One of the many people that I photographed for Playgirl magazine is Dirk Shafer, pictured here in a cabin in the San Bernardino Mtns east of Los Angeles. It was our first shoot of many and was quite successful in that it eventually contributed to Dirk being named one of Playgirl's 'Man of the Year.' The editors of the magazine kept telling me to make the work more raunchy but I wasn't much good at raunchy so I stuck to doing what I knew how to do best. One month they were ok with erections and the next month they weren't. It was always difficult dealing with them for a host of reasons, so I finally stopped shooting for them. Over the years though I crafted a lot of fun images of both men and women for Playgirl and learned a lot about working with nude models in the process. This was shot on 35mm transparency film and scanned from the original slide.
A long time ago in a very far away place called Hollywood I photographed two beautiful young women together. They had once been lovers but at the time of the shoot were just really close friends who were willing to work with me for a few hours in the studio. I love this earlier work because of its simplicity and because of my innocence at the time. I worked only with film of course and did most of my own darkroom work. I started doing nudes about 35 years ago and have never stopped. It's what I love, it's what I do and I'm grateful for the beautiful and interesting people who've been willing to get nude for my cameras.
Eight of my friends helping me celebrate the harvest as per the ancient traditions when women got together and had fun while harvesting the season's bounty. They are Heather, Auri, Alison, Erika, Melissa, Michele, Deb and JJ. Thank you muses, you light my fires...
I've been sharing a lot of pictures of my partner Jed lately. We met 4.5 years ago and have been inseparable since. In that time we've done a lot of work together. He was modeling before we met and we just kicked it up a few notches with images and videos that would thrill me even if we weren't together. I'm playing catch-up here with images that I feel have an important place in my collections. With that said, here's one from last year in the Sierras where we spent a few weeks camping, playing and taking tons of pictures.
Most of my nudes for many years now have tended towards the warmer tones, which lend themselves to our skin tones. As many marketing studies have shown most of us respond more strongly to warmer tones than cooler ones. For awhile now though I've been experimenting with cooler pallets and find that they're working for me in ways I wouldn't have expected. To wit, here are a couple of recent works that illustrate what that's all about. Oh, and the watermark is something I've avoided doing since I started sharing images online but my images are constantly being stolen and re-appropriated by people who don't care about copyright law. Watermarks aren't foolproof but they do slow down the amateurs a little.
I've been taking pictures of nude men and women for about 35 years and even though I've done a lot of different kinds of photography the nudes are at the core of my work. There is nothing to defend - this is what I love and this is what I do. Centuries of artists before me have done the same and most of the time their work feeds me and inspires me. A handful of contemporary photographers and artists do nudes that are thrilling to me and I love that the internet has made it possible to see their work on a daily basis. And then there are the fascinating and beautiful people who have worked nude for me; wow do I have reverence and gratitude for them because there would be no artwork without them. It's a delicious minestrone of bodies, personalities, locations and imagery. I'm a very lucky guy.
John Cottrell photographed at Rozel Point on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Copyrighted Image - All Rights Reserved
Heather and Destiny photographed in a magical forest that I can't disclose because I promised the elves I wouldn't. Hair and makeup by Ashlen Duke. Copyrighted Image - All Rights Reserved
Featuring Rainey and Aaron photographed by Tom Clark in Utah's San Rafael Swell
Copyrighted Images - All Rights Reserved
Anna
Trista
Robin
In the summer of 2014 I organized a group of photographers to photograph three of my favorite models in Utah's San Rafael Swell. Specifically it was in the area of the infamous Hidden Splendor Uranium Mine at the opening of the Chute of Muddy Creek. It's one of my favorite places in Utah and I've been there many times to take pictures and to revel in the astonishingly epic surroundings. Sharing this place with photographer friends was a lot of fun and all of us came home with some amazing pictures. Here are a few of mine, some of which have been posted before.
Jed
John and Jed
Aaron and Jed
More pictures after the break...
Pacific Ocean
Sawtooth Mountains
