ROGER CAMP | AN ARTIST’S STATEMENT

ROGER CAMP | AN ARTIST’S STATEMENT

This particular photograph, “Feet in Pond, Ohio” (pictured opposite), was taken while I was teaching an advanced photography class at the Coumbus College of Art & Design in Ohio using nude models in order to demonstrate to students how to light form and the effect that would have on shape, texture, etc. One of my colleagues offered to let my class use his farm, which had a large forested area including a pond to photograph the models outdoors. Since it was a field trip, I took along my own camera.

If one were to examine the history of nude photography, it would become apparent that most work idealizes or objectifies the subject matter. The work of Brett Weston or Lucien Clergue comes to mind, as both produced large bodies of work of the female form in water. This image reveals something about both the environment and the model. This is a rural pond with mud on its banks and weeds in the water. A close examination of the feet shows the mud as well as damaged skin on one of the feet, which personalizes the subject. This image was taken under sunlight, which accounts for the intense highlights in the water. I’ve deliberately exposed the water so darkly that it focuses the viewer’s attention on the feet and legs.

As with my documentary photography, I am more interested in the little thing, some object or scene that might give some insight into the place I am photographing, perhaps offering an epiphany.

Roger Camp is the author of three photography books, including the award-winning Butterflies in Flight (Thames & Hudson, 2002) and Heat (Charta, Milano, 2008). His work has been awarded the prestigious Leica Medal of Excellence for European photography, and his images have appeared in numerous journals, including The New England Review, Paris Review and the New York Quarterly. His writing has appeared in Pank, Tampa Review, Southern Poetry Review, and Nimrod. He lives in Seal Beach, California, where he muses over his orchids, walks the pier, plays blues piano, and spends afternoons reading under an Angel's Trumpet with a charm of hummingbirds. When he's not at home, he's photographing in the Old World. More of his work can be found at Luminous-Lint.com.