Ok I can say that i'm quite excited. I love traveling... but to get the chance to travel for 2 weeks for once is well.. exciting.
 I decided to go to Portland and then Seattle and onto Vancouver for these 2 weeks. I fly to Portland tomorrow morning and then i'm off for 3 days on the coast of Washington for lots of shooting! I am shooting with an amazing photographer - who still uses medium format cameras and paper- shocking. Then i'm off to Seattle for 2 days. I love Seattle and the Washington area in general. Such a great city. Then I am taking a train to Vancouver on the 8th where i'll be staying until the 15th. I havent been to much of Canada and I hear Vancouver is one of the best cities in the world to live.. we shall see about that. I have 3 shoots in total there (I didnt want to make this entire trip work related).
I'm sure by the time I return I will be exhausted. But for once I get a vacation and I can tell you, I am very excited... did i say that already? :P
 
P.S. I'm not bringing my laptop with me so I will not be online. I'll have plenty of updates upon my return!
 
 

I am a professional art model. Meaning this is my living. I work 2-4 days a week.  Lately it seems the more people I work with or the more I climb on the art ladder, the more i notice how there are a few people who express intrest in hiring me, do not take what I do for a living seriously.
I have had 3 cancellations in the past 2 weeks. Some, no email, no confirmation, no phone call. Nothing. Some send a note 1-2 days before the date of the shoot. This isnt a hobby, its my life.
It's frustrating when as a working model, like any other working person I rely on this income for bills/shelter/food/traveling. In this case it is shelter. It just saddens me a few people do not either understand this, or care. I am working.  People who work deserve to be paid for their labor. In this business when you get a certain level that's a given.
Then of course there are those small minded people who believe that if you are working in this business you dont do it for the love of it. I'd tell them to venture out of their small box they live in and well....I do not want to get into that.
 I love what I do and I put every ounce of myself into every shoot.
But I digress...
 
 
 

I had quite the interesting weekend. I traveled to Pittsburgh to work with Ethan Long. With whom i've worked with twice before. Once when I was 9 months pregnant and the other in early spring. He is a wonderful guy and a talented photographer. He got into photography with a former girlfriend telling him he "should take nudes".. THAT is always good! I enjoy his company and his work. I dont work with anyone unless they have a vision. Talented or not, the vision is what matters. He shoots with film and nothing but.. I know, shocking. He has a Hasselblad, a Mamiya 6x7, and a Rollei. He uses a Canon A-1 for a lightmeter and developes his own stuff. Gotta love a purist.

So I asked him what was in the cards for today's adventure. He replied; "fun stuff". He's so vague and keeps me on my toes. So we start driving out of Pittsburgh about an hour east to rural picturesque Pennsylvania. We come upon this covered bridge and below it was a series of waterfalls. A storm had just passed through so it wasnt a typical hot July day. Probably in the 60-70's. He described to me what he wanted and I jumped in.

Yes, it was cold.

 

The next plan was to drive along and see what we could find. A field of dasies and sunflowers;

Next was a small road that looked a bit interesting;

 

he stopped the car along a highway that was busier than I thought! He said; "here what do you think about a straightjacket?" I said; "I'm down";

 

That lasted about 3 seconds before, yes, you guessed it, a car;

 

Finally, the windmills;

 

I told him I think his best work is the abandoned mental hospital that has since been torn down to build a Wal Mart. However, he's quite amazing at location shooting. He attributes this to my "guts" but whatever you call it. I had fun and we created some amazing art.

I hope to work with him again before the fall. Sometimes you work with those you mesh well with creatively. And when you do, it just makes sense to keep creating.

 

 

 

 

Ah how I love traveling. I really believe traveling is essential for growth as a human. Now I could talk about a bigger scale ie; the universe and a theory posits parallel worlds in multiple demensions of space and time, infinite realms where our doppelgangers live alternate lives.. but let's keep the nerd cap off for now..

