So, what am I doing?

Since I promised to be a better blogger, I figured I'd better make my way over to this site, and write something. It's difficult keeping up with the blog, when I don't have a lot of new work to show, but I want you to know that I AM working... I'm just taking a little bit longer with each shoot.

Ok. A LOT longer.

 It took me a few years to get the fashion out of my system, but I finally did (did I really just say that?). OF course, I still love it, and always will, but for the last few years something has been missing from my art... something personal.

For the first time in a long time, I am making work that is solely from me.

So, what am I doing?

Right now I am working on building sets and installations with my own hands, and then photographing them for the final piece. The series that I am currently working on centers around a handmade white wooden box, large enough for a person (or perhaps a few persons) to fit inside. This body of work, titled "Walls," deals with the idea of self, in space, using repetition, multiples, and many or much.

I think I am going to keep this project under wraps as I continue it, however, I'd like to share the first two images, so that you can see what I'm up to. As I move forward with more pieces, I will keep you involved by sharing "making of" videos or photographs. However, you'll have to stay connected, to find out when and where the series will be unveiled (and I hope you do!).

I'm sure that most of you have seen this first image, Snag, which was shown recently at Bihl Haus Arts, as part of the On and Off Fredericksburg Studio Tour (or you may have seen it on Facebook!).

This is the first time I am sharing the second photograph in the series, Biography.

I am currently working on the third installation in the series. Here is a little sneak peek of what is going on in my studio right now. All I have to say so far on this is "Thank goodness I'm not superstitious!"


If you'd like to follow this project and/or stay connected, please enter your email in the box at the top right of this blog. This will notify you by email when I create a new post. For inquiries, etc. please email me at jennifer@stretchphotos.net.

Thanks!

Head in the Clouds

So, I'm talking with my Mom the other day, and I say "I should blog that!" to which she promptly replies "You are the worst blogger, ever."

Sad, but true. Ok, maybe not THE worst, but I'm really, really bad. I keep saying I'm going to do better about it, but the truth is, I probably won't. I have a tendency to (when I'm not changing a diaper, wiping a snotty nose, or swinging my baby through the air, while singing some ridiculous made-up song about dinosaurs and popsicles) be a daydreamer. Seriously, sometimes I just sort of "come to" and wonder what the heck I was thinking about while I was staring off to space (hopefully not in public).

Perhaps I need a nap.

Or, perhaps, like these artists and art aficionados, I simply have my head in the clouds.

Here is a huge "THANK YOU!" to everyone who stopped by for open studios the other day! I am so glad that so many of you were willing to participate in the fun. Also, I love talking about art and ideas, and really just getting to know you (those of you who have stopped by more than once). Please continue to do so!

Weirdism

 “Weirdism is definitely the cornerstone of many an artist's career.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Guys and Gals!

This is seriously  THE FUNNEST SHOOT I have ever done.

I absolutely love being silly and weird, and I had the PERFECT team for this project.

I want to be totally honest here, and admit something, in hopes of showing just how invaluable a great team is;

I don't always "like" the hair and makeup.

In fact, sometimes I am looking at the model before we start shooting, and I am thinking, this is not going to work. But I have to remind myself; I am not a makeup artist. I am not a hairstylist.

I have to TRUST my team.

So, even though I think the makeup is "messy," or the hair is "so stiff" I take that first test photo, anyway... and I'm WOWed! I mean, these people do what they do because they know what they are doing, right?

THIS is why you hire professionals! They know what is going to look good ON CAMERA.

There was a time in my life when I needed to control everything. A time when I was not able to work well in teams. I time when everything had to be done "my way, or the highway." Whew, so glad those days are over! If I always did everything my way, everything would always look the same. The best photos come from the kinds of photoshoots where everyone has a little input, and everyone gets to bring some part of their self, their creativity, their art to the table. This includes the model... because without a model who can bring great vision to life, it just lies flat.

Mathilde was the perfect model for this shoot, because she wasn't afraid to give us what we were asking for. She wasn't afraid to be "not pretty," as so many models are. She trusted the team as much as I did, and she WORKED that crazy makeup and those crazy wigs! I just love her!

Seriously, y'all.

This shoot makes me incredible happy.

Just try and look at these photos and NOT smile.

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

Model: Mathilde Hergott
Makeup: Susan Ward Brooks
Hair: Fabian Alejandro Diaz

La Queule Noir

This is Macy... and let me tell you, she knows how to turn it on, for the camera! I love that she is silly and fun while we are getting ready, and even between shots, but when I pick my camera up... she is all business.

SEXY business! Just look!

Model: Macy Chanel Mayfield
Makeup: Sierra Scerato

I definitely recommend her, if you are looking for a model. In fact, I can't wait to work with her, again!

Of course, Sierra did do a superb job on her hair and makeup, too. Macy is naturally beautiful, but Sierra has made her smoking hot, here! If you need to be beautified, you should definitely check out Sierra at Hair-Refinery Studio. It's a bonus that she does both hair AND makeup, and is so great at both of them!

This is seriously one of the best teams I have ever worked with. Everything is on point skill-wise,  and everyone was loose enough to try something new. Trying new things really gets that creativity flowing... and when you have that, you get magic!

Model: Macy Chanel Mayfield
Makeup:Sierra Scerato

A la Betty

 I just wanted to share my most recent shoot with y'all. This is Kadiva, on the Guadalupe River. We had so much fun! I love shooting with her, bc she is silly and fun and so natural. Oh, and she didn't even complain or cry about when the big bad river broke her nail... AND her chancla (this is what we call sandals, here in San Antonio, for those of you who don't know)! She just laughed, and we kept shooting. Gotta love it!

I love these in color, but just to show how dramatically a black and white conversion can change the mood of a photo, here it is in black and white, too. Maybe it's the vintage bathing suit, but in black and white, they totally make me think of Betty Page. Especially the top left and far right.

Win!

M-I-C-K-E-Y!

This just might be one of the cutest little guys I have ever had in my studio. I just love his squishy cheeks! He wasn't sure about the cake at first... but he eventually got into it. I even got "caked" in the face, at the end. Yum, haha!

Happy 1st birthday, little mouseketeer!

 

Malachi

Remember when I used to post on this blog daily? Well, that's not life with a one year old, lol! I'm lucky when I get to work, and even luckier when L isn't in my lap, jabbing his jelly-smeared fingers all over my keyboard typing, or repeatedly bashing the mouse into the desk surfing the internet. Of course, when I do have time to work, I end up spending most of it goofing off on Facebook networking, rather than blogging. Priorities, people!

Anyway, here is a small behind the scenes collage from one of my most recent newborn shoots... and hands down the most difficult one I've ever done! It seemed that everything was conspiring against me this day... even myself (but that's another story). When the baby just absolutely will not leave Mom's arms, no matter how much milk he gets, or how sweetly you coo and shush him, or how peacefully the sound of the ocean rolls along on your phone app, and no matter how warm or cool he is... what do you do?

"Behind the scenes" shots between sets, I say! These are the REAL moments, anyway! I always take a lot of behind the scenes photos. That way, if nothing else works, you at least have those. Surprisingly, sometimes (as in this case), they are even better than the photos you had originally planned.

I'm personally in love with these natural photos of baby Malachi.