‘I consider myself a slim, elegant and quietly confident guy’
Stefan
When I first featured model Stefan back in 2011, I was intrigued that he used the word elegant to describe his look. Many male models might shy away from that word, but elegance has become an essential ingredient within many of my favorite images and within the work of many of the photographers whose work I love. When shooting the male form, elegance is a way to describe a fluidity of movement, even when a model is in pose and perfectly still. A flow that can be felt, even when not actually seen.
I felt the same fluid grace when first coming upon the work of artist Ben Octavius. The London photographer is just 22, but his images display a beautiful artistry, sophisticated, refined and skilfully elegant. For Ben, photography is a labour of love and he feels fortunate that within his shoots he is able to collaborate with other creative people that share and inspire his vision from start to finish.
I love the contrast between Stefan, his body and skin and the unfinished wood behind him. I love how Ben reflects the light on both wood and skin, in some places, blending one within the other. There is also a beautiful symmetry between the wood grain and the color of Stefan's skin and with ihis body hair. I also love how his eyes and nipples seem almost to balance, and even mirror, the many knots within the wall behind him.
'Working with Stefan was great, he as a great self awareness and It felt very comfortable working together. Hopefully in the future we can work out another collaboration. I have yet to have a bad experience and photography is a wonderful tool for meeting with and interacting with people you otherwise would have never come across.'