I'm speaking of this earth. Experiencing different landscapes, cultures, languages, etc are all part of realizing how big the world is around you. As an American, it seems most of the population here gets caught up in thinking we're the center of the universe and the greatest country in the world. That's interesting to me, because my guess is anyone that thinks that, probably hasnt been outside of their own city much less out of the country. I've been all over this country from Seattle to New York and everywhere in between.. yes, even Kansas and I still dont believe I live in the greatest country in the world. It may be easy to live here but does easy mean great? Hardly. I still have a few places I havent seen, New England area east of New York, New Mexico, and Montana. I've been to Canada and Mexico as well. This country is so diverse and culturally unique you really can experience so much just here but come on, this is me.. i'm going to take on the world.

I seem to be fascinated with German anything. People, music, language, etc. That could be due to half of my ancestry is German (the other half Native American) but i'm not so sure of that. The language, the history, the culture, the landscape.. ah I love it. I have a few German friends who have done nothing but intrigued me even more. So now that I finally have my passport... i'll be heading there in October. I wanted to go in August but due to the combination of this wonderful economy and peak tourist season that's impossible. So i'm heading to Portland-Seattle, Vancouver and Toronto Canada the first three weeks of August. Excited? Absolutely.

I'm not stopping there.. I want to visit Eastern Europe. Specifically Germany, Austria, Spain, Scotland, Italy, and Greece. I'm not particularly interested in England but the landscape looks wonderful. So that's definitely on the agenda at some point. I think the best time to visit Australia is in the winter because that is their summer. So these are my plans just in the next year and possibly even 6 months.

I'll keep everyone posted, as I do want to have time to actually see these places. But of course, I must create some wonderful art in these great locations!

In the meantime i'll brush up on my German. It's a very hard language to learn... maybe I should have read Mein Kampf without the translation? Nah I dont want to give myself an aneurysm..  :P

 

I swore to myself i'd never do it again 3 1/2 years ago but I did....

I drove to New York City. I almost always fly but I didnt this time..

I started driving Friday morning. About 7-8 hours. It was a lot cheaper than flying (about $600+ - wtf?) vs. $120. I finally arrived around 6-7ish pm after beating aggressive New York drivers. Parked my car in Astoria and called up Lauren (one of my good friends coming to the city the same time I was) and James Graham. They were in Chip Willis' room hanging with him. So I had dinner with a friend and met James and Lauren for drinks around Grand Central at 9-10ish. Laughs, rum and cokes, and Sanders came to join us with a pint. We ended up leaving around 2 something. I went to bed at 3:30 and had to get up at 7am...

I wake up feeling fine. A bit tired but nothing out of the ordinary.

7am I take a train an hour north and shoot with a photographer I love working with for 3-4 hours. I meet the second photographer and then it hit me... I hadnt ate or drank water all day, I was sleep deprived, and it was hot. I was so exhausted but I pushed through a 2 hour shoot anyway. I almost fell asleep standing on a rock in water so we finished 15 minutes early. Two incredibly wonderful people in a morning and afternoon of working with a very exhausted model. I apologized profusely for not being anywhere near 100%. One of them said some really wonderful things about our work and the other said I was "the best model he'd worked with - even if you did fall asleep while I was talking on the ride back.." I told them both I appreciate the comments but I really really want to make it up to them. Even though I think i'm being too hard on myself I really value the photographer's time and I do not want to be anything but 100%. I never flake so I showed up and worked. I did have fun.. as I always do even if my shirt did float down the stream! : P

I had a bottle of water, some potato chips and slept for an hour on the train back to the city. I felt a lot better.

and then this happened;

Christopher Bush , James Graham - www.jamesmgraham.net ,   Marko Cecic Karuzic  www.markophoto.com , and one of my great friends Lauren outside of a bar in SOHO on Saturday night;

I had Sunday morning off due to a cancellation so I made Biscuits and Gravy for James Graham and Lauren. Shoot in the afternoon and everything was great.

