Ella Rose: The Story

>I’m so excited to have in my hands the fruit of several months’ coordination and the physical result of some extremely generous and kind photographers. I’m holding (well, not while typing, I suppose, but it’s here on my desk) a collection of some of my favourite images taken over the last three years, during which I’ve been practising my happy deviation into a life of art modelling.

I’ve mentioned before that I thought it was sad not to have many actual prints to show for my hard work, unlikely adventures and gloriously fun modelling frolics so far, and that computer files didn’t really cut it; and that I had decided to put together a photography book for myself to look at when I’m old (or anytime between now and then…). I’ve now managed to finish this project.

The book focuses on just one theme; it uses shots from one of my twelve website galleries, ‘Faerie’, and collects 29 natural, gentle, romantic and pure shots of me as the nude, female figure in a loose ‘garden’ setting; in tall grass, entwined in trees, in pools of water, surrounded by flowers, in faerie queen headdresses, in pre-Raphaelite forest guises, in the cool, shady dappled light of Mediterranean gardens and against huge, jurassic plants. I’ve never made a book before, so this is a great feeling, and just so wonderful to be able to own!

I’m so grateful to the photographers whose images are printed in this book, and although this was definitely created just as an indulgence for myself, as something to keep, I do have permission to make this book available for purchase. If anyone would like to buy themselves a copy, some money from each book bought goes to Amnesty. If you agree with me that physical prints are sooo much more satisfying to look at than online virtual ones, and you like the idea of owning a version yourself, having it adorn your bookshelf and perhaps provide some visual and artistic inspiration, you’re welcome to preview it online and see what you think.

Huge thanks to the following. Click on the links below to see more of their work:
Rebecca Parker
John Evans
Paul Bartholomew
Rayment Kirby
Voyages2004
Jeremy Howitt
DB Images
Dave Aharonian
Keith Cooper (website pending)
Imagesse
Robert Farnham
Gregory Brown
Michael Cordiez
Sean Buckley
and Pat Brennan

…I hope you like it. I’m so glad I finally did this and am already thinking of making a second book sometime in the not-too-distant future… Just need to choose a gallery/theme and start to gather my favourites!

>Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone had a nice weekend… I ended up on a boat yesterday for a friend’s birthday party on the river. Lots of fun (and cider and pimms!) and I got to drive for some of it!

Here are some recent shots by Jeremy Howitt, taken on Brighton beach! This was the first shoot of my trip to Sussex at the end of June and resulted in a little monochrome mini-series (and salty beach hair! ).

Jeremy’s plan was to keep these in monochrome, but I couldn’t help wondering what they’d look like in colour (despite the uneventful sky; it was a hazy morning) and after a couple of to-and-fro edits (me vaguely suggesting, Jeremy miraculously realising my ideas with the magic of technology), this colour image is what we came up with. I love the peachy-pink blaze at the top of the frame and the soft pastel hues.

 

>I’m just back from a very enjoyable shoot with a photographer and his wife, a couple I’ve visited quite a few times now and love to see. We did some really nice un-posed and natural, expressive nudes (inspired by Jonvelle) in their beautiful house, and it seems a fitting time to now blog about a recent day spent with another husband and wife team.

I love working with Trevor and Faye Yerbury – they produce such beautiful, classy work and are lots of fun to model for, so I was happy to be chosen to model for one of their Fine Art Nude Masterclasses the other day. As always, the photographers taking the course were all a pleasure to meet and seemed to enjoy themselves very much, snapping away with big smiles all round! The location was Pipewell Hall, an old country manor house in Northamptonshire. I was mainly stationed indoors with Faye, making the most of the building’s incredible features and furnishings, while the other model, Zoi, spent the day outdoors in the grounds with Trevor. It was really nice to meet Zoi after we’d tried but failed to meet up in Holland (where she is based most of the time, though she frequently visits the UK still) and we had a good natter over lunch. We made a good contrast as photographic subjects; Zoi with her beautiful Greek/’Amazonian’ look and me with a more ‘pre-Raphaelite’/serene style (well, that’s what Trevor said anyway!).

See here for more info on the range of workshops currently on offer by the Yerbury team: http://www.yerburystudio.com/

A few of the photographers attending have very kindly sent me some of their shots from the day. It’s interesting to see some of the different takes on the same poses. I was really happy to give my first airing to my new pointe shoes (ribbons to be sewn on very soon; old ones to be dyed black!) and although I’d only mentioned to Faye in passing that I’d brought them along while she was doing my hair at the beginning of the day, ‘ballet’ ended up being quite a strong theme for my posing, with lots of happy skirt swirling in front of the window.

