Model Society

about Ken Stanley

Male

Originally a photojournalist, in the late 1990s I turned to art photography. Creating images for their own sake, rather than for profit, opened up a whole new world, a whole new way of seeing. My work is generally intended for gallery exhibit with over 40 shows to date, and occasionally for publication with past work appearing in books and magazines in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Those early years of working with whatever light was available (or not) and intuitively responding to visual events as they unfolded, all of that proved to be valuable experience. I still prefer to work on location and with available light whenever practical.

Much of my current work falls into two concepts. The "feral" series includes classic nudes in the natural landscape, with the difference that I'm a trained ecologist with habitat restoration experience. Thus, I know the landscape that my models move within. Many of my settings are best remaining examples of now rare natural habitats, and I have access to a few places that are quite unique. A number of models have now walked with me into those places, some close and some far; and briefly discarded civilization along with their clothing. This series is my primary interest at the moment.

The "no escape" series is a counterpoint, a pastiche, of those same conventional landscape nudes. For this series we pursue the un-natural, the human-altered post-industrial landscape. These images are often stark, even harsh. They represent an existential journey through time and space, and are intended as commentary on the absurdity of short-term human constructs and materialism.

The "minima" series is represented in my portfolio, but is mostly on hold for now. It was done in the studio or other indoor settings, with a few exceptions. The common thread is that these images have simple, minimalistic backgrounds and they focus on the model as a person, and attempt to capture emotion in all its forms. They are as much portraits as nudes. I'm not spending much time in the studio or on this series currently.

I reside on the rugged northern California coast; I travel frequently, although when and where has become less predictable recently.