Expectation & Collaboration – of a model & an artist

Feedback answers from Charlie who both modelled and photographed

a) Did it live up to your expectations?
Spirited Bodies 5 certainly did live up to my expectations, and in some ways exceeded them as well. It was lovely being a homogenous part of the group. I was somewhat unsure of my capability to hold a pose for 30 minutes, so I certainly surprised myself by doing so. I think that having so many fellow models with me made the task of holding a pose much easier, feeling that we were all supporting each other in a very bonding way. I love the way that we all bonded from the start and felt totally comfortable with each other. I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet some of the other models in advance.

From an artistic point of view, I was also very pleased. The evening was a form of testing ground for me, so I came with a very open mind and was not expecting too much. However, the results were far better than I anticipated, and as I go through the numerous shots, I am finding more and more details that I would love to work on and refine on future occasions. I did have some expectation shortfalls, but these were almost exclusively related to technical things such as camera settings, backdrops and lighting.

b) Was anything lacking?
I would say that the space was a bit awkward to work in, but this did not seriously impede the artists’ work. I was amazed to see how 30 artists managed to squeeze their way into the space, but still have a good area to work in. More time before and after the artists’ sessions would have been nice; time for us models to meet and chat, get to know each other, time to set up a few well thought out tableaux – the table worked, but I felt that with a bit more time, we could have been really creative with the space and with each other, and possibly planned in advance what scenes we would like to create for our artists.

From a photographic point of view, time was very limited. I would have loved a couple of hours to really think out the set carefully, have around 30 minutes or so before models arrive to experiment with lighting and camera settings, and have the luxury to work with the models over the course of a very chilled and relaxed day.

In no particular order: Wonderful people to create art with and collaborate with, new friendships, new artistic ideas, the confidence that I can hold a pose for at least 30 minutes, some lovely photographic works, a better understanding of how to best utilise awkward space for a nude tableau featuring 14 models, the satisfaction that many artists were able to benefit from my contribution, the experience of building trust with first-time models, it was an invaluable experience all around and I learned loads from it.

Here are a couple of Charlie’s nude abstracts:

Related articles

• Drafting the Manifesto (spiritedbodies.com)
• Artist’s Eerie Mirrored Sculptures Reflect (On) Nature (Photos) (treehugger.com)