Monday, December 27, 2010

Favorite Pic of the Day for December 27th


Happy Birthday Today December 27th to:


Above: Craig by one of my favorite photographers David Arnot.

Happy Birthday today to Craig Malozzi who turns 23.
Check out more of Craig and birthday boys Logan Bailly, Wilson Cruz and Gerard Depardieu at last years birthday post HERE:

Model Search 2011



Have you voted yet?

I know models and their supporters have been voting but FH gets thousands of hits a day so if you are one of those readers who has yet to vote in MODEL SEARCH 2011 why not take a second or two today to cast a vote!

Here are some more shots of model Matt Eldracher.

Check out more of Matt on ModelMayhem HERE:

Don't worry, each of the top 10 will be featured individually over the next week!


Just Because: Ben Barnes



There has been a tradition in my family that Christmas night after the meal is done and the clean up complete we head to the movies. Although it does not always occur this year one of my brothers, my sister in law and a cousin headed out to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Like many of you I am sure, the Narnia books were an important part of my childhood. I never found that the first movie however lived up to the magic of the book and really had little interest in seeing this one. The movie was ok, but the movie going experience was saved by the beautiful face of Ben Barnes. The is something special about Ben and his face lights up the screen whenever he is on it. Although I cannot fully recommend Narnia, if you want to experience what I am talking about make sure to watch Ben in Dorian Gray. Ben is mesmerizing and director Oliver Parker brings exactly the right feel to the story.




Ryan Scott by Michael Puff

-Private Moments Made Public-


It has been interesting over the years to hear the many different perspectives that artists have to explain their work. What I used to believe 'makes a great shot' I could have stated simply as the use of light, space and mood. After getting a glimpse into what inspires some of the photographers and artists I most admire, that once limited description would now take a couple of pages to fully describe.

When model and photographer Ryan Scott responded to my questions about his shoot with photographer Michael Puff he included a brief bio that said;

'I studied fine Art, Literature, and French. I'm obsessed with with white walls, little dogs, Paris, and private moments made public.'

From some reason his last four words 'Private Moments made Public' jumped out at me. (I also loved his inclusion of white walls). Now maybe to some making what is usually private, public might be a 'duh' when the photographing the male form, but I am not sure that I looked at it that way until spending time staring at Michael Puff's shots along with Ryan's quote floating around in my head.



All you have to do is scroll through a few pages of FH to see that not all photographers have this floating in their heads when snapping their lens. Many photographers have their models interact with the camera, making it clear they are posing for a picture, and have the viewer and model interacting, the photographer, almost acting as the liaison.

For most of us (well some of us...) being naked, especially indoors, is usually something private, shared generally with one other, or with oneself. What Michael does so well is to find these moments and then to capture them. In order to keep the illusion of privacy though, Michael's true skill is to capture the moment as if he was not even in the room. In again viewing the shots of Michael's I have profiled (Ryan and previously with Damon Mahoney) there were countless private moments his lens turned public yet...they remain amazingly private.


'I met Ryan when he sent an introductory email because we had both been invited to contribute images to Try State Magazine Issue 3 and we are both located in the SF Bay Area. I went to take a look at Ryan's Direct Desire blog and was intrigued by his accomplished nude self-portraits. His concepts and poses are a delightful artistic mix. After an exchange of several emails, I told Ryan that if he'd ever consider shooting with another photographer that I'd be delighted to work with him.

I loved the natural light images I saw on Ryan's blog and we agreed to shoot at his location. The day of our shoot arrived. It was foggy, overcast, and rainy. The natural light was soft, yet dramatic as it dropped off quickly inside his windows. I think it gave a very moody look to our shoot.

Ryan was a first for me on two counts. First, I'd never shot another photographer as model. Ryan easily understood the light and played to it so very well. Second, when I asked about what wardrobe Ryan wanted to use to start, he said none. He was only interested in nudes and ready to go to work.'

Michael Puff

Check out more of Michael's work at his website HERE:


Ryan says that Michael was fantastic to work with.

'It can be very difficult as a photographer to give up creative control to another person, but Michael was very inclusive. He took the time to explain his process and created an atmosphere that was very comfortable.'

As I stated Ryan is also a photographer and I love that he describes himself as an eternal voyeur. It is fascinating to me to that while most voyeurs seem look 'out', Ryan's focus is on 'in'. The thinking of 'self' is an ignored field of study. Thinking out oneself is often seen as vain or selfish but thinking 'self' is not about running through your mind how great you are. Thinking 'self' is simply knowing yourself and spending time figuring out why you feel and act the way you do. Ultimately self is one of the most unselfish things to focus on as those without a sense of self usually end up inflicting their pain and confusion on those around them.

Be sure to spend some time on Ryan's blog Direct Desire HERE: I love 'reversal of lens' and my favorite shots are his Window sequence in Paris, his shots by and on the stairs and the shot 'Eucalyptus' used as pic of the day. Ryan also has a blog about public nudity SFNude found HERE:

Thanks as always to the wonderful Michael Puff and to Ryan Scott for sharing their shoot with FH!