News from Billy Monday
Katy T, 2009Inspiration
Inspiration is an interesting thing. It’s found everywhere and although my ideas are seldom clever, it makes a difference when you have clear vision before you pick up the camera.
A recent session with Katy T provided some insight. Katy has worked with some of the most exciting figure artists in the world today, and I’m not ashamed to say that I found that a little intimidating. For the record, Katy is as easy-going as they come, and the shoot with her was very relaxed. But nonetheless, I felt that the bar was set high, and that I had better look at least worthy of being Sylvie Blum’s assistant’s assistant.
And so I found myself looking at Katy’s previous work with other artists. She’s got a lot of very clean looking images in her portfolio. They trend toward studio shots with plain backgrounds, competent but not complicated lighting, and are beautifully toned. Clearly the photographers wished to draw attention to her brilliant ability to pose with a dancer’s grace. I found myself going in the same direction.
The images were very successful. Largely due to Katy’s strong posing ability, we captured a lot of compelling images. I had a coil of clear plastic tubing from a piece of farm equipment, and she was able to transform it into something magical. Some play with a stool and a strong “beauty dish” reflector yielded some other appealing pieces. But it all went back to that previous work that the model had shared with me before we even met.
Next shoot with Katy, I will have inspiration that’s genuinely my own. I’ve hired her for my May 31 workshop, and I know that I will want to work with her some at that time too. The Appalachians will be bursting with bright, verdant life in May, and I look forward to creating some lovely art with her.
For those artists thinking about using her, the trick is to feed her Taco Bell quesadillas. They make her happy.