Last Updated on 08/21/2015 by Chris Gampat
Image by Giles Clement. Used with permission.
Photographer Giles Clement is no stranger to our site. We interviewed him a while back about his tintype work, and many people are smitten with his Instagram account. When he originally shared the post in the post in the Collodion Bastards: Wet Plate Work of Questionable Parentage Facebook group, he did so with the caption:
“Give me an aluminum carousel horse and I shall find you a naked man to sit upon it.” – Ansel Adams
But when asked if the image was created in an ode to the great photographer’s quote, he tells us “It’s definitely not an Adams quote, just my lack of a suitable caption.”
Giles tells us that the concept for the shoot was very much on the spot and fairly half assed–but he tells us that these are amongst his favorites. “I was shooting at a borrowed studio in Richmond Virginia, when I went in in the morning I saw the horse and told my friend there that I wanted to get a naked Viking on it, and if she knew anybody please let them know.” says Giles. “She tried a few people with no luck but later in the day Nick walked through the door I took one look at him and knew he was my guy. He kindly agreed to get naked and sit on a rather cold metal horse for me and the image was born.”
The photo is a tintype, photographed using an orbit 8×10 camera and a 185mm f/4.5 Tessar lens. Giles is known for this type of work, and he’s even been featured in Vanity Fair.
“I do not have a series in mind for this.” says Giles about whether or not he would turn this into a viral internet series. “But if you’re asking whether I will photograph more naked people doing absurd things the answer is yes.”