New Portrait Work for a Sales Manager

The first male client I had since I’ve moved to the new studio was the sales manager Ramon Espada, who wanted to use the session as a celebration of his life and body for his birthday.

What a beautiful self-love present! Ramon shared with me that this was the first time he would be photographed professionally. But what made the huge difference in the session was the fact that he wanted to use this experience and the photographs as a way to accept his changing body. Now, this is what I’m talking about…

Everyday snaps, selfies and travel memories are great, but a photography session that can help you in building the bridge between your Self and your Body is a different thing. I said it many time and I’ll say it again - I truly believe beautiful photographs of yourself can make you appreciate and love yourself more. Because this is the beginning, the first and most important step into living a more balanced life, where you can give love and appreciation to others - by loving and appreciating yourself first with all the distinguish uniqueness you came to this world with.

What really surprised me, but also deeply complimented me was the fact that he wanted an abstract fine art nude photograph of himself. Something from your type of nudes, he said. He wanted to have such picture of himself, but not necessarily shoring that it’s him, so he can print it and put it on the wall in his house. I was so happy to hear and so pleased to do this for him.

Thank you Ramon for choosing me as your photographer and experiencing the both sides of my photography services!

Art Nude Photo Session: Body & Piano

Music has a special pulling power. Isn’t it amazing how sounds can make you feel? Can take you places and bring back memories? Can change the frequency of your emotions and turn them upside out and inside out.

During one of my commissions, I had to photograph all the musicians with their instruments. Some instruments are easier to frame - those easy to move have more posing options to play with. But I found myself challenged by the keyboard. I adore the piano, I love the keys - back&white, square edges, you know, my favourite things, but the shape of a keyboard… well, the shape I find a bit weird, looking less inspiring than its sound.

So I challenged my own creativity - something so square and static, but so beautiful to me, can I transform it and give it another look, another feel, put some body shapes around?

Maybe it’s true that whatever you capture with a female body will look beautiful. Or maybe is my love towards both that make me feel that way.

What are your thoughts on the subject? 🎹

Nude VS Naked

In some languages, like my native Bulgarian for example, there aren't different words for nude and naked. But in fact there is a substation difference in the feeling and exposure of the body in each of those.

Naked is considered more of a biology expression, presenting an unclothed body, mainly understood in a sexual way.

Nude, on the other hand, is the look of the body in an artistic, more conceptualised way. A form of expression that puts aside the sexuality to present the forms and shapes of the body as an art piece.

Both are often mixed and the line between them is very thin. Sex, we all know, is something that sells, something that catches our attention immediately due to our prime instincts. However, this should not affect the desire to separate them and present the obvious differences.

Female body is created with shapes and forms to be admired. A living, unique art piece that deserves to be celebrated. To capture the female body as an art piece is not the same as images aiming to cause arousal. The reproductive abilities of the body aren’t what art nude is about. In fact is nothing like it.

Artistic nudes aim to present the art that the body is. They point on the textures, forms and colours as naturally as it is done with every other subject of art.

The world has always had two sides of the coin - desire, led by the animal instinct and admiration, of the subject in more thoughtful way. How we perceive the visual information that passes through our attention is our individual opinion.

Why Nudes?

if you know me or my work for some time or if you just landed on my blog/website, after having a quick look it will be impossible to hide from you that I’m very much obsessed (in the best way possible) of the nude body.

This came more clearly to me when challenged to complete my first ever photography assignment that I was given, I chose exactly the forms of a nude body. It was a sequence of close-ups, shot in daylight in my small student bedroom, the first place I accommodated when I arrived in England. Completing the project was weird in a way, as untill then I had never done such sitting, and somehow very fulfilling with a sense of “this feels right to me”.

Here is a test sheet of my first assignment.

Looking in retrospection now, it’s funny how this genre has always been inside me. The drive is too strong - it pulls me and I can’t ignore it. So, the only way to move forward is to execute the calling or live with regret. (The second one can be really hurtful.) I think this comes from two things. Firstly, my upbringing - my parents were very open and ok with nudity. In fact, my crafty dad made this collage wall, where he mixed a picture wallpaper of a palm beach with a sexy lady with an erotic bodysuit and installed it in our living room (this was way before the Internet or Photoshop). I understand this must of shocked you just now and you might question the parenting I was given but TRUST me, my parents gave me and my brother everything we needed, our childhood was good and the house was full of laughter. Secondly, the fact that I’m from the seaside. When you live in a country with hot summers and access to a sea/ocean/river, undressing and enjoying the sun gently kissing your skin is a normal ritual during those hot days. No, it is not like on a holiday. Being barely clothed for over half of the year every year is not like a 10-day trip.

So, back to the question, Why photographing the Nude?

Prey. Lover’s Diary, 2020

Like every other creature on this planet, we are born in a certain way. Our bodies are our physical form. We don’t have fur as some other mammals do, instead, we have bare skin with some hairy sections. This is our initial outfit. Covering this body on the other side is part of weather necessities and the fashion evolution throughout history. Somehow, our predecessor men decided women should fit in certain “standards” regarding nudity and body appearance. And here I go nuts on the subject. I’m so, so against the “male” way we’ve been operating for centuries that I can come across a bit violent sometimes. I know, this is what it was at that time, and now it is different, but still, I find it unfair. On the other side, I’m against the pornographic appearance of women, but this is a subject for another post.

The female nude is my favorite object to photograph, because of its unique beauty and strength. I like the male form and the combination between the two, but the femininity of the female humans is way more inspirational to me. The shapes, the forms, and the gentleness are one of a kind. And then that extension of bringing life to Earth and the motherhood that follows just completes the picture. I believe every woman should appreciate her body, as it is one of a kind indeed, and must embrace her beauty daily. There is too much comparison and thrive for perfection, emerged from our ego side and society. There’s no need for that. I know it's not easy to just do it as we’ve been trained to do the opposite for decades, but it is possible and achievable. Maybe even easier than you might think. I have personally struggled with body image and acceptance from an early age throughout my whole life, and in fact, still, catch myself copying the old pattern, but I decided to consciously do my best to live in balance as much as I can. This is also why I like photographing women - to show them that they are incredible the way they actually are here and now, that the magazine covers means nothing if the beauty isn’t felt from the inside, and that it is possible to feel comfortable in their own skin, despite background or painful past.

So, women - embrace your beauty! Men - compliment it daily! Don’t hide behind clothes or torture yourself, instead appreciate the magnificent “machinery'“ your soul is living in! You’re worth it and you deserve being seen!