Brent, shoot #1

Before I can get to the more recent photos of Brent and his boyfriend Don that I'm so proud of, I feel like I should share at the very least some of the photos I did with just Brent when we first met.

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11

It was his idea to have lunch.  We'd only been chatting on the internet for a mere seven years (I do not exaggerate, for once) so once it finally came to pass that we were in the same city at the same time, lunch, at the very least, seemed a foregone conclusion.  I, however, do not usually settle for just that if I can get more, and I knew Brent had a good deal of modeling experience so of course I made my pitch about somehow combining a photoshoot with our lunch.

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11

We were both in transition at that moment.  I'd just come back to San Francisco, after my life in Brooklyn had appeared to crumble beneath me, and thought my living situation there might be temporary.  Brent had just moved to Palm Springs but didn't like it there and was already feeling out the possibility of a change.  It was there, in a moment of groundlessness, that we intersected.

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11 

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11

Brent is truly one of the sweetest people I've ever had to good fortune to meet.  Also his vegetatrian lasgana is just sick, and the fact that he could get me to eat vegetarian anything is a testament to how much I like him. But that may all be a story for another day.

Brent, San Francisco, 7.25.11

Dino: happy birthday too

It's also Dino's birthday today, and I actually do know how old he is.  He hired me last year right before his big milestone fiftieth, just in case there was truth to the myth that gay men are actually human versions of Cinderella's carriage, and that when the clock strikes midnight on their fiftieth birthday, they may turn into pumpkins, or at least suddenly look like Donald Trump or something.

Dino, San Francisco, 8.27.11

It's just a myth!  A year later, Dino is as hot (as well as being an all around awesome human) as he was when I shot him.  A myth, people!

Happy birthday Dino.

Lucas, shoot #1

Lucas, San Francisco, 6.6.11

I know Lucas from the gym, originally. In San Francisco, it's pretty easy to feel like you know someone just because you see them in the same place, at approximately the same time, every damn day of your life. Over the years, we worked our way up to a solid nod and occasional hello, culminating in, yes, an exchange of names. Eventually we ran into each other in a bar, and with my inhibitions sufficiently lowered, I approached and asked him about the possibility of a shoot. I'm really super shy and never do stuff like that, but I figured I had nothing to lose except a few more tattered shreds of dignity. He expressed interest but then it happened in that "didn't happen" way, and I moved away.

Lucas, San Francisco, 6.6.11

A year and a half later, he sent me an email, with no recollection that we were supposed to shoot together, and no knowledge that I had, in fact, moved away: "Haven't seen you in a while, but I just saw some work that you've done, it's quite beautiful."

That pretty much sums up my relationship with Lucas. 

 

Lucas, San Francisco, 6.6.11

I was touched and brought up the idea of the shoot again, believing it to be a lost cause, but he took the bait. I was living in Brooklyn at the time, but a few months later, when I moved back to San Francisco because I'm incapable of picking a coast and sticking to it, within days of my re-entry into the pacific time zone, I shot these photos of him. I would go on to shoot him two more times, as of this writing, and hope for more. (It's been discussed.)

Lucas, San Francisco, 6.6.11

Lucas, San Francisco, 6.6.11 

Lucas, San Francisco, 6.6.11

Alexey

I met Alexey on Grindr.  For those who might not know what that is, Grindr is a mobile app that uses GPS, or the chips implanted at the bases of our skulls, to allow its users to chat and possibly meet people who are in close proximity.  And by "people" I truly mean "gay people."  You must know where that means, that everyone uses this app for sex, but not me, your intrepid photographer, which by the way feels like an innuendo waiting to happen, I only use it to lure unsuspecting models to my photographic lair.  Or something less creepy sounding.  Yeah.  Pretty much anything would be less creepy sounding.

So back to Alexey.  Turns out he was just a few blocks away and so I packed up my gear and headed over.  I didn't bring my own lighting so I improvised by returning to my lo-fi roots and going with a noirish feel.  My brother had a cat named Noir, but I wasn't thinking about that when I was shooting Alexey.

Alexey, Manhattan, 10.5.12

It was fun.  I hope to shoot Alexey again in a situation where I can better control my euphemisms, and the light.