Nightly's Colour...

I had a moment.

It was around the time at the end of session with a model that I'd shot in my HomeStudio. I knew we were done, she needed the images for an online community she was involved in and we had plenty...

We took a few more shots. They were a little racy and I was very interested in the play of bright colour on dark skin. They ended up not being used in the set. I think they look beautiful here. Do you?

J Love and PGNubian

J Love's goal is to create images that showcase beauty and creativity. It was that simple and he always had an eye for energetic, creative and talented models. With a background in fashion and love for creating images that portray an inner story he loves any opportunity to take his captures to another level.

He's an artistic explorer and,for a moment, PGNubian was his muse. She was a naptual beauty full of life and originality and vision. The two of them together made a few poignant, colorful and powerful captures as I am sure you will agree.

Both talented individuals are visionary in their efforts with aesthetic philosophies driving their creative endeavors. You can see more J Loves works here and PGNubian's here.

Thoughts behind Shells...

So I'm at Apache Cafe and Lounge and I am talking to some of the patrons about the portal and the types of images I think we should capture. Artistic...sexy...provocative, most of the things we say are typically used for almost every other venue that focuses on creating beautiful images of women. But no matter how sexy or revealing, there is some aspect to the content that has to be considered.

Now not all of what is posted to the portal will be for everyone's taste. And I personally feel that I walk a line when I consider what I want to create for the Garden. And this is the conversation I am having with the artists and patrons of the Lounge when I am looking at Shells...


Shells was born in Honduras and she worked in a circus before she ended up in Atlanta. She is currently working on a performance art piece and I hope to feature it in some way in the Garden. Her history is rich and textured and it is reflected in the poses she takes in the Lounge; relaxed, provocative, cool & dramatic, proud.


Her head is never down.

And that was it. Artistic...sexy...nude...provocative...proud. Glamourous, naughty, humorous, intense, dramatic and passionate...yes. Never degrading...never pornographic...never disrespectful.


Pangea's Garden is the place that celebrates the pride in the beauty that broadens the perspective and gives voice to the rich, textured, soulful environment that creates it.



My thoughts behind Shells is that her head is never down. And before I knew who she was and what she was doing, she was beautiful to me in that way.

Click.

the inspired works of Gus Bennett, Jr

Gus Bennett, Jr. is a Photographer out of New Orleans. I've always admired his techniques of combining photographic images with archival painted abstracts to create a soulful creatively intimate capture. I am humbled and inspired by his works. Hopefully, he will be a part of the portal. In the meantime, I share these extraordinary works here. To see more of his works you can find them here and here.

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.

the artist model series - sonia: curves & locs part 1

As I've mentioned before... the vision for the images in Pangea's Garden all started with my captures at the Apache Cafe & Lounge. This pictorial is part of a short series of retrospectives of how what I've seen has influenced and inspired me.

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

A Darker Side of the Garden...

It was an exploration for me.

A curiosity if you will.

I wanted to do a set of captures from a darker perspective. Something bleak and struggling. Not necessarily beautiful but still emotional and passionate. Captures that were intense and, hopefully, told a story.

What struck me more was that Sista Khadeshia was down for this, somewhat radical, idea on my part. She pulls out the make-up and the wardrobe and we did the damn thing.

A damsel in distress.

Check it out. Do you follow it? Is it too harsh or unflattering? Or do you really get the point? Let me know what you think.

Natural Curves...

I can't empower anyone, but myself.


As a traditional artist, I did a show at the Apache Cafe & Lounge with another photographer a couple of years ago. I titled my series of pastel works "Real Beauty Has Curves" and it was a companion set with the photographers images. On the night of the opening show, curvaceous models, representing the aesthetic of the show posed for the artists and photographers that attended and during the course of the evening we hosted an Artist's Talk about the works and it was quite provocative.


During the course of the discussion, the photographer made the statement that one of the reasons he produced his work was to empower the women whom he had focused his work on. And the question I had was 'who are we to empower anyone BUT ourselves?'


I didn't confront him on this. He did the work he did with the motivations that moved him and a confrontation doesn't change that. My motivations for my works were, in part, an act of homage; paying respect for alternative images of beauty. I wanted to create images that were based on what had inspired me, seduced me, taught me, shared with me and lived with me. And I continue to create works as an homage to this aesthetic, today.


But I believe empowerment comes from within. You can't give it to me and vice versa. Here in the Garden, I think we should know that. But I can...we can... pay homage; cultivate a space where the innate beauty of the Earth Sista, empowered, can be artfully, sensuously, romantically displayed and this alternative choice of beauty can be appreciated.

Are you empowered? Do you empower you?