Nudes have been a part of the field of art from the beginning. Sculptures of women have been found in caves along with the paintings on the wall done by the cave dwellers. Picasso to move up a few millennia said “all art starts with the human body”  of which I would fully agree with. In my case I normally encase the body in makeup, thus giving the body the look of a sculpture and at some level asking the viewer to decide if the image is of a live model, or is a sculpture or even a painting. At every showing of my art (even though it’s stated as being photography) I’m asked  by viewers  “what am I looking at” followed by “is it a painting. “ And  this is  frankly what I’m asking the viewer to do, to totally rearrange their subconscious mind and investigate what is real and what is an Illusion. Is it sculpture or a real model, is it a photo or a painting. As you can see I’m asking a lot more from the casual viewer than the average image, be it photo or painting, either in a gallery, art fair or printed matter. Which since it”s intended as a piece of fine art I feel is appropriate to ask that level of engagement from the viewer. I’ve also been asked why I shoot more female than male nudes. Quite simply the market for females is so much larger. Females as well as males appreciate a female nude or semi nude, the same can’t be said for the male which is perhaps 15% of the market. That being said I do intend to shoot a few male images in the near future. A, to round out my portfolio and B, I have some ideas that I’m intrigued by and want to pursue. When the subjects of nudes come up it’s important to treat the models and imagery with respect. The feedback I’ve gotten from people such as collectors, viewers and gallery owners is that the body shown in the image is one honoring the body and the beauty inherent in it. Needless to say one treads a fine line with nude imagery that isn’t the case in any of my other work for the obvious reasons. Thankfully, as I said all the feedback has been positive.