel very confident in front of the camera, regardless of who is holding it. It took a while to gain that confidence but I have it now and it will never go away. This is what allows me to be a model. There are times when some (male) photographers, usually middle aged,  try to shutter that confidence by claiming that "the best models are girls under eighteen". I look at them with pity, as what they are saying is but a projection of their desires. I am a photographer myself and I know that the camera is but an extension of my eyes. It sees what I see and my images embody my own prejudices. I believe women are beautiful, simply by being themselves,  and it's wonderful to see someone like Jane putting this philosophy into practice.










I can't help quoting here what one of the women photographed by Jane says:

"Thank you Jane for reminding us of who we are, who we can be and giving the choice of who we wish to be"

























































Thank you Jane for doing what you do!
Alex



More about Jane at The Real Does Not Efface Itself





July 18, 2015

John Peri talks about his models



" Colour is a conveyor of mood. The nostalgia expressed by this model in her demeanour is possibly accentuated by the colour. Since I know my models which of course others don't, I read things into my images which they cannot do, but these subliminal messages may help to give clues to the answers." John Peri




"Hotel room"








"Kate returns"





"Modern art images", "clever compositions", and gorgeous expressive models, John Peri deserves all these comments.

Living in France, John Peri figures beyond the most famous ones. Cake on the cherry, he never forgets to talk about his models, asking for the greatest respect. He's so right.






"Lady with the blues..."








"My neighbour on the second floor"






John Peri by himself :

"Any photographer who says he's not a voyeur is either stupid or a liar" Helmut Newton, 1995.

I don't think he meant this in the pejorative sense, but the ability to see and observe. What I photograph essentially is the "girl next door". I try to present the models as they are in private or how they imagine that they would be, when encouraged momentarily to play a more glamorous role. In both cases, they are showing a part of their personality that is usually not on display. It is a moment of self-revelation and discovery, and the models are sometimes surprised to have brought to the surface a side of themselves that is often largely overwhelmed by the constraints of everyday life.





"Those little moments"


The nudity that appears in some of these pages is superfluous. It is a means to an end and of no significance per se. There will be some that consider it gratuitous, but one cannot always accommodate to the lowest common denominator. Hopefully, a greater number will identify with the wish of these young women to capture a passing moment in their lives, before moving on again to the unending obligations that largely dominate our existence.








"For Anca..."



People are sometimes curious about the equipment used for these photos. I have a couple of NIKONS, one digital and one using film, each with a flash attached to the camera. In my view, this allows for greater mobility than with the techniques used by those that set up their pictures more carefully, and whose work I nevertheless follow with great admiration.

The models are all friends and those that they present to me, which become friends in turn. From time to time, I also ask a young lady that I meet in public to pose for me. Occasionally, they accept.








"Nathalie"





When making your comments, please take into consideration that the majority of my models follow these pages closely and do not like to have personal remarks addressed to their persons or their anatomy.

They grace us by allowing us to look at their photos. I think that we owe it to them in return to show some respect for their generosity. As fellow photographers, I thank you for understanding this, John."






"Jazz on a Summer Night"



Welcome Robert Triboli



Robert Triboli

 Art has little to distinguish itself from religion. Fundamentally they are both acts of faith and therefore subject to their own uncertainties.






"Yulia 198"
Art Model Yulia






"Isobel 3"
Art Model Isobel




Professional photographer from Sacramento, Ca, USA, Robert Triboli is a wise and devoted Photographer I admire since a long time. Like a very large majority of the artists featured here, his passion began really young. Always fascinated by the light, you can feel today how much he knows everything about her. As I choosed the pictures to illustrate his article, I found many wonderful shots that I invite you to contemplate right now !

Thank you Robert, you're so kind.  See you soon !



When I was a child I could feel light – not just the sensation of hot or cold – but light itself. I can'’t describe it to you, but I know I could feel it.When I was a child l would spend breezy summer afternoons lying under the vine-covered pergola in my grandfather’s vineyard. It was like being in a kaleidoscope and I could feel the millions of possible spectral permutations. It was rapture.




"Lily 158"





"Yulia 318"
Art Model Yulia






"Aedrea 277"






"Yulia 286"
Art Model Yulia























"Lipstick"
Art Model Yulia






With maturity I lost that facility to feel light. It was like learning the definition of awe and losing its meaning. It’s not that adults can’t feel awe ; they just don’t experience that knock the wind out of your guts awe that a child does.

I was a serious young man. I was one of those people who thought that discovering the meaning of the universe was possible. I experimented with a lot of systems (Eastern, Western, Middle Earth) in search of the Eternal Answers. For a while I even thought the camera would allow me to differentiate between what Takahara calls “the dreams that are true from the truths that are only dreams”. The camera ended up being just another system. Art has little to distinguish itself from religion – fundamentally they are both acts of faith and therefore subject to their own uncertainties.








"Stephanie 3"
Art Model Stephanie Anne

























"Kristin 1"
Art Model Kristin







Older now, I concern myself less with answers. Instead, with a conviction that the universe is always presenting our senses with miraculous gifts, I have tried to foster receptivity and appreciation. I have tried to rediscover the awe and rapture I knew when I was a child.

Someday I would like to relive the feeling of light. I don’t know if it’'s possible to find one’s way back, but photography has brought me closer than anything else.







"Stephanie 249"
Art Model Stephanie Anne







"Kristin 2 16"
Art Model Kristin








"AP 162 2"








"S 21"






















"Lily"








The great majority of my images include people. While I don’t consciously seek out children I find them in many of my photographs. Perhaps, if I can’t get back there on my own, I can follow them as they instinctually find those paths that lead one up into the light.