 |
....Perhaps I'm delusional, but I still think of my work as an artistic endeavor rather than a
pornographic one. I mean, I know it tends to be outside most people's definition of art, but hopefully it's a bit deeper,
more human and more intelligent than most people's definition of porn. I'll spare you the full-blown philosophy spiel - partly
because I'm well aware that I could convince myself that I do it as a geometry exercise if I wanted to, and partly because
if I were to launch into a philosophy rant, I'd still be typing tomorrow afternoon - but as far as my general intentions,
I'm fairly certain they're not pornographic.
....When I hear a photographer say, "The nude is not about sexuality. It's all about the juxtaposition
of the soft human body against the backdrop of a hard, cold world." I immediately think "This guy's a dangerous lunatic" and
run away screaming.
....I like bodies and the people in them - These photographs are about sex.
....Sex is an amazing thing. When it really works well, it's almost a religious thing - intense
in a way that nothing else can be. That's what I look for in these photographs - something - some facet - of the equation
that creates that intensity and can be seen with the eye.
....These images are not tame. Some are polished and theatrical, some, more raw. Some are loaded
with dark humor, and some are a bit more inward and quiet, but there aren't many that would be considered delicate. They are
about sexuality and different people's interpretations of it.
....The women in these photographs are not mannequins. In many cases, the images are shot in their
own homes, in - and out of - their own clothes, wielding their own props, and with their own music blaring in the background.
Other shoots were a bit more structured around ideas born in my own brain, but created for the person acting them out, if
that makes any sense. The point is, these are real, living, breathing human beings with their own minds and their own bodies.
....All of these images are shot on film. Lighting, exposure, and film manipulation/abuse produce
most of the effects here. I do very little if anything to these images in post-production.
....I spent about eight years working as custom color printer. For those who don't know, there
is no safelight for color paper. In a color darkroom, you're in the dark. That's ten hours a day more or less with
nothing to do but think about photographs and the processes that make them happen. Some days you think about how to make photographs
perfect. Some days you think about how to make them beautifully imperfect. Some days you think about what you would look like
if your facial features were arranged differently, but that's another discussion altogether.
....Anyway, my point is those "beautifully imperfect" days. At some point, book-perfect photographs
started to get a little boring - maybe it was just the books I was looking at, I don't know. Everything I saw out there at
the time looked like slight variations of a very old and worn idea. I wanted to do something new, something that jumped off
the page and grabbed me, something that would not only push the boundaries of art, but jump up and down on them, get down
and shimmy.
These images are the result.
-w-
|
| A Young Ezekiel Woods in Memphis, 1973 |
....The following pages contain images of humans in all their nekkidness and glory. If you're
under the age of 18, don't like humans, are easily offended, or live someplace ruled by fascists who don't approve of nekkidness
and/or glory, please git yourself on back home to yer mama's web page.
Pronto-saurus
Like... NOW.
EzekielWoods@gmail.com
All text and images on this page and others are copyrighted, and may not be reproduced in any way without the written consent
of the photographer.
Logo by Virginia tattoo artist, Tim Forbus.
www.TimForbus.com
SPACE
SPACE
|
