My photographic journey began over 20 years ago…
I was an undergraduate in college when I decided to upgrade my little digital point-and-shoot camera to a “real” one. I bought a kit on eBay - a Canon Digital Rebel and a couple of cheap zoom lenses - with no formal training or knowledge of how to work an interchangeable lens camera. There wasn’t much online help in those days, so I had to teach myself the fundamentals of composition and exposure through trial-and-error.
I photographed everything. Landscapes, cityscapes, wildlife, planes, trains, and automobiles… anything I thought might make a good subject for a striking photograph. I played around with various techniques, picked up all kinds of different lenses, and spent hours in Photoshop making creative adjustments.
When I look back at those early days when I was fumbling in the dark, trying to find my way creatively, I do see a through-line connecting everything: I was chasing beauty. No matter what the subject matter, I was always focusing on the design elements of the scene, trying to collect them together in a visually interesting and pleasing way.
Some photographers want their images to tell stories, others to reveal some kind of deep truth about the world; I was always drawn to color, contour, symmetry - harmonious scenes that, faithfully captured and sublimely rendered, could inspire joy and reverence of the beauty that already exists everywhere in the world.
It was only natural (and perhaps inevitable) that I would discover the female form as an endless source of the very kind of beauty I was looking for. I did, in fact, take an interest in artistic portraiture not long after picking up a camera, though I had very limited access to models or familiarity with the history of this kind of visual art.
Still, the interest was always there, and I never passed up the opportunity to work with a female model when a willing one appeared. Even though I was only sporadically honing this aspect of my craft, I could see that I was improving, and I always greatly enjoyed the experience.
A couple years ago, I realized that this was an area of my photographic interest that I finally needed to explore fully. I started working with professional models and writing about the experience on a Substack newsletter I created, called “Naked Prose”. I dove into the history of the depiction of the female form in art, from classical sculpture to modern fine art photography. Through these experiences I’ve been able to develop my own artistic voice, one that commits to expressing the beauty of the female form honestly through natural light and in comfortable settings.
This is the service that I offer here at Daphne’s Hollow. If you’d like to work together to create something beautiful, have a look through the other sections to learn more about what I do. If it sounds like this is for you, I hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers,
What’s it like to work with me?
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Aim, model from Australia
"I loved working with him in Hong Kong at my hotel & we created some great images mainly with window natural light that he edited beautifully! It was nice to chat too & I would for sure work with him again in future as well as suggest him to others if he likes. Thank you for being kind, caring & respectful!"
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Nastya, model from Ukraine
"Had a really great time working with James! Super easy to communicate with, very respectful, and the shoot felt natural and creative. Definitely recommend!"
