'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.'
William Shakespeare
Many of you are familiar with the multi-talented performer Jesse Townsend, and I am sure some of you have caught one or two of his performances. Performance was the theme that stood out for me when spending time with photographer Tom Rubeck from TR Pics. In each of the pieces I have done featuring Tom's work, I am impressed with his skill at creating images that are not just erotic, but also dramatic and theatrical.
The easy theme here would have been the sword, the innuendos could have been endless.... I really loved though, how Shakespearean Tom's images felt. They capture that moment of frenzy just before going on. Jesse appears as if waiting in the wings, with an awaiting audience, eagerly anticipating his climatic entrance.
Texas performer Jesse Townsend caught Tom's eye back in early 2013. Tom says that once he began getting more comfortable with his shooting, he reached out to him on Model Mayhem, and Jesse responded positively. Tom lives about 250 miles north from Jesse in Texas, but because he had another shoot in Dallas Jesse arranged to get together with Tom during his trip. I had to ask Tom about the location, I wondered if it was actually back stage, or a studio set. It was actually neither... in fact, although the room was actually designed in honor of a famous character from a Shakespearean tragedy, the room, both large and luxurious that Jesse is entering, is actually a bathroom.
I was not aware of Jesse's multifaceted career when I first approached Tom about featuring their work together. As familiar with I am with photographic images, I am not quite as well versed in the world of adult entertainment. That being said, I felt for research purposed, the need to check out some of this players many parts. Adult performers sometimes make some of the best models. Not only because of their comfortability with being naked in front of a camera, but also their ability create fantasy by inhabiting bigger than life situations and characters.
'Our session was fun, collaborative, and nicely long. He was really eager to try a lot of different set ups and styles. There was a wardrobe closet upstairs in the studios, and he found a military jacket he wanted to shoot in, to make a statement about loss due to war. After that, he stripped down and we took some amazing physique shots. He was so easy to work with and would do just about any pose I asked. That's a rare thing, for someone who is fairly experienced to just play and have fun. The results were some amazing shots!'