These first shots are by Andrea (Pink Lily Photography) – read Andrea’s blog post about the day here:

By Maria Tanner (Lace Market Photography – see Maria’s blog post here!):

By Ian Parry AKA Maximus Operandi:

Zoi and I posing together outside at the end (first shot here by Ian Parry; colour snaps by Faye)

Trevor overseeing all:

 And a group shot (Zoi and I being silly in the middle)!

Thanks again to everyone who has sent me shots – it’s much appreciated! And to anyone reading, please feel free to let me know any favourites… Your feedback is always fun to read!

>Hello all! Hope you’re enjoying your various weekends. I’m having such a nice one – went to not-one-but-two birthday celebrations yesterday daytime and evening and had lots of fun (though it meant I was unable to go to another friend’s shindig/Paradise Garden fest in London or a festival my boyfriend had threatened to take me to in France (but we couldn’t really make it in the end anyway)… All very triple-quadruple booked, and I’m normally no way near this popular, but it’s funny how things all seem to happen at once!!) Meanwhile, I’m just dreaming of a chance to go and see the new Ice Age film! And watching the final tonight!!! I am GUTTED that Germany did not go through, and will now have to support my third favourites, Spain (but am still deciding!).

So anyway, today is very leisurely and has consisted so far of finishing the novel ‘One Day’, which I loved, procrastinating wildly about doing the next section of my online course, failing spectactularly at replying to emails yet so far (though it is technically the weekend!). Excitingly, though, I hope to finish putting together a book I’ve been working on for a while now, featuring some of my favourite photographs (of myself; vain I know, but I really want something to remember all this by!!). Cannot wait to check the first copy and see it in print!!

So in amongst all this faffing and procrastinating and getting-things-done (I also intend to dye my old pointe shoes black, sort out my accounts/tax, acknowledge the fact that I need to address the monumentally boring task of choosing a new phone as my contract is about to run out, sort out my diary for Sept, Nov and Dec (when I am available for bookings, should anyone be interested!), and maybe even take my chihuahua for a walk/jog, I thought I’d top up my blog with a few stand-alone shots from recent times.

By Steven Billups, whose images I love and who I will be working with again this month in Germany. (Shot taken in an extremely BOILING part of Mexico; we didn’t last long out there):

By Max Operandi, who also shot me after this summery shoot at a Yerbury workshop a short time later; I’ve seen some of his shots from both, other than this one, and I think they are amazing. Can’t wait to show off more as soon as I can.

And a charcoal by Kristian Mumford, an Australian artist who used a shot by Christopher Ryan (with permission) for the basis of this work. (See images by Christopher Ryan from our shoot here: Lynn Creek Canyon). Kristian plans to create a whole series of artwork using my modelling images as inspiration, which is rather nice!

>Hello! I’m just packing all my fancy things (lingerie, dance-y bits, fashion and interesting accessories) and squeezing in another quick blog post before my jam-packed (with shoots, not jam) Sussex trip (Surrey tomorrow, then Brighton and east Sussex before a studio day at the popular Cottage Studio – there is some time remaining on Thursday afternoon: see here for details and to book some time with me last minute or email me at ellarosemuse@live.co.uk!).

It’s always so nice to work with other models, and the beautiful Holly (Ivory Flame) and I, although different in height/build, always seem to gel so well together in look and mood. We have so much fun working together, giggling all the time and having bizarre little half-conversations to assimilate our poses as we’re moving around. One of the best blurted lines ever was ‘Did you see that fawn over there?’ (well, any dreamy faces and mythical expressions are based on stories going on in our collective head!), and there is a running theme of elbows and hair inhaling. Recently (on a completely different shoot, I announced with whispering confidence that I was going to do ‘waterfall arms’ for the next click. Holly knew exactly what I meant, and immediately worried aloud about how she would compete with such promise(!), which made us both collapse in hysterics and get a great outtake shot from the photographer at the time. (The outcome of my waterfall arms is yet to be seen; I never had to prove myself.) Hhhm, I wonder if I’ve just shattered some illusions by exposing the utter nonsense going through our heads when we pose sometimes. Nevermind.

ANYWAY, the theme for our two consecutive days at Eye for an Image studio in Banbury was ‘goddesses’, the thought being that it might inspire some varied and creative ideas about what to do with two girls. I find that photographers have to think differently about shooting two models at once, and from our point of view the expressions and body language are all important; sometimes the focus is on shapes and intertanglement (probably not a word) and sometimes more about narrative and storytelling, or gentle sisterly togetherness.

….Here are a few of the images I’ve been sent (with thanks to the photographers for working with us!):

From Karen Jones (Thunder and ‘Sun Goddesses’):

From Stuart Thomson (classic curves and shadows) (this shoot lasted literally two minutes at the very end of the day; job done):

From Chris Lloyd (interaction, shapes and… hindu deities! …Although I’m a Christian and in general very much avoid ‘religious’ themes, I think the last shot here is pretty fun and funky!):

Hope you like them! There are more shots from other photographers and some beautiful things floating about on the internet… hopefully coming soon!

