I am a 77-year-old art nude photographer who shoots beautiful women in predominantly unique or unusual places! I think of my work as “serendipitous photography.” When we arrive on location, I shoot what I find. I always use natural, existing light. I compose each image to maximize the visual impact of the elements present: light, shadow, location, objects, and of course, the model -- the magic ingredient that brings the inanimate surroundings to life. But the critical element that makes the magic work is the ability to collaborate with the model to create a shared vision.
“Serendipity is also the art, luck, and persistence of being in the right place at the right time, not being daunted by a locked gate or a no trespassing sign. It’s the ability to talk your way into a place that might look off-limits, having the determination to keep after a location for months or years until someone finally unlocks a gate.
“Many people don’t mind you taking photos on their property if you just ask nicely. It takes being gutsy and daring and always, always being patient and waiting for your opportunity – that serendipitous moment when everything comes together and the universe smiles upon you. Luck favors the prepared mind. Finally, getting that great shot you have been hoping for.”
My Back Story
I was born with D-76 or Dektol (film and paper developers) in my blood! My grandfather used to coat his 4X5 glass plates, and my uncle was a civilian photographer for the U.S. Army for over 30 years.
My love for Photography started when I was nine or ten years old. I spent summers on Long Island with my grandmother. My family wanted to keep me off the streets of Brooklyn. Unfortunately, there were almost no other kids in the area. My parents would come out on the weekend and always bring something to try and keep me occupied and amused. My dad found a product (I think it was called Sunpak), and it was proof paper, a smallholder, a series of 35 mm Negatives from, I assume, movies. Because there was everything from car chases and Cowboys to gladiators on these negatives, you would take a piece of the proof paper, slide it into a holder, then slide the negative on top of it. You would then go outside in the sun, expose it to the sun for 10 or 15 seconds, and then go back into the house to take the whole thing apart. I stood there in amazement as the image appeared on the blank paper! I thought it was "MAGIC," and I STILL DO! That hooked me!
When I was around 12, I got interested in model trains, which led me to take pictures of my layout and the trains to make them look realistic. The old Box camera my sister gave me couldn't do it. I saved up my money, and when I was 13, I bought myself a Kodak Pony II - 35mm camera. If I remember correctly, it cost about $50. That was a lot of money in 1959! I took some photos of my train layout. Unfortunately, there needed to be more detail in my train layout and houses to make them look realistic. So now and then, my father would take me into Manhattan; we would wander around mostly lower Manhattan and take pictures of scenery or just things I thought were interesting. He told me I should go back to those places and reshoot them in 10 or 20 years to show how things changed. I never did!
Then I discovered girls! And I forgot all about Photography! Looking back now, 60+ years later, I realize that was a big mistake.
I was always shy and never very successful at meeting girls. Eventually, I found the courage to talk to a girl living down the street, mainly because my friend introduced me to her. I spent the next 3 or 4 months trying to run into her on the block so that we could talk. Finally, she invited me to sit on her porch; we talked for hours, and ultimately, it became winter, and it was cold sitting out. Back then, I didn't notice it. At some point, she told me I could ring her bell and not have to hang out on the street waiting for her, which I did.
To make a long story short, after about a year or so of seeing her every day, I rediscovered Photography. I thought it would be a great idea to photograph her nude! Of course, she said, "NO, what kind of girl do you think I am?" I was 15, and she was 16. That threw me, so until I was around 22, I never asked another girl to pose for me. This one said yes! We shot together several times, but she never liked being photographed. Being nude wasn't the problem; she never liked how she looked in photographs.
While in the Navy, I bought the second 35 mm camera, a Pentax Spotmatic. I photographed everything. Unfortunately, there needs to be more to photograph when you're often out at sea. Whenever we would get a mail delivery by helicopter, I would photograph the lowering of the mail bags down to the ship with the helicopter hovering over us. I probably have 1000 images of helicopters hovering over a navy ship.
I wound up going into Photography as a career. I had a portrait and wedding studio for several years. I photographed several more nude customers and friends over the next few years. Then I married, sold the studio, and started working in a commercial lab. I spent the following years raising two wonderful sons with my wife (who did 99% of the raising and family Photography). The company I worked for basically did Photoshop many years before Photoshop! We were able to do the photo composites that no other lab in NYC was capable of doing. Every day with a different challenge, something new that some Art Director at a big Ad Agency came up with and asked, can we do this? Of course, we almost always could!