Shen Wei’s Almost Naked series
by In my Personal Vision class at the International Center of Photography, one of our first assignments was to photograph a classmate naked. I was paired up with a guy who wasn’t keen on the assignment (he ended up backing out due to moral issues), and the opportunity to photograph a stranger in the nude is yet to come up again. Yet! With that in mind, we interviewed New York-based, Chinese photographer Shen Wei about his series Almost Naked and how he gets through those awkward moments. Who are your subjects and how do you go about finding them? ‘Most of my subjects are strangers; very few are people I know. I find my subjects through many different methods, such as at social events, through friends, on the Internet, and by approaching them on location’.
How do you go about putting strangers at ease when photographing them? ‘It is a complicated process. Every one of my subjects is different. Everyone has their own interest in the situation. What I do is just try to have natural and comfortable communications with them. I see them as my new friends, not just models’.
Do you have specific ideas on how you want to photograph your subjects or do you let them lead the way? ‘I talk to my subjects before I start shooting. When we communicate well, often we just work together. I usually let my subjects do whatever they are comfortable with. I like the moment when emotion appears naturally’.
Has there ever been an occasion when you have felt uncomfortable photographing one of your subjects? ‘Of course, there are a few times, but I always manage to overcome the awkwardness’.
Tagged: Chinese photographers, New York, New York photographers, nudity in art, portraits
- 3
- 2
RELATED
Sara Macel’s Nighttime series shot around Brooklyn, New York, reminds me of the movie, 200 Cigarettes. Much like the movie, her photos have an energy of anticipation - like showing up two hours before the party gets going and then walking home at 5am before the sunrise. Read more
The haunting imagery of Sarah Wilmer
New York photographer Sarah Wilmer creates dark, nightmare-inducing photographs that have a strange sense of innocence about them. They’re like movie stills, a cross between Lost Highway and Pan’s Labyrinth. We interviewed her recently to get the inside word on the inspirations behind her work. Read more
Albert Giordan is a New York-based photographer whose impressive client list references almost every big fashion house today. That means YSL, Alexander McQueen, and Armani, to name but a few. Read more
Also by ALISON ZAVOS
Deanna Ng is a freelance photographer based in Singapore and specialising in documentary, portraits and off-beat travel photos. On her wonderful travel series, Phsat — Siem Reap, she says: ‘Phsat - Siem Reap was taken in 2007. It’s continuation of my market series. Siem Reap is famous for Angkor Wat but I was also interested in finding out the real life of the locals behind Angkor Wat. The Phsat was an amazing avenue into the Cambodians’ daily lives. The little details of how the girl who ties her money in a plastic money and hangs it on her shirt, the muddy grounds of the market, locals going to their dentist there and when you make a turn in the market, suddenly there was a whole section of goldsmiths — all of which I did not expect to see in a market. There was just so much life in it’. Read more of this interview with Deanna Ng via the Feature Shoot website.
Jaimie Warren is a curator, performance artist, and photographer who takes theatrical self-portraits in different scenarios, at parties, in her kitchen, and at the zoo.
Miller Mobley’s Missionary Boys
Working out of Alabama, Miller Mobley shoots advertising and editorial photography. His personal project, Missionary Boys, was featured in American Photography 25.
YOU'RE SAYING (2)
claire said | 23 May, 2008
timely…
HAVE YOUR SAY
The French photographer and street artist, JR, has stepped up his game in an impressive way in recent times. He does huge xerox blow-ups of his own photographs and has done stuff in New York, Paris, and London. He did some huge work on the side of London’s Tate Modern, for instance. When I met the guy in Paris in 2003, he was doing 18×24 paste ups, and now he’s doing work that’s multiple stories high. It probably helps that he’s backed by Steve Lazarides, who was Banksy’s agent for a while. He’s got a big crew and some serious financial resources now. There are two components to effective street art: accessibility and the spectacle. Does it give me pause from the monotony of my usual day? JR may not be so much about the DIY anymore, but he’s definitely all about the spectacle. Read more
The coolest band in Indonesia? I think so. White Shoes & The Couples Company describe themselves as a small band that is ‘influenced by Indonesian movie soundtracks from the 70s and inspired by the acoustic spirit of 1930’s classic jazz musicians’. But I like to think of them as carrying the torch for artists like Benny Goodman, Tahiti 80, and The Cardigans, all at the same time.
Listen to their track, Super Reuni.
Formerly of Arab Strap, Scottish songwriter Malcolm Middleton sings with all the integrity and smoky purity of someone who has spent way too much time puffing away in the back corner of a sketchy Dundee pub. Read more
10:15 is a photoblog on which participating photographers from around the world snap a shot every day at 10:15am sharp and post the results. Read more
Oh man! To be young enough to bop, groove and scratch like these kids. For Japanese superstars DJ Sara (8 years old) and DJ Ryusei (5 years old), there’s no such thing as tomorrow. Read more
Each room in Copenhagen’s Hotel Fox is an individual piece of art. 21 international artists descended on the hotel to turn each of the 61 rooms into a unique space, featuring creative artwork ranging from Japanese manga to fluid graphic design. Read more
Scott Sternberg created the great Los Angeles label, Band of Outsiders, and it’s one of the few labels that fit a little guy like me perfectly. I live in BOO shirts. They are my second skin.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Muraida, Radioactive Green Edition
This wicked new villain, Muraida, from the OSK line is a 10 inch vinyl with six points of articulation. It comes in a combination of solid and clear vinyl, and is packed with more punch than a thousand GI Joe’s.
While I am as impressed as anyone with an artist’s ability to render accurate and lifelike human figures, I’m more often compelled aesthetically by looser and more stylized images such as Camilla Engman’s. The wide-set eyes, bulbous bodies, and skewed proportions of the people and animals in Engman’s paintings lend them a certain expressiveness and melancholy. Read more
The work of Chicago artist Nigel Evan Dennis is emphatically modern and sparse, with textures and clean geometric shapes dominating the frame. I get the feeling I could really relax and breathe deeply with one of these beautiful images hanging on the wall. Read more
Produced by In The Yellow, this six and half inch tall vinyl toy by Luke Chueh is limited to just one hundred pieces and comes in clear colorway with silver eyes.
Edgar Muller’s three-dimensional street art
Some people are talented, others are just truly remarkable. German artist Edgar Muller makes these three-dimensional apocalyptic fantasy street art in cities across the world. His work is reminiscent of that of English artist, Julian Beever. Read more
Legendary pop culture artist and Agit Pop founder Ron English will be a guest compiler of an upcoming issue of our email newsletter, writing about his favorite cultural discoveries. To read Ron’s edition of Lost At E Minor, simply sign up to our weekly newsletter. It’s free, you win!
This Powder Necklace features a pearlized Turbo Cinereus shell with tiny holes drilled into the bottom, filled with a sparkling silver-colored powder that when gently tapped, sprinkles a light dusting on the wearer’s chest. Designed by Stephanie Simek. Read more
Discuss
- hdacvt on "The Relentless Eye"
- Stomp on "Gutter Twins Announce Sideshows"
- JamieD on "Melbourne Bride Wedding Expo"
- shoebuy on "art in shoes"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- JaneAbma on "The Grafik Museum"
- teacut on "Illustration vs fine art"
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you’d just like to talk amongst yourselves, that’s cool too. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
Fubiz said | 23 May, 2008
Beautiful set!