Off Topic: Excellent Photo Project

[ajnabieh]

My dearly beloved friend Jesús Chapa-Malacara, an art and portrait photographer, has just published a new project, Women/Bodies/Fashion. It combines images with words, in particular the words of nine women (with very different bodies and aesthetics) on fashion, bodies, and gender, with Jesús's own reflections on fashion photography as a form, and how to balance the technical, artistic, and ethical imperatives at work in the medium. (The photoshoot is technically NSFW, for topless ladies.)

I happened to be one of the models he used--that's me on the cover of the essay, my hairy and scarred legs, and me pedantically lecturing my best friend on how come he hasn't read William Gibson in the interview quotes. (He did not include any images of me making faces at fashion magazines during that portion of the photo shoot, for which I am reasonably grateful.) I'm also friends with one of the other models, and she looks fabulous, too. Head over there, and check it out.

(And if you're in the market for high-end children's/family portraiture, check out red light green light, his portraiture business.)

Comments

[wendelah1]

The text is so small at the site that I can barely read a single word, not even after enlarging it four times its size. Is it meant to be read? Even when I click on the words, I still have to enlarge the text. I know I'm near-sighted, but whoa. Maybe I'll try again on a bigger screen when I get internet back.

[ajnabieh]

Yeah, he realized after it got published that the font is nearly unreadable on a small screen. (Being someone who edits photos all day, he works on a ginormous screen.) The version at his website, fotosjcm.com, is slightly larger, so maybe try there?

[wendelah1]

Yeah, it was okay if I went to the enlargement on my bigger computer screen. You look great, by the way.