Krueger Photography

Out with the Old, In with the New

I finished major upgrades to the model galleries. I removed the Conceptual Portrait and Conceptual Figurative galleries from the Galleries page and uploaded new higher resolution images into two new galleries accessible from the New Galleries page. I also eliminated any duplication of galleries between the old and new gallery index pages.

The Conceptual Portrait gallery is now Gallery G and contains 70 images, up from the original 22.

The Conceptual Figurative gallery is now Gallery R and contains 60 images including the original 19.

The gallery names also act as a familiar rating indicator. The new gallery style is more space efficient allowing the images to display larger and the button provide a way to remove the thumbnails and header so you can display and scroll through full screen images. The “i” button displays the metadata for the on-screen image. While the metadata is quite limited for the model pictures, the metadata title field for some of the Gallery R images includes a link to additional related images. The first image is one of them and the gas mask images toward the end also include a link all twenty-two images from that session still archived at Repubblica.it.

Model Shoots

From 1991 to 2010 I worked with friends and amateur models from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Until 2003, my studio was in one side of my 2-car garage which was cramped, stiflingly hot in summer, and goose bump-inducing in winter. The vast majority of the work was 35mm with occasional medium format. Most shots were on Pan F+ or TMax-100 and developed in TMax RS. For high contrast grainy shots, including the motion blurred images, I used HP5+ developed in Rodinal. Technically, all these films are superb and I have several 16x20s from these model shoots adorning the walls in my home. Many were also displayed at local venues, published in a US national magazine, and featured online by la Repubblica (“Italy’s New York Times”).

Most of my model shoots were heavily choreographed experimentation with props, costumes, and wigs and were not intended as portraiture. I also experimented with lighting, grain, motion, symmetry, and unusual poses. It wasn’t business. It was recreation, but for a while I occasionally accepted paid work from a modeling school, a modeling agency, and did lobby photos for theater groups. That didn’t last long. I’m not really a people person. Have you ever seen an episode of the TV series House?

Nude models were always paid a nominal hourly fee to avoid potential legal complications in the future and I paid a per-mile travel allowance for non-local models which accounted for all but a handful. I didn’t pay much, but I made an take it or leave it offer because I hate negotiating.

All nude models were over 18 and had to provide proof of age which I keep on file. I always provided references and checked references of the models. I was one picky mofo, because unlike digital, film doesn’t allow you to easily edit out complexion issues, tattoos, tan lines, or scars. I rejected more models than I shot, but I never had any issues with models or whoever they brought with them as a chaperone. Most didn’t bring anyone, but I never scheduled a shoot where I would be home alone with a model, although one showed up early once when I had just stepped out of the shower and I answered the door wrapped in a towel.

I sometimes had a makeup artist, hairstylist, and/or an assistant and always had a written agenda for every shoot. Model shoots are a lot of work which ran counter to my staggeringly lazy nature.