'Now in November nearer comes the sun down the abandoned heaven.'
D.H. Lawrence
Seasons officially begin and end with a date on the calendar, bu we all know those dates don't always reflect what is going on outside. I love to celebrate seasons, and seasonal changes, with the shoots and images that I feature. Like everyone, I complain about the cold in the winter, and the humidity in the summer, but push come to shove, I don't think I could live anywhere that didn't have four distinct seasons.
Although there is always a degree of carry over between seasons, this year it seems a bit more pronounced. Indian summer's are common, with hot humid weather sliding past August into September. Here in the East however, people were still swimming in October, watering blooming flowers and leaving AC units in windows for weeks longer than most years. Usually by November 12th, the bulk of leaves have fallen, been raked, and bagged or composted. This year, the colors were more muted, turned more slowly, remaining on the tree's, stubbornly refusing to let go.
Regardless of long summer, and those leaves, may want to hang on, November is always the month that cruelly, (especially last year...) hits us with realities. This week, any of summer's, not to mention Autumn's, residual leftovers have all but disappeared. A cold front came in, and hard, meaning leaves will be raked not in t-shirts or sweaters, but with winter gloves and parkas.
Very soon, instead of mowing, many of us will be shoveling, but before that mower is put away for the winter, thought I would squeeze in one more trip around the back yard, this time, riding along with Mark, our gorgeous groundskeeper shot by PR Photo.
Mark is a tattoo artist and guitarist in a heavy metal/rap band/collective in Chicago. It is also crystal clear from these images, Mark is a fitness nut who works hard to keep his body rock solid. ready for any lawn work, we may need completed The Michigan photographer describes Mark as one of his absolute favorite models to work with, and after four shoots together, says the results just keeps getting better. PR describes this shoot as bit of an 'end of summer fantasy', with these images comprising what many of us can only hope to see when glancing out the window after hearing the lawn mower start up...
'You know the type. You watch him ride the mower around your backyard in his sweaty wifebeater every summer. His ripped body getting dark in the hot summer sun. You wanna see his body without the shirt.... See his hunky tattooed muscles. Today's your lucky day.'
