Shereka at the Shooters Lounge...

Every Thursday I meet up with a few photographers and other fashion industry types in a Caribbean hangout call Mas Camp on d' Island. The event is called the Shooters Lounge and we congregate for a little networking and casual shooting. Last week, Make Up Artist, Shereka showed up and we had a little fun shooting outside as the skies darkened and the thunder and lightning came. She was great. And we talked a little about the blog and the site that I am working on. Hopefully, she will be apart of it all.

the artist model series - xian: moods and monochromes

Always the muse, Xian stands out because of her expressiveness. Working with the artsy environment at Apache Cafe & Lounge, she creates moods with each pose that constantly inspired artists and photographers alike.

Naturally Leslie's Sunday Cuteness...

Yesterday, while trolling through the blogs I follow, I happened upon a delight on Naturally Leslie. Its was an inspired pictorial of afros and flowers, called Sunday Cuteness, that I thought everyone here might enjoy. Thanks NL!

Bianca...

a playful shot that with a young woman who I hope to shoot again.

Jake at Bourbon Street...

A candid at a small joint just outside of Atlanta. Jake. She fights fires for a living.

Khade...a revisit in pink

Khade in a west end butta aftershoot

maurice and malika...

Maurice Evans is a painter and photographer who marries both skill sets to create some astounding works. Humble 'til the end, he was genuinely surprised when I told him I wanted to feature his works on the blog because I considered him and his works to be influential and inspirational to the vision here. Within a few brief years, Maurice has established himself as one of the best in the field of Black Art and his works has delighted countless collectors of African-American art. No matter the subject or whether the works are executed on paper, wood or canvas - the texture, intense colors, strong emotion and unusual, exaggerated perspectives, are what define a Maurice Evans work.

And Malika
Model. Actress. Dancer.
Malika is the muse.

They have created a LOT of beautiful, provocative and highly imaginative works of art together. Check them out. Malika is a model and you find her here. Check out the works of Maurice here and here.

the artist model series - sonia: curves & locs part 2

In this sequel to Curves and Locs at the Apache Cafe & Lounge I experimented with the images a bit, working on different approaches for digital illustration that I've been contemplating for while. I liked the affect. This pictorial is part of a short series of retrospectives on my influences and inspirations.

The model goes by the stage name DarknCurvy and you can find her on MySpace.

the works of alain paris...

I have been a huge admirer of Alain's images for 15 years and I know of several photographers and artists who share my sentiment. The images of his that I love are in his Black Mirages body of work that he shot in Africa. I find his captures to be inspiring and his collages to be, especially, provocative. I've included a few of his collages here, but feel free to check out the rest of his works here and here!



The following are paraphrased excerpts from his bio...

He is not a photographer but, as he is pleased to say, he goes in for photography. For he combines the technique of the professional with the original joy of the dilettante. In the proper meaning of the term: Italian word, present participle of "dilletaro", "delight", hence "the one who practise an art for love". For the pleasure of the photographic art or rather of the "photografrica" art. Because Alain Paris unceasingly puts this continent in images.



What he shows us of Africa is truly unique. In full modesty, and very subjectively, he attempts to reveal to us its very beauty. That of its women, of whom he shows the stare, the skin, the hands, the muscles...

Yes, Alain's Africa, is unique. It is woman, mother or mistress, naked, strange and sensual. With Black Mirages, he gives us to see the most beautiful and most evident of what Africa undoubtly has, but that which no one can describe. A stomach. The fertile one of a mother or the stretched skin of a dancer? Hands. The ones of an Ashanti princess of Ghana or of a Diola countrygirl of Casamance? The nape of a neck. The one of an amazon warrior of Congo or of a parisian model? Suppleness of bodies, frankness of a stare, raw purity of Africa to which these "Black Mirages" send us back.




True lover of a female Africa that he locked in his darkroom, he invites us to only see her beauty and campaigns, in his own way, and better than others maybe, for her survival.

shea...earth mother....

When I met with Shea, she said she really wanted to do a pregnancy shoot but she did want do one that was limited to the typical portrayal of being nude and draped in white...you know, the usual.

Well we did a few of those anyway, but that not what these captures are about. A wife beater and blue jeans was the style for this set. I liked creating these images because I approached the look of each shot differently and was pleased that we could produce an array of looks to the images from one wardrobe styling.

Shea's had the baby since this (a boy.) We are planning another shoot soon.

Eric Shelton...Artist Inspired

I've known Eric for almost 20 years and I've always been impressed with his work. A mixed media painter and found object sculptor, he was one of the artists I called out to, personally for images inspired by the sensuous beauty of Earth Sistas.

Feel free to check out some of Eric's works here. He exhibits, regularly and his works are available for purchase. And if you any images that you'd like to contribute for viewing at the project, feel free to share!

the artist model series - xian: the first muse in locs & white

Xian was the first.



At Apache, she was the first model I created images of (first as sketches, later as photos). And while I loved the images I captured, there were so many quality concerns with the digital images that I was inspired to solve the problems and get it right. The solutions are technical, having to do with camera sensors and lighting techniques.







But I was inspired to go the next level. Create better images and new ideas. Grow.

I guess that is what a Muse does for you.