A conversation with Jay Parkinson
May 18th, 2006 at 12:07pm Os
Via conscientious a conversation with photographer Jay Parkinson about his aspiring models shoots.
As an aspiring portrait photographer myself, I do admire his aims – his determination to give as little direction as possible to these neophyte models is probably quite disconcerting to them, and this shows in the photos. Many of them look awkward or uncomfortable – indeed there are several I personally wouldn't have chosen to show but Jay aimed to produce non-traditional portraits, and succeeded I feel.
He seems to be consciously trying to sabotage the Maxim / FHM style of photography, and he achieves that, but to my eye the portraits feel cold and detached; in some respect they remind me of the late, great Bob Carlos Clarke's 'Love Dolls Never Die', since those too were devoid of emotion, not unexpectedly since they were made out of pvc.
Out of the series on his website, I only really liked the shots of Hilary and Danielle, the rest left me cold. This is, perhaps, what Jay was aiming for.
Entry Filed under: Photography