Photographs of the female figure in water.
In the first session of the human anatomy lab, where we were to begin our
group dissection, the instructor had us gather around the draped cadaver. He
explained that the body before us had been home to the person who lived
there. Although the person was no longer there, we must respect that person
by respecting the body, and by being thankful for the gift of knowledge that
person was bestowing on us.
I have always been thankful to that anonymous donor, and the instructor's
words have stayed with me for more than 40 years. Today, as I photograph
the human body, very much alive, I wonder at and am enthralled with the life
within it. I aim to convey through my photographs of nudes my own sense of
wonder and joy at seeing "the person within" the body, in motion, strong,
healthy, at once both a creature of nature and also something very special -
an intelligent, complex and individual human being.
My first attempt at photographing the nude began in 1969, as a result of a
workshop with Lisette Model at the New School in New York. When Ms. Model
saw a photograph I had made of a friend's feet, she said ?Flesh. You should
be doing flesh.? I did some "flesh," but when I compared my first nude
photographs with the photographs of Edward Weston and Ruth Bernhard I
didn't feel I was contributing anything new, so moved on in different directions
with my photography.
More than 30 years after that first attempt, I was swimming in an abandoned
quarry where everyone swam and sunbathed nude. Set deep in the woods, the
quarry is now flooded with water darkened by leaf tannins. The bodies of
swimmers and sunbathers are highlighted by the sunlight, accented by the
darkness of the water, and stand in contrast to the various textures of
granite. The setting and the people presented beautiful images that brought
back to me the words of Lisette Model, and I once again began photographing
"flesh."
Since I began photographing the figure in nature, I have been fortunate to work
with a number of women who are comfortable in their own skins, who project
that feeling of comfort, and who have made me feel privileged to photograph
them in beautiful natural settings. Our photography is very much a
collaboration, with each model bringing her own ideas, her own experiences,
and her joy in being alive and at home within her own body.
