I’m back again and late, as usual. Looking back at my last blog post I probably could’ve chosen a better title.
The first thing that I did was something I mentioned in the last blog – I opened a new exhibition. I have a Body Project project and part of it is trying to show the human body as something more abstract, mysterious, and sensual. A lot of the effort I put into the images was to make them less sexual and far more sensual. As far as I was able, I tried to accompany friends who were visiting the exhibition to gauge the reaction. As the exhibition contained images of a woman’s body I was far more interested in women’s opinions of the work. I have as a default starting point the male gaze. I’m trying my best to be far more neutral when I’m creating images but in the end and I have had a lot of input from one kind of visual art and fighting against that is not always easy. I’m quite happy for people to criticise my work if they don’t think I’ve reached the point I was aiming for. We all live and learn.
Three days after I opened the exhibition I took a series of photos for the magazine that I contribute to. Once again these were in the section of answers to questions that are only images – no words allowed. We recently presented the magazine publicly and, I’m happy to say, the images were a great success.
Right at the end of February I had a photo session organised and, when I tried to get out of bed, it felt like someone had stuck a knife in between the vertebrae of my lower back and was twisting it. I had to reschedule the shoot and fortunately was able to do it a couple of weeks later. I was extremely careful on the photo shoot because I wanted to be able to finish it and be able to walk after. It was a spiritualist/witch based shoot and the lighting I got exactly as I wanted. It might sound strange to say that, but very often the images I have in my head I find difficult to recreate exactly in the camera. More than a lack of ability with lighting its my own over ambitious idea in the grey matter. Regarding my back, I’m hoping to see the doctor at the end of this week when we will check out the tests. It looks like it’s just wear and tear and I’ll have to be more careful in the coming years.
On the 20th of March I worked with my muse and we did some more aggressive looking images than usual. Both of us are unhappy about the way women are treated in society and we want to add our little drop in the ocean to ideally make people think a little more about the perception and treatment of the female half of the human population.
On Easter Sunday I went up towards the Pyrenees with a friend of mine and we had a wonderful afternoon of food, photos, and conversation. We borrowed some clothes from another friend so we would have a different wardrobe and we found some interesting locations. The most fortuitous moment was when we were talking about how we had seen some beautiful yellow fields of rapeseed and it was a pity there had been nowhere to park. Ten seconds after saying this we went round a corner and there was a glorious field with a viaduct in the background! We made the most of that spot of land until there was no more sun and then we headed back for a coffee and a chat, and finally home.
I am finishing off my then and now project. I have another photo shoot for the magazine next week. In May I will be beginning a series of photo classes in English. Finally on the 22nd of May there will be the bodypainting mini-festival. Let’s see how the next few months progress.
