TITLE: Mono Nudes by Julian Crowe

There is something truly magical in the way naturally lit skin tones look when rendered in monotone and my key objective when photographing the human body is to capture this magic. I avoid contrived studio lighting and soulless post production techniques to strive for an honest depiction of the subject while maintaining complete integrity of the moment.

I have a strong preference in all my photography for keeping things real. In my nude work I opt for naturally lit, real environments with surface textures that provide a counter-point to the softness and relative fragility of human skin. By using such environments it allows the viewer to tell that the photograph is anything but a work of composites and false constructs.

Besides the tonal qualities of rendering images in black & white it also has the unique ability to alter our perceptions of time and space by preventing the image as being perceived as having taken place in the here and now of our everyday world.

I choose to work with subjects who have strongly defined personalities and who are able to allow this to be clearly understood by the viewer even though they are without the convenient shield of clothing.  As a result, they challenge any notion that being naked could mean being vulnerable.

AUTHOR: Julian Crowe (United Kingdom)

Julian Crowe is a visual artist / photographer based in London, UK. He has worked commercially with both the still and the moving image including 2D/3D animation and also live action film including the Warner Bros. 1998 feature film Lost In Space.