One thing I found quite interesting during my art nude and body part shoots, was that the stance I chose when photographing the models was important to how I felt about it.
When the model was standing, my preference was to sit. This was not out of an artistic choice, but out of a comfort choice. Standing to shoot a nude model feels like I am trying to dominate them. My shoots are collaborative, so sitting whilst they are stood seems to restore some of that balance. After all, the model is already vulnerable as they are naked. So all my shots have been taken at eye level or below, except for one shoot with Clint where we were intending to produce a set of images that looked like he was being threatened.
I guess my feelings about this are that the model allows me to see and photograph their body, which is a kind of surrender. I am conscious that many of the shoots I have completed show a diversity of body shape and sizes that are rarely the focus of the camera, and I want to respect that level of trust in me. By lowering my shooting position, I feel that I am reducing my dominance of the situation like one would reduce their height and crouch down to talk to a small child.
Fascinating. I never expected to feel that way, but I do.
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