'To anyone reading this, work with David, you'll thank yourself!'
Back in the fall, I sent David from YogaBear Studio a short list of some of my favorite images from his recent shoots. Many of them, featured his work San Diego's Jesse Smith. I often use, and maybe overuse, the word 'spiritual' when Describing David's work, maybe because it is core to why I am continually drawn to his imagery.
So many artists masterfully capture the male form. Many are able to draw out pieces of a model's personality, some are able to see beyond the surface, capturing pieces of a model's essence, they may not even be intending to unveil. David's work consistently captures not just form, not just bodies and poses but the soul within and the spirit which surrounds them. This is not just David's goal, it is his mission.
Although capturing hot bodies is part of what David does, David's interpretation of hot is powerfully without limits. David believes that every physical human form in front of his lens is erotically tempting and worthy of celebration. Age and size is simply irrelevant. Although many of us have been pressured to suppress it, all of our bodies and all of our souls possess an erotic component, and it is that, which draws David's focus.
With Jesse, David certainly had a great head start. Jesse is obviously incredibly lean and fit. What attracted me Jesse's images however, was more than just his hot body and his man bun, which I have to admit, I find incredibly sexy. The aura surrounding Jesse is surrounded by soul and spirit, stemming from his beautiful brown eyes and facial expressions and the art that adorns is skin. The tattoo on Jesse's lower stomach reads, Mojo Rising. 'Many of my tattoos are homages to music, and that is my homage to classic rock. It seemed like the most fitting location for that era of music. The prominence of of Jesse's back tattoo connects to the level of commitment he invests into focusing on the positive, and in the striving for, and capturing of his dreams.
Those dreams are currently focused in directions other than modeling, and more toward other projects and passions. 'I am now the CEO of an existence optimization consulting firm, an entrepreneur of a few new companies, and the pioneer of the next phase in physics, beyond quantum.' Jesse says however that he cherishes the times spent modeling and the artists who have captured him from the other side of the lens.
'In my 4 years of experience as an active model, I have been blessed with a few select photographers that I would happily shoot with long after my modeling career has ended. David is one of those photographers. A consummate professional and a joy to work with, every shoot with David is time well spent. He creates a very welcoming and comfortable environment and always delivers quality images. Of the thousands of frames captured by photographers of me I have chosen David's work to showcase in my portfolio more than any others. He has a warmth about him, he feels like a old friend.'
David and Jesse connected through Model Mayhem and have done two sessions together. In the second session, Jesse was also shot with his partner Rachel and although the focus of FH is usually the male form, I so loved their images together that I had to add a few. Rachel is absolutely stunning, with a strong beautiful face and a killer body. Their interactions, especially their facial expressions and the way Jesse look up at Rachel in the last image below is so intensely passionate and intimate, it shows yet another side of his soul and his spirit.
'Jesse has an exuberant energy that lights up the photos. This was magnified even more in my recent session with him and his partner Rachel. They’re both so vibrant and bring so much to each session.'
