Why?

Photography is a passion for me, not a profession. I have published images in magazines and shown my work in galleries, but these images are made simply for the love of it.

The images here all seem to come back to themes of strength and intimacy, but there is no plan in that. I photograph people whom I find moving, striking or fascinating and simply hope the images convey something of that.

Models

I don’t work with professional models. The people in these pictures are indulgent friends, generous acquaintances, and a few clients. I am grateful for their humour, confidence and courage.

For non-professional models, posing nude is a powerful personal act. It doesn’t happen by accident; it's a statement of self. Professionals, by contrast, tend to distance themselves emotionally from what they're doing, the humanity I hope to convey being lost in the process.

Equipment

Not terribly important, but people ask.

Most of these images were shot on film, printed in a traditional darkroom, then scanned for the web. Some prints were produced with carbon pigment inks in an inkjet printer. A number of images were scanned direct from film, and only a few came out of a digital camera.

I shoot predominantly medium format, most commonly Bronica SQAs, a Rollei 6008, but also a Mamiya C330 and a Fuji rangefinder. In 35mm, I use Nikon F100s. A few of these images were made with a Pentax 67, and a couple with manual-focus Canon SLRs. The digital camera is a Nikon D70.

Favorite films: TMY, Ilford SFX, TMX, Tri-X, Kodak Recording Film 2475, and Plus X, in roughly that order of frequency. There are lots of wonderful films represented here, many of which have begun disappearing from the market.

I don’t do anything fancy in the traditional darkroom. Developers are mostly D-76 (1:1) and Xtol (1:1), but occasionally Rodinal and HC-110. Paper for most of these images was Agfa Multi-contrast Classic fiber, developed in Dektol. Some Ilford warmtone fiber. Selenium and sepia toners.

Inkjet prints are from an Epson 2100 (2200) printer loaded with Paul Roark's MIS quadtone inks.

Artificial light: Profoto monolights with various shapers.

Personal

My wife, Geri, and I live in Paris.