I miss the city, my friends, and wonderful artists. Back in late August. :)

I was recently contacted by a Czech photographer living in Prague. He was incredibly nice and gracious. Had the most wonderful things to say about my work.

The gist of his email was;  I am interested in nude photography, mainly because I admire the female beauty in any form. I can not draw nor sculpt, so photography is the only genre of art I can create something.

I have been working with a lot of models, mostly amateurs and I find interesting what are their expectations, reasons and attitude towards nude modeling.

I am running a blog and I thought it might be interesting to start a series of interviews with nude models who I find remarkable about their work.

He said a few additional wonderful comments and asked if I would provide answers for his questions.

 

I did and here it is; http://nudeartworld.blogspot.com/2008/06/model-sarah-interview-with-nude-model.html

 

I'm flattered and I hope my answers helped others. :)

I was on a plane to Baltimore a few days ago when the guy beside me decided it was "strange" a "pretty girl" was reading Discover magazine. (yes he said that) He started laughing. I said; "why the laughter? Have you not read the article?" He stopped for a few seconds and asked what I was referring to. I pointed at the  "Parallel Universe: One Theory Infinite Yous" in bold print on the cover. He said; "well i'm a physicist." I said; "And? What is your theory?"

He had no idea what I was talking about.

I proceeded to explain the multi levels of the universe and how the person who was being interviewed came up with the 4th theory. He still had no idea what I was speaking of. Then he asked me what I did for a living. I said; "Why does that matter?" Thinking;  Either you are trying to change the subject or gain control of the conversation. He said; "I was just curious" as he proceeded to ask me what college I graduated from. When I said, "I didnt." he said; "you cant be serious?" I simply said; "Why would I lie?"

College wasnt for me. It never was. It seemed most of my friends were guided by the counselor. They NEEDED to graduate college to "be anything in life". While he may or may not think that is true, I know it isnt. College isnt for everyone.

However, I did go to college. I hated it. I took philosophy courses i'd already read just for stimulation. I worked a full time job and took 20 credit hours a week. I never slept. What did I gain out of that?  A year of knowing experience and the economy play a roll in the job/salary you will get not your degree unless it is specified.

I dont have a negative opinion on college I just realize not everyone needs it to achieve their goals in life.

College is great for expanding your knowledge but not everyone has that sort of expendable income. If you do or you live in Germany, by all means take advantage of it. If not check your priorities.

What do I know? I'm living my dream as a college dropout.

Who the hell goes to college for art modeling? :P

 

I havent been online much lately... I really just sat down for the first time today. It seems when i'm not busy traveling I have lots to handle at home. Although due to online bill paying that is becoming a bit easier! I had a cancellation this weekend... some truly bad luck with the photographer. The good news is we've rescheduled and I really love working with him.

I had a model ask me a few weeks back; "why/how do you work with amateurs?" I simply said; "because they have a vision and they want to hire a professional to help create that."  Honestly, when you do something for a living you enjoy there is no need for one to think they are better than anyone. I certainly do not take this approach. It seems when I do work with amateur artists or people simply new to model-photography they end up letting all of their insecurities, worries, and nerves go. We end up creating at least one solid image. Almost always i'll work with them again to further their visions. They are all people too and we all had to start somewhere.

I miss the west coast. San Diego and Washington mainly. I really dont care too much for California on the whole but San Diego is just a great city. I always have fun when i'm there. I hope to return this year. Washington has such an amazing beauty. The crayola people cannot duplicate this shade of green. The Seattle piers, the fog in the morning, the majestic Mt Ranier, the cool mornings with the slight mist and overcast. It's just beautiful. I miss that city. I really think everyone should visit Seattle or even Washington for that matter just once in their life. People should just travel more in general. Traveling is essential to growth as a human.

Ah the memories. I hope to create even more this year as I broaden my travels. Including Canada and Eastern Europe. Weee!

:)