A sporadic journal and samples of artwork from photo shoots by jackson
Happy to hear that the 2007 AIDS Walk here in Edmonton has generated $75,000 for HIV Edmonton.
Thanx to Blue, he set up a session with a handsome, young, Nuyorican named Sammy and brought him up to the studio tonight. Sammy has a very defined physique (he works at 24/7 -- a gym in Chelsea), and has a face the camera loves - part sexually-charged papichulo and part innocent homeboy. With the professionalism and focus he showed in our first shoot, I'm very interested in doing a subsequent shoot with Sammy the next time I'm in NYC.
Several years ago, Dominic and I met online. After several lengthy instant messenger conversations, I convinced him to do a photo shoot with me and so we trekked off to Central Park one beautiful afternoon to do the shoot. The shots came out wonderfully, both of us posted them our respective sites, and best of all, we became pals. Since then, Dominic has become (much) more comfortable in front of the camera so ... finally the day has arrived for us to shoot his first nudes.
I was fortunate enough to get a sixth row centre seat to see Grey Gardens for the matinee performance this afternoon (it helps when you're only looking for a single ticket.) This was the one show that I felt I just had to see since I saw a screening of the original documentary of the same name several years ago at the Edmonton International Film Festival with one of the Maysles brothers (the filmmakers) actually in attendance for a question and answer period afterwards. 
Due to another last-minute cancellation for a shoot that I had scheduled for the early afternoon, I was able to invite Mike to the studio to do a quick session. Not only was he available and willing to have me photograph his tattoo, but he confided that this was something he had always wanted to do. Mike had a very cute demon baby on his shoulder that I wanted to capture but moments after meeting him, I quickly realized that the ink wasn't the only thing that was cute -- this boy had a million dollar smile. 
Doug is an old friend and former model of mine that I first met in the 90s back at The Tunnel. He's no longer working as a gogo boy in the clubs but is still modelling when he can with the hopes of landing some work as an underwear model. We did this shoot so that he could add some images to his portfolio. 
Did a follow up photo shoot with Tony, who I shot a couple days ago up in the studio. This time we shot in the basement of his apartment in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. The space was ideal. And for the most part, I used all available light and got some exquisite results. Tony was phenomonal today as well. He applied everything he had learned in the first shoot we did and demonstrated superb concentration and discipline. Modelling is seldom easy work and down in that basement it was sweltering. However, it was all worth it when you get images like this. I'll add more photos here at a later time as there are countless images to select from - this was the sort of shoot that I absolutely love.
OK I am almost embarrassed to say this but I wasn't quite sure what a blog really was, and then BBAAAAMMM right in the head like an arrow it / you hit me. Thank you for saying such nice things about me, I am overwhelmed with what you wrote and thrilled that you enjoyed the shoot as much as I.
I know it is sounding redundant , but honestly, I don't think you realize what you have done for me, and keeping it simple, you have helped me beyond what I thought was possible for the fixing of my head........lol. I got so much enjoyment from the shoots, both learning experiences about modeling, as well as myself , and yup even about you.
I preach the word passion, when one does something for work or even play, without it - it's not even worth talking about, let alone doing. You, my friend, reak of passion for what you do, it's your work, it's your play ..........it's you. I am very happy for you that you have been blessed and are able to live your passion.
Just know one thing, I am a real man, with real thoughts, both are honest and heartfelt entities in their own right, and when I compliment you, please know I am not blowing smoke, I truly mean what I say with great feeling.
And now enough.
After being back in NYC for a few days, and finally cleaning out the studio of all the junk that accumulated there while I away, I started shooting again today. My model was Tony (Antonio) Leonardo, who at 43, is a sexy, masculine, and very sweet Italian-American living in Hell's Kitchen.
As expected, I did a second shoot with Scott and once again I am extremely pleased with the results. As we began to explore at the end of our first shoot, I've come across a concept that I want to pursue further -- glass brick nudes. Everyone that I've shown these first series of images to has been very excited and positive in their feedback about the potential of this project. They have even gone as far as saying they would like a print to hang in their homes. I can see this becoming an extensive series and an unique exhibit. Expect to see more of this style of photo in the future as I shoot other models of varying body types/builds/ethnicities and hopefully even couples.
Happy to see that the portrait I did of Cijay Morgan here in Edmonton has finally appeared in the May issue of Xtra! published out of Toronto. This was my first shoot for the magazine and hopefully more work will come of it. Here's the photo that ran -- click on this link to see how it turned out and to read the full article.
I attended the book signing of an old friend of mine, Darrin Hagen, who's book The Edmonton Queen has just been republished on its 10th Anniversary. Darrin delighted the crowd by reading from this and his other book, Tornado Magnet at Audrey's Books. The hilarious accounts of his drag persona, Gloria Hole, and the defunct gay club Flashback and all its tawdry characters took me back 20 years -- a time when I was first hitting the nightclubs here in Edmonton. Apart from being a talented drag queen, Darrin is a gifted storyteller and performer and I'm thrilled to see him having such success. I have countless personal memories of Gloria Hole: how she used to terrorize patrons when she bartended at Flashbacks; performing "This is My Life"; in her Star Trek catsuit serving jello shooters on the bus ride to one of my Hell parties; playing the accordian as a contestant on the live gameshow Panic; and just too many wondrful nights at the clubs to list. Thanx Darrin for being truly one-of-a-kind!
After years of talking about doing a shoot, Scott McLeod and I finally were finally able to do it today. Although this isn't the exact shoot I want to do with Scott -- we both want to do shoot outdoors -- I thought it would be good to get him in front of the camera and become comfortable with posing nude. As it turns out, Scott was very relaxed and consequently we got some remarkable images. The other wonderful thing about our session is that I discovered a new abstract concept that opens up a whole new series of photo shoots. Scott will be my first subject.
