I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge our lives on. ~ Rita Dove

Detail is the first word that comes to mind when I think of John Emrys. When John first contacted me, it was about details. He had come across a couple fine art photos of me via a mutual friend. From her recommendation, he contacted me. Not to shoot, exactly, but to meet me. First things first, with John.

As he wrote in our first correspondence together, "... curious to know if you'd be open to connecting... and if vibes check-out, to shooting together." Just setting a date to shoot was not part of the details. He wanted to meet me, see me and get to know me, before working together. That impressed me. Enough so, that I flew up to Toronto with our mutual friend to see just how we might connect.

And met we did. In March. I was staying with a friend and John arrived a few minutes before I made it into the room. As I walked toward him, he stood at the door and just stared at me. As a woman who has a few friends that have had modeling careers, I had been pre-empted (jokingly) not to find this odd. I was told most photographers seem to do this when they first meet you.

But this wasn't just a simple stare, scan up and down and say hello. This was a straight on my face stare. For minutes, not seconds. Finally he said to me, "why doesn't anyone shoot your face?" Hmmm... well, anyone who knows me well would know this statement caused me to blush. And stammer. I think I squeaked out "freckles?" Whatever it was that I responded to him, led into a long discussion that lasted close to two and half hours. Needless to say, we connected very well.

Since my return flight allowed a couple of days visiting time after meeting John, one can surmise that I did decide to be photographed by him, even though at first I was a little nervous about how far I wanted to go as a ‘full length nude.' 

But back to John being detail oriented: he brought along his hair & make up artist, Kelly Meredith. Kelly had everything I needed and more. A true professional who saw to it that I was relaxed as soon as I sat down. I've heard stories about some so-called outstanding make-up artists from friends, but this was the first time that I had one that was just there to work with me and me alone. What an experience; Kelly was just as concerned about detail as John. Like him, she thought that ‘fixing things in post' was an easy out.

After almost an hour and a half in the chair, I was ready to go. I really felt like an integral part of the creative process... like a team... model, make-up artist and photographer. John had all the concepts of the shoot thought out and planned ahead of time. Now it was time to go to work.

John shot this series with me on film. Not digital, but good old-fashioned film. What this meant for me as the model was that the shot had to be perfect before I heard a "click." I had to pay attention. Some poses were held and others were fluid. Kelly, focused on both John and I and never more than a few feet away at any given time, would touch me up, move my hair and best of all, encourage me. Then, only then, would John shoot a frame. Details.

This was much better than anything I had seen staged for TV. It wasn't a frenetic experience at all. It was calm, lush, wonderful. We started shooting around 10 that morning, took a short lunch break and stopped (not very willingly, I must add) around 5 PM.

It was one of those experiences where you just have no idea how fast time flies because you are so incredibly focused on the moments. All of them. From two of the images we selected for display on his website, I hope to share a very small window of the love and compassion that John pours into his work.