I find one of the trickiest parts of putting together a piece for FH is choosing the pic of the day. Because I consider the blog a magazine of sorts, the POTD is the cover, an image which I hope will encourage viewers to want to scroll down. Sometimes I go for a 'teaser', an image that gives a hint of what's to come. Other times I choose an image that visually unveils the most, laying out a tone for the story below. Most times however, I just go with the blogs theme and choose my favorite.
Last month, when first featuring the work of Patrick from Photoby010, (Static & Flow) I chose an image of Ron. Sometimes it's hard to choose just one model when working with a series of images featuring different models, but there was just something about Patrick's images of Ron which made the task so much easier.
I know it's risky to speak in generalities about any culture or race, but there are just certain features I have come to associate with the location in which a man was born. Living in North America, I always had a specific notion, usually based on movies I had seen, about European men. The blonde Swede, the tall and usually thin German man and the red haired Scotsmen. Truth is, there really doesn't seem to be particular genetic traits associated with location, but there are certainly visuals in the media that would have us think so.
Yet... part of what drew me so much to Patrick's images of Ron, were how beautifully they fit into my minds visual fantasy of Dutch men in The Netherlands. I think in part, it is Ron's body shape, beautiful eyes, facial structure and mouth. I also think in part it was that his look is in many ways timeless. For those of us who did not grow up in Europe, there is a classical artistry and history weaved in so much of what we know.
So many models today are defined by time. They have the currently hot 'body type', hairstyle and the far too commonly placed 'model tats.' Just look at any back issue of Playgirl, and even without a stitch of clothing, you can tell by hair length and body hair, (think the mullet...) exactly what decade the model was shot in. Although Patrick shot Ron just last year, except for maybe his arm tattoo, his look and the images, especially his face, are not weighed down by time.
After seeing Ron's images on a model site, Patrick contacted him a shoot. Ron jumped on board and along with the body shots, wanted to add some fashion shots to his portfolio. Ron travelled by train from one side of the country to Rotterdam, where Patrick's studio is located. 010 is actually the area code for Rotterdam, which is where Photoby010 originated.
Patrick's goal was weaving the erotic with the artistic and focused on light and shadow to achieve the look he wanted, especially with the nudes and the images of Ron on the red pillow. Ron is undeniably hot, especially his beautiful yes. I was curious though, as to whether he was at all shy during the shooting process?
'Ron was very open about his private life and was talking about himself during the shoot. Ron wasn't shy at all. Ron was very open minded and did everything I asked. He had no problems at all dropping his clothes off.'
