Haven and her Snake
I’ve always been intrigued by tattoos, tattoo artists and the people within the industry. I really was interested in doing something very strong and graphic with a tattoo studio. I called up a great place in Michigan called New Skool Tattoos. They were fortunate enough to send me a handful of their best subjects. One of the last people I photographed was a very quiet girl by the name of Haven. Lot’s of my subjects decided they were going try to bring different props, thinking they would be great for the shoot.
When Haven came in she had an unusual bag that looked like she was going bowling. Very, very shy and quiet. I remember thinking, “Now why would she bring a bowling ball?” Haven told me, “I brought something I thought might be great for the shoot.” And I said, “What’s that?” At that moment, she pulled out the very large snake you see in the photograph. It was a cold evening and the snake was rolled up in a complete circle. The idea instantly came…. that if there was a way we could drape the snake around Haven to make some sort of a great design, sort of like an ornate large necklace, it would be terrific. Also enhancing the great tattoo work that Phil did on her.
We were very fortunate that the snake was so cooperative. We basically had to warm the snake up and hope it would do what we wanted. We held the snake up under one of the hot lights. That immediately solved the problem. Once we had the snake warmed up, it became more flexible, enabling us to create this beautiful S shape. And believe it or not, the snake didn’t move a in inch once we found the perfect spot.
So as I’ve said many times before…..sometimes in photography you get lucky. We had not only a great model in Haven, but an amazing snake that gave us the perfect picture. A little bit of great lighting, a very colorful background along with Haven’s beautiful eyes. And, just like that, the finished picture!
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My Man…..great work!