>Four new images from a recent shoot in Dusseldorf with Klaus Kampert, who booked me recently for his ‘curvy white nudes on black’ project and has kindly sent me some of the results. Klaus is an excellent photographer and known for the precision with which he often requires his models to work. It is difficult and physically challenging to appear through the lens as though one has misplaced particular limbs (or hands or feet), and requires the holding of strange and uncomfortable, off-balance positions while being meticulously directed millimetre by millimetre. But Klaus’s creativity and passion, plus his interest in the musculature, structure and workings of the human body (his route into fine art nude photography is telling), made this shoot inspiring and fun – and his wife made the most delicious blend of green and black tea, which I gleefully devoured throughout the shoot, of course! I really hope to work with Klaus again sometime next time I visit Germany.

>More from the marvellous Britalicus!

I love the movement in these. A couple of them remind me of stills from Afro-Caribbean dance (which I flippin’ LOVE). To explain my point, you must first watch this youtube video of the incomparable Beyonce (yes!!), in which she starts utterly freaking out at 2mins50secs-ish… That dance sequence is the freest thing and just makes me wanna go back to the carribean coast of Costa Rica and wiggle my butt off. Sorry if you hate her – I can only criticise her lyrics; everything else I have for her is adoring love, loyal since her girlband diva days.

In other mainstream female singer news, Emilie Sande’s album is BEAUTIFUL.

In other other news, and only because I like to make the most of the punning potential and multiple themes of any blog post titles I write, I’m officially writing again after a long-ish break, since a massive chat with my Dad (the most intelligent, critical and widely-read man in the world) enabled me to see new plot routes for the novel I’m working on at the moment. 1502 words this morning. And one of my characters has a big problem with déjà vu. You saw it here first.

>Hello!

I’m writing this from my hotel in Manchester, where I’m poised for a magazine shoot tomorrow, and taking some time to catch up on lots and lots of things, including reading inspiring blog posts about creativity like these, and writing this blog post, which I’m excited to show you!

I was lucky and spoiled enough recently to be taken again to Paris by photographer Jeremy Howitt (see previous entries here and here). It really was a bit of a whirlwind, and since the idea was that we’d spend two nighttimes shooting, we were free to sightsee all day around Paris on the day in between (and although I was free to book further shoots in the area, I thought it would be nice to have the day to wander around and look at stuff instead!!).

On the first evening, post Eurostar, I met Jeremy for dinner before travelling around on the metro (to the accompanying sound of the accordian; this is one of my all time favourite things about France; it really is so unashamedly French) towards Montmartre, to revisit a spot we’d worked on before. Voilà:

(Above is Jeremy’s shot of le Sacre Coeur, taken on one of many runs up the stairs to check the status of passersby; below, me in le French mac, then less so:)

The plan was basically then to walk around and try desperately to get enough privacy (in the most popular city in the world…) somewhere with an interesting background. I have a thing about cafés (though I didn’t indulge in a macaroon during this trip), and thought we just had to use this place. And I’m bossy. I love the zebra crossing in the frame, too. The staff were just closing for the night, and we had to be quick not to let them steer their wheely bins in shot…

On day two, we went to la Musée d’Orsay to see the current Degas exhibition, which was brilliant! What an amazing place. I bought a really cool poster, plus a set of 6 monet coasters and some Degas/other postcards to boost my, er, coaster and art postcard collections.

Unfortunately, France hates vegetarians, so what could have been an entire day spent browsing the jaw dropping, inspiring and mesmerising (if there’d been time), with just a quick stop in the cafe there, was necessarily cut short by the urgent desire to eat lunch. Ah well, I hope to go back at some point; and we did manage to see quite a lot!

Next on the agenda, after dinner (yeah, basically day time was spent eating and looking at stuff, and also napping after the late shoot the night before) we went to the Grand Palais, which is currently hosting an exhibition of Helmut Newton’s photography. Lots of food for thought and inspiration! The highlight was the video, made by Helmut’s wife, with behind the scenes footage and some hilarious fly-on-the-wall scenes. Best quote ever comes from Helmut arguing with her (after she notes how fortuitous it is that a model has semi-blinked in one of his images, lending a narrow-eyed, sultry, moody feel to the image): ‘You’re doing it again. Belittling me. I told her to do that. It is my direction that makes her mysterious and wonderful.’ (Or words very similar. Love it.)

After that, aware that Paris is still full of tourists and couples strolling around its streets at 10pm, we went to the Crazy Horse, which was quite an experience!!

