Pretty amazing what we get to learn as photographers…

I was asked by a model friend, Pash Galbavy, (see her site and work with other artists here) to help document a life drawing modeling session she was doing utilizing Butoh posing.

Butoh posing?? What the heck is that? And the continuing education of this photographer goes on…

Butohis a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founders Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo. The art form is known to “resist fixity” and be difficult to define. If you’d like to learn more check Wikipedia here.

Pash Galbavy of Sedona at Elephantine in an art rendition using textures and colors photographed at the same time.

Pash wore clay and twined straw into her hair to enhance the Butoh look.

Pash is absolutely amazing as a model. She’s able to hold poses for a long period of time with no motion
yet still able to bring emotion forward.

Images were captured with the Lumix GH4 and the Lumix Vario 35-100mm f2.8 lens. ISO’s were from 1600 to 3200…

Images were then taken into Adobe Photoshop where I added layers of color textures from photos and used Blend Modes, Selections and Masks to create the final artwork. In working this way I have numerous renditions with different amounts of color. or lack thereof for each of these images. This is the technique I’ve dubbed ‘Photo-Synthesis’.

Yours in Creative Photography,       Bob

PS – If you are ever in the Sedona, Arizona area and need a life model who is incredibly talented make sure you see if Pash is available. She’s truly a work of art in her own right with her posing ability.