I think we may disagree on your theory that women involved in the arts are all kinky, and women in more conservative areas (teaching, mathematics, whatever) are more closed up and stodgy.

In my own experience, having been an art guy my whole life, and having loved women my whole life as well, while I did find, or meet women within the arts who were outside the norm - especially sexually speaking, I don't believe the ratio was any greater overall than women I found or met who were tellers, cooks, or agricultural types.

And I've known more than a few professional types who behind closed doors were beyond bold and daring, or outright "Holyfreakinsheepshit!!" about it. :-)


Your own mileage may vary of course, or possibly it varies because you have spent so much more time among the art folk overall, whereas, my own life has generally been a fairly wide blend of folks. ;-)

Actually, most of the people living in the illusion of reality, as the land of India calls it samsara, spend much of their lives living without certain basic understandings of the tools needed to navigate in this place. I was surprised by a conversation with my younger brother about this but upon reflection I understood that I needed to help him understand the modern undercurrent of modern life.

When I work with women I give them bits and pieces of short reality checks that help them come to terms with possibilities for exploring what they want to discover about themselves. Tankan separately the single items will not help much, but when understood as a whole these aspects will guide one to a better grasp of what your potential is and how you can develop a cohesive response to the what you are. Nothing happens in a vacuum is a good beginning.

Here are a few of this wonderful insights. All the human beings fit into one of two categories, you are either a leader or a follower. What is not told to you is that when you have a decent sized sample the leaders/followers are divided unequally. For every leader there are four followers. Put another way, in a large sampling of people 20% are leaders while 80% are followers.

Ever herd of the Russian researcher who trained dogs to salivate when they herd a bell rung because they were conditioned to respond to the bell to indicate when the dog was to be fed. This manner of conditioning is done to all modern humans by mother. Women see to it that as a new born the baby is presented to the world multiple times fully dressed. Oddly enough this conditioning centers on the feet, as in shoes (foot covering) for both men and women. From this conditioning we develop the notion that when you have your shoes on you believe that you are dressed. In basic terms you can say that a person is not dressed unless they wear shoes. Turn it around to the most simplistic state, when you are wearing shoes, and only shoes you perceive yourself to be dressed.

Marcel Duchamp put forward a rather odd statement that seems to befuddle many people, "You can see seeing, you can't hear hearing." It goes to one of the deep perceptions that we have about modern life. You hear a recording of yourself speaking. The recording is played back for you to hear and you say that it does not sound like you, and yet many people agree that in fact it sounds exactly like you. No matter the explanation(s) and the times you are told of the accuracy of the recordings you never believe that the recording is correct.

This seeing and hearing is two fold; you see your reflection in a mirror and you recognize that it is you. You have herd the statement that you have a good side and a bad side. More correctly, one side is the 'who' you recognize as 'you' while the other side seems some how different, not really you. Now get out a sheet of blank cardboard, stand in front of a mirror and cover one side of your face (divide your face vertically down the center of your nose and forehead/chin) with the cardboard. After a while change the card stock to cover the other side of your face. Which side of your face do you sense is the side you think looks most like the 'you' that you think you are? This is your dominant side. What about the side that you sense is not entirely 'you' of your self perception.

We are told to show our dominant side in our dealings with the world. This is true about people who model and act for a living. But that dominant side is in fact your cultivated social side. That is all it is. The other side is as well part of yourself. In the individual this is perhaps another side of the 'you', a side you don't use as much, especially in the normal world of the social environment.

Now take what we have seen in these aspects of personality and apply them in the context of ourselves as a persona. I know, what is the point of this? If you know who you are and how you are perceived you can alter or adjust how the world perceives who we are.

Many of the readers of my writing on the HOG are getting to know me, Tim. More than just a name Tim, I'm a guy who can be known through the images that I put on the HOG. Some people regard me as a complete ass, while others are entertained by what is often a certain lunacy but also an open presentation of my thoughts and feelings. Some even enjoy the bawdy frankness of my pleasure and delight with women that are naughty. I don't regard women, or any one woman as a slut, but I do love it when they act out slutty behavior. If I was a woman I would be the same way not wanting to be seen as a slut but boy would I be ever so slutty!

To finally answer that secret about what do I look for in a woman, what makes certain women the sort of women that I work with? That is soooo easy, I look for women who have a frat boy inside but are sporting a woman's body. They like to get down and naughty with other women because that are the 20% leaders in our society. They LOVE to have sex and love to dominate a man or woman. They want to be desired but equally want to take control and be the aggressor. BUT, they do not want to be perceived as a slut, or 'easy', a hooker or such. There in lies the balance. The solution is extremely easy, I see that there is always a balance struck between the two safe worlds, that of ART and the world of 'pretty-pretty princess'.

I know, HUGH? If you want your taxes done go seek out a CPA. If you get a SWI go find a lawyer. If you are feeling puny go see a doctor. If you want kool alternative life styles go find the arts, don't go to a strip joint, strippers don't know about art, they know a CPA and CPAs don't know about art either!

The guy who asked where do I find the women who model for me, who are alternative life style women, they are were the arts are. They don't need to be artists like the woman shown below, Mary, she was studying in the Business School at UTSA. But she hug out with artists because they were kool and hip, unlike the guys in the business school.

Another interesting and incisive post. And once again I'll summarize for the benefit of those who didn't get beyond the first paragraph:

Most people live in a bubble.

It's important for the photographer to develop an encouraging dialog with the model, to help them feel comfortable and free them from their inhibitions.

Your either a leader or more likely a follower (I've been a leader, definitely prefer to be a follower. But, I'm mostly a shadower).

Two parts here. There was a band called "Pavlov's Dogs," look up that phrase. Also check out positive and negative reinforcement. Followed by, 'Hey, we're not doing nude photography, you get to wear shoes!'

Your view of yourself is really not how others view you or see you or hear you!

It's important for portrait photographers to find the models good side, inside and out. Most people's bodies are asymmetrical and so are their personalities.

Tim tries to reveal that other side of the models personality in his photography.

If you understand this dichotomy of perception, then you can present yourself more effectively to others.

Men can be artful, but women are art. The way a woman moves, acts and poses is all art, including their sexuality and sense of eroticism. Tim attempts to reveal all that in his images.

Women who are leaders make the most interesting models.

The most artful women treat modeling as an extension of their art, find them!

These models can be found hanging around art and artist.

Tim's pursuit of models for his photography is driven by his thoughtful analysis of human behavior.