With the internet full of great looking models, highly skilled photographers and incredible images, it is always interesting to discover why one photo grabs your attention and stands out above all of the others. When I find a photographer or model and see an image that causes me to pause and react in some way, I become determined. That was exactly what happened when I saw the second to last image at the bottom of this piece.
27 year old South Derbyshire model Marc-Williams has many stand out qualities that would have one stop and take a second look. His incredible body, great face and hair and his beautifully intense and deep blue eyes. Although those qualities were certainly not lost on me, in that first image it was not just his face and physique that had me taking a second look, it was also his hat.
Marc has a very strong presence in front of the camera, something Jon from JBDI Photography utilized perfectly within their work together. Marc has something a lot of models struggle to achieve, and that's directness. Many models, especially those new, or not completely comfortable with shooting fully nude, sometimes pull back, almost hiding from the camera they are standing naked in front of. Marc stares directly into Jon' lens, his piercing blue eyes strong, confident and bold.
Jon had seen quite a bit of Marc's work with various photographers on Model Mayhem and shares that he too was always struck by Marc's incredible looks and physique. Jon sent Marc a message to see if he might be interested in a fitness/nude shoot and received a positive response back. After a few bumps trying to arrange dates and travel, they managed to get together for a shoot this past October.
'Marc’s got a great combination of masculinity and sensitivity and I think we achieved a some really sexy, arty shots.'
Jon says the hat was just one of the many props lying around his studio and without any planning, he simply suggested Marc try it on for size. The hat was one of a few props used for the shoot but for this shoot, the focus was primarily Marc. Jon's knowledge of stance, angle and pose comes from personal experience. Jon's been running a part-time photographic business for the last few years, mostly specialising in actor and business headshots. His interest in the male nude started with his experimenting with nude self portraits, some which are posted on his MM page. Through his self portraits, Jon was able to try different lighting, poses and techniques, some of which he also learned from his time as a life model for art classes.
After joining a couple of photographic and model networking sites, (Model Mayhem and Purpleport) Jon started asking male (and occasionally female) models to pose. 'The problem became finding a studio to hire where there was privacy to allow the models and myself to feel comfortable.' Earlier this year however, Jon took on a studio share with another photographer and was able to have total privacy along with a flexible booking schedule. Jon then began inviting models that he had admired, and that were located near him to shoot. 'In the last 6 - 8 months I've had the privilege of working with some great models including; Adam Coussins, Alex Banks, Marc and others. I've also had the opportunity to become more creative with studio lighting and the depiction of the male nude.'
