Neither Nature Nor Natural

I've been asked the story behind this series. My answer is that I promised to make these guys famous, but my lips move so I started them modeling. This works out well for me, do you know how difficult it is to find a model that you can wake up at two in the morning, shove in a bag and hit the road? You can find them, but their expensive and kind of weird.

Actually I was photographing the pantry of a burned out house and loved the way the natural light lit the space. That night I went home and in my room was a ventriloquist dummy ( Jerry Mahoney) that had been in the family for years and the idea hit me. I put him on a shelf in the pantry, took the shot (Waiting) and that was it, I was hooked. I decided to find another model and found Mr. Parlanchin in a small shop in New Brunswick Canada.

In each of the interior shots I shoot the space first because I'm intrigued with the way the natural light comes in and push the shadows back. The shadows seem to keep the light in check only letting it reach so far. If I like the shot when I download it onto my computer I'll look and see where it would make sense compositionally to pose my model. I'll then return and pose him and light paint as necessary. I love nature photography, but there is something fulfilling about taking something from my head and putting it on canvas, and when you've got something like this in your head you've got to get it out! How are you going to sleep at night with something like that in your head?