And finally, we did some shots in front of the iconic Eiffel Tour. Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t actually planned, but I’m so glad we did it! I think these shots will currently hold my record for ‘crazy things done in the name of modelling’; I am certainly not the first model to have posed there, but it’s still a bizarre, exciting and pressure-filled few minutes (we didn’t have longer than that really; and even then we couldn’t escape the tourists, lazily-strolling locals or taxi drivers, some of whom gave me a thumbs up sign mid-drive… and the pressure was on for Jeremy who had to control focus in low (street lamp only) light). We certainly didn’t set out to be seen; we did everything we could not to be, waiting for what felt like hours for those precious gaps in the stream of people, but in the end it just seemed impossible and we had to just go for it or always regret it. I can say that modelling nude in front of the Eiffel Tower (and, to a lesser-but-still-considerable extent, in front of the café the previous night) is a sort of ‘out of body’ experience. It’s a very odd thing to do. But the structure, power and beauty of the Eiffel Tower, especially lit up so majestically (and I have to mention that at night, the tower’s illumination copyright goes strictly to Pierre Bideau), made a wonderful posing partner and some images I’m proud of! And just look at the moon (copyright Moon)!

>Weeeelll, I’m feeling very lucky at the moment after getting back yesterday after another exciting trip to Paris (more on that soon!), then being taken out (post much-needed nap) to see Prometheus; I’ll be modelling for the Yerbury Fine Art Nude seminar tomorrow at Pipewell Hall, then next week working with a well known children’s book author and illustrator, plus modelling for a mainstream photography magazine front cover up in Manchester (still available in Manchester on the afternoon of the 13th; get in touch if you want to work with me there!), amongst other quick shoots during the week. Sooo busy!! At some point next week I also want to start working on an online course I’ve applied for so will need to carve out some time for that and begin a schedule for the next 3 months (when I have to complete it by). I am also on a self-imposed writing break at the moment to get my fire back for it and make the most of the bookings I’m getting; the idea is that I will also catch up on reading lots of good books in the meantime to feed my imagination, but I’m struggling to read more than 5 pages or so of the brilliant Love in the Time of Cholera every couple of days…! And I used to read SO quickly!! I am also determined today to watch an episode of Game of Thrones. (In one of my many alternative life fantasies, I would be an actress in exactly this kind of thing – something along the lines of Merlin or King Arthur stuff; a sultry, elegant queen or fairy-like peasant with magical powers, riding my horse through forests and commanding people to fight for justice. (not that I’m actually in any way war-inclined). Yeah… Anyway…)

Good job I am really loving my job (aka accidental career) at the moment! What with the endless non-actual-modelling work to be done (updating, responding, emailing, scheduling, organising flights, buying tickets, coordinating bookings, packing, unpacking…) I’m really not sure how models who work more often than I do manage to have a life at all! Yes, our hourly modelling fees might be more than the minimum wage…. but for all the time and emotion that goes into it, I reckon we deserve it!

Anyway, I wanted to show some new figure shots from the Edinburgh-based photographer Britalicus, taken during my Scottish trip last month. There will be more to show from our session, but I have already put one of these in my portfolio (and eventually I will muster the extreme patience required to update my website via my crashy-McCrash Dreamweaver, with one of these plus millions of new recent shots I want to put on the various different galleries there; it’s a case of one new image per week there at the moment…. yawn…), so I wanted to blog a few.

Britalicus was such a pleasure to work with; although hiring me, he asked me at the beginning what I wanted to do for my portfolio! I told him I really loved his dynamic dark figures against the white background, an ongoing project of his, and we ended up having lots of fun with these. I also mentioned that I really wanted to do some strong nude dance work with a dancer, as that’s not something I’ve done yet (and Britalicus has some great stuff in that style), and so there is a potential second shoot in the making for this during my second Scotland trip in August/early Sept. When Britalicus first contacted me over on Model Mayhem (that was back in 2010!!! – I am a slow mover; I finally get to Scotland in 2012. Oops!) his message was incredibly humble and polite, and he described himself as a ‘relative novice’ and wondered if I would consider working with him; even then it was evident that he would do well, and as I said to him recently; look how his work has blossomed now that I finally have made it over there! Amazing! I have been so impressed with his passion and output, and he’s worked with some incredible models along the way. So without further ado, a first round of funky figure studies:

>I was booked recently to work with MaxOperandi and his friend Jules, on the grounds of Ian’s friend’s incredible country house. Despite Jules’ already accomplished portfolio, this was her first introduction to nude figure work and we worked exclusively with natural light (the weather was beautiful!! No shivering necessary!) and reflectors. I think these are some fantastic natural images, and along with Ian’s vintage bicycle (I also spent time up in a tree house, standing in a water feature and balancing in branches, which left me with bad scratches which miraculously disappeared somehow the next day!), there is a very ‘darling buds of May’ feel to this sunny set, which I love! I always wanted to be Mariette.

 (There is a serious waist-hip ratio going on above; I wasn’t sure if it was flattering at first, but I decided I like it. )

Let me know if you have a favourite!