What was interesting was that these young men had never modeled before. This photo shoot thing was as new for them as shooting a model was for me. I was the first one to shoot the young men and so I was the one to ask them to take off their shirts. They were very uneasy with stripping down to the waist for some old gringa. There was a lot of hesitation and teasing each other as they did it. So I tried to focus on the tattoos. Su bebe? Esposa? Oh, El Virgen! Muy bonita! That helped a little. But they didn't know what to do and since this was my first time to give direction to a model, I wasn't too sure what they should do either. With my bad Spanish, I struck the pose first and then they tried to do the same thing. After about 10 minutes we were working and I was clicking the shutter.
Out of all the things we did in the workshop, I think that working with these young men may have been one of my favorites. I'm encouraged to ask someone to model for me. Even if it never becomes a project or goes anywhere, it is a learning experience.
Anybody know where I can find some young men with tattoos?
