#tucson model

Sometimes I do this. I design this whole shoot that takes advantage of colors, or wardrobe, or the way I chose the backdrop in the setting, and then the first image I share really doesn’t show any of that. I just remember developing this image and immediately being drawn to it. So no, you can’t see the yellow of the lemons, or the green stems of the gladiolus. I perfectly hid the edges of backdrop which I purposely often shot this day. I loved the contrast of the black, the way everything feels, cool, soft, and gentle. But right in the center of this image is that powerful right arm, almost like Sionna is flexing.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s shoot with Model Justice Lee in the Tucson area

For various reasons mortality influenced a lot of the work I made in 2023, at times I planned shoots unrelated to just to give myself a break. But everything was leading up to this shoot. The concept of what gets left behind on earth was very present in my mind. I think the first element I knew I needed was the cholla skeleton, then I thought how interesting it would be to pair that with seashells from the Salish Sea, the tulle was a textural choice that was rooted in funeral veils. But those are just objects, @desertfreak and @silverwilddesign were the final piece to this project, they were more than what you see in the images, they were true collaborators helping build this entire concept.

Have you ever watched the behind the scenes of a movie that was supposed to take place in the winter but shot in the middle of summer, so all the actors are walking around in parkas with gloves and hats but it’s also 95°. Well this shoot looked hot and it was hot, though maybe not as hot as it actually was. What I have learned is that when inspiration really strikes me if I don’t act on it I maybe never will, so when it occurred to me that @gracemotel was perhaps the perfect person to Hustle to Disco in the desert we made it happen, 100° temps plus be dammed. For anyone else silly enough to attempt the same here’s a short list of what I brought to make this bearable: 1) Lots of water 2) An umbrella 3) small cooler w/ ice packs 4) a wet and frozen towel.

Sometimes maybe I don’t have something profound to say and instead I just tell you that I love the absurdity of Disco in the desert, that surreal image of Dancing to Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff while nearly melting under the hot sun. Maybe there’s a whole culture of Disco people out there getting Hot, Sweaty, and Funky where no one can see them.

I have officially lived in Tucson for one year now. I can’t believe how fast that went. Except for a three year stint in Los Angeles I’d spent my entire life living around Seattle and at various points found myself connected with different communities seemingly always looking for the community that I felt I belonged in. I never quite found it. What I didn’t realize was that maybe it wasn’t me, maybe it was Seattle. Going all the way back to college and my time in the theater community Seattle had this problem of always looking outward believing that the greatest talent was somewhere outside the city. Homegrown artists often were not given their due until they’d gone somewhere else (New York, Los Angeles, London, Chicago) and proven themselves. It was at this point people would say “hey so and so is from here,” but they’d long moved on. Tucson is the antithesis to all this. What I never expected and was overjoyed to discover is that people who live in Tucson have this incredible sense of loyalty to Tucson businesses and artists that live and work here, and there are some incredible artists here. There’s always an exception, someone who hates it, someone desperately looking to get out, but on the whole there are so many galleries, venues, marketplaces, and organizations dedicated to helping local artists and businesses thrive. For my part I’ve found that I want to be a part of this Tucson loyalty, shooting mainly in the city with people living in the city. And I’ve found some really incredible and sincere people here to work with, this project of shooting nudes in Viejo is a tough one, so for @desertfreak to come in with so much enthusiasm warmed my heart. Then to proceeded and absolutely embody the spirit of what I’m working on… I still can’t accurately put in to words how proud I am of what we captured on this day.

One last one from this shoot, this time one I don’t have to censor. What I remember was that this was the very last shot, in the moment I realized that this was a pose I really wanted, I hoped I was reading my frame counter correctly. I could tell we were beginning to wear out our welcome in the neighborhood, a few minutes earlier I snapped a Polaroid at the exact moment a woman was emerging from the doorway on the right. The day before the shoot I messaged @gracemotel a little panicked about doing this shoot out of fear that we might be arrested. Back in Seattle public nudity is legal as long as you don’t cross the line into public indecency, but a quick google search into Tucson and Arizona laws informed me that things were much different down here. With @gracemotel’s commitment and reassurance we went ahead with what was I guess very little in the way of any backup. But also a big thank you to @que___linda who was our lookout and coat holder. On a semi-side note, this Saturday is closing night of @tucsonerotica. I’ve been twice and it truly blew me away, the art, the performances, and the people. A big congratulations to @gracemotel and everyone else who worked to make this show so amazing when I moved down here I certainly didn’t expect to find a community like this… and then I did.

I’ve been shooting the Lazy Jane series for five years now. I’m honestly not sure how much longer I will continue to go on with it or if I will continue to go on with it. Maybe it’s fitting to stop at Lucky number 13, then again you know… the whole never say never thing. What I will say is that this shoot with Amelia is everything I’ve come to want Lazy Jane to be. These images feel intimate, drippy, and personal. Regardless of what I do in the future with this project I’m coming to realize that if I cannot shoot in the subject’s personal space than I don’t think I want to do it. Amelia’s room is full of intensely personal items that paint a portrait of a person, from the pictures on the wall to the knick-knacks on her dresser, I was immensely grateful that she allowed me to photograph her there. As I myself have become more and more steeped in minimalism I’ve found that the objects you do choose to surround yourself with have a greater sense of meaning. Hanging around for a few hours and photographing someone intimately in their space and having the opportunity for someone to tell you what so many of the objects around you are or their meaning is amazing. That after five years of working on this project I look at everything Amelia and I shot here and I find myself saying “I’m not sure I’ll top this,” is greatest testament I can give to what it was like to work together on this.