I am not a good business man. There you have it.
Some may deem it a weakness but I choose to embrace the positive. I would much rather create work that I'm proud of, work with artistic merit, images with purpose, dignity and a conscience.
I love the human body, and yes I've spent a great deal of time focusing on the male form. How much of that work has truly been art? Not as much as I would have liked. It's easy to get caught up in the game, sort of a competition among contemporaries. Who's most popular? Who gets the most clicks? Who's style gets emulated today? Who gets to shoot with the modeling "stars" of the moment?
It's all just so exhausting and at the end of the day I just wasn't proud of much that I was creating. I certainly wasn't making money off of these endeavors. I had the pleasure of working with a handful of models who are recognizable in some circles but certainly no huge bragging rights. I did manage to make some art here and there. But I wasn't getting enough out of what I was putting in.
But I still believe in championing the male body as a valid art form. Every so often someone still comes back to me and says "hey, I'd love to shoot again if you have any ideas" Well of course I have ideas, my brain is still on.
So I do another shoot but what's happening now is I'm focusing on pretty much one word singularly when preparing for a shoot with a male model these days.
"Why?"
Typically I like to come up with 2-3 "vignettes" or series when I'm planning a shoot, all while also leaving room for spontaneity as well. So now as I'm planning these segments of a shoot I ask myself "Why?" when I think I have a good idea.
Why does this idea need to happen? Why do this at all? Also questions such as What are we saying here? What do I want people to get out of this? Why should this exist? If I can't answer these questions then that particular idea gets shelved or even trashed.
I'm also looking to incorporate various other art mediums into my work. I've recently done a fantastic shoot where I painted the model head to toe in black liquid latex as part of a theme. It was fun to break out another medium and put it to work in my photography. Another layer of art. It was gratifying.
I feel as if I'm beginning to ramble and that's partly due to the hour. But my point is this: I am infinitely more interested in making art than I am simply running a cookie cutter factory of the hottest spank bank material for circulation on the internet.
So a collaboration with me should answer a lot of "Why?" questions and we may speak at length before getting to the shoot to ensure that all the details are set and a spectacular plan has been made.
Even if the plan is to not plan. That's a valid plan as well. Sometimes we just want to fly by the seat of our pants and see what kind of art happens on the fly. Or we challenge ourselves with a prop and see what can be made to happen when faced with an unconventional obstacle, or opportunity.
It's about art, ya know?
Art happens from the soul for the soul.
That's what speaks to me today. Money talk turns me off. Art turns me on.
