 I was born (1948) and raised in
Oklahoma. I graduated college with a Bachelor Degree of Science in
Business Administration and completed graduate work (Master of
Arts) in Sociology. My career has led me to live in a wide variety
of metropolitan areas of the United States, Asian, and visits to a
number of other countries. I am presently based in Northern
Virginia, but on the road nearly as much as I am at home base.
My work in art began at a very young age when I spent hours and
hours creating pencil sketches from pictures of girls in my
classes at school. As soon as I was able to secure a Playboy
magazine, my pencil sketches turned quickly to nudes and my
interest in nude figure art has never wained. In college, I
learned photography from a professional photographer who took me
under his wing and taught me studio work, lighting, developing,
printing, and yes, taking pictures of beautiful coeds! Over the
course of 35 years, my love for "finding" the picture
and capture remained strong. But the advent of digital photography
turned my fascination with photography into a passion that I find
most pleasing. The creativity possibility with digital
photography is, quite simply, infinite...without bounds...only
limited or restricted by my ability to imagine the possibilities
and make them real.
My professional life has kept me constantly in the worlds of
advertising, publishing, communications, and art. I have
worked frequently with artists who are graphics designers,
interior designers, and architects. I have had numerous graphics
designs in my employ over the years and I thank all of them for
"teaching" me as they labored to create ads, magazine
layouts, and photo editing.
I shoot frequently in all categories of photography including
stills, landscape, architecture, etc. By none of these
photographic opportunities can match (for me) the beauty of nude
figure art.
Why nudes?
It amuses me when others inquire about the fact that I am so
frequently in the presence of beautiful nude women while shooting.
Quite obviously, that doesn't happen in most people's lives and
the idea is quite fantastic to those who eagerly ask me about it.
Many wonder what my wife must think? (she's quite tolerant, thank
you very much)...what my friends think? ...what my family thinks?
There was a time when the very thought of those questions would
have been sufficient reason not to do what I do. But, thankfully,
my years have given me a perspective that makes those questions
seem more than a little silly.
In truth, the nude figure is quite simply one of the most
beautiful images I can imagine. When I am shooting with a nude
model, the awareness the model's nudity is not what is forefront
in my mind. Photo shoots, for me, result in both mental and
physical fatigue. Why? Because my concentration is focused so
sharply on issues of light, angles, lines, proportions,
backgrounds, etc.
It is only when working on the photos later in Adobe Photoshop
7.0, that the reality of the model's nudity comes to the forefront
of my mind.
Models
I am forever grateful to the women who have shared their beauty
through my camera lens. They are truly special and, in my
thinking, perhaps the most liberated of all. They are free
to express themselves and not ashamed of their beauty. I do have a
select few models I work with time and again who never cease to
deliver the finest subject matter I could ever hope to capture.
In every case, they are models who, either through experience or
intuition, know "how" to work with a photographer. I
often think of this as the photographer-model dance...one leads,
one follows, and the rhythm of the moment becomes magical. When I
meet a model who demonstrates a natural understanding of this
"dance," I find that I am free to focus on the technical
and artistic aspects of what I want the images to "look like"
to the viewer.
I strongly feel that "preparation" is the key to
consistent quality and I spend significant time planning
shoots...sometimes weeks ahead. For example, I'm working on the
concept of a shoot that will happen about 90 days from the time of
this writing...it's a concept a friend brought to me several
months ago involving a nude figure art coupled with a very old and
beautifully restored pick-up truck, and an old barn in a grassy
field. It appears now that the concept will actually come to life
in a shoot. That prospect is truly exciting to me...it is
the moment I live for...and I know when the day comes, the
"high" that comes when creating this art will spur me on
to do things and create things I might not have previously thought
possible.
All of my work now is digital. I presently alternate between two
Olympus E-20N's (5 mega pixels) and am anxiously awaiting the
delivery of the next Olympus SLR. I have the full line of
attachment lenses manufactured by Olympus, but I am most fond of
the mounted lens with an 81a filter. My editing is done with Adobe
Photoshop 7.0 and a wide assortment of plug-in filters. I print
with two printers. I use an Olympus P400 for 8x10 dye
sublimation prints and an Epson 2000P for 13x19 prints.
I will continue to add nude figure art to my portfolio and have a
dream of one day publishing a book of work. I have mentioned here
that I work with nude female models and some may wonder why males
aren't included. In general, I just don't find the beauty in a
male model that I find in the female figure. There are exceptions
to this reality, but they are few and far between. I do find the
concept of male and female nude figures quite enchanting and hope
to include more couples in my future work. I also hope to include
nude female figure work where the model is in the latter stages of
pregnancy...an image I find especially beautiful in light of what
the swollen features mean and the creation of life that is
happening
imagesbyjerry.com
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