Eric G Brown Photography II #1

Although I've collaborated with a few photographers in recent years, I've never had the opportunity to work a second time with any of them.  All that changed, however, when I reunited with Eric G Brown Photography earlier this year.

In case you missed it, Eric is the photographer I recently featured in a series of posts detailing our December 2022 photo shoot together.  Based in Arlington, Virginia, he has a passion for "urban exploration" and frequently documents exploration of abandoned structures such as factories and warehouses with hauntingly beautiful photos.  Although the visual of these desolate environments is striking enough on their own, he sometimes inserts a model (or two) against these backdrops to elevate his work to another level.

Such was the case with our first shoot and as a result of the beautiful images he somehow conjured on what was a miserably cold winter's day, I was thrilled when he reached out to me again a few months ago with another opportunity to work together.

In April, Eric informed me that he had booked a few hours at an old water pumping station in Phillipsburg, New Jersey for a photo shoot in early May and wanted to see if I was interested in being paired with another model he has worked with several times before.  He would be picking up Steven, who lives in Washington, D.C., on his way to New Jersey and would be available to swing by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania if I wanted to join the road trip.  Although I hadn't done much modeling in the five months since our last shoot together, I jumped at the chance and told him I was definitely interested in a reunion and duo shoot.

In my experience, duo shoots are kind of a mixed bag when it comes to whether they turn out successful or not.  Most of my modeling experience to date has been solo, but I've always admired the ability of other models to pair up and create beautiful imagery.  The fact of the matter is, even though most of the time the visual of two (or more) models together can appear very natural and even intimate, the reality, at least for me, hasn't always been as appealing.

As you can imagine, it can be a little awkward meeting another model for the first time and then not only being completely nude but also in very close proximity to them within a very short amount of time.  In normal, everyday life that sort of thing doesn't usually happen and you tend to have a bit of an icebreaker in most situations!  Pair this awkwardness with the fact that the other model has a different body type, modeling approach, and goal for the shoot and things can get messy if there isn't a talented photographer at the helm to keep everyone reigned in.

A few years ago, when I was just getting started collaborating with photographers, I had the opportunity to work with another model as part of my first shoot.  In my naivety, and due to a lack of experience, I thought this was a good idea at the time, but in hindsight, I probably didn't have enough experience to make it work the way it could have.  When I look back at those photos now, years later, I can see the difference between the solo shots and the duo shots, and there's definitely a bit of uneasiness present in my poses with the other model that aren't there when I'm alone.  In the end, I decided not to share the duo shots, but it was definitely a learning experience and helped me discover the kind of aesthetic I want to achieve and integrity I want to maintain as a model as well as personally.

Thankfully, I'm happy that my first duo and second overall shoot with Eric G Brown Photography was a success and I enjoyed both the process of the shoot itself and the quality of the finished photos.  I'll go into more detail about our time at the water pumping station itself and how I endured yet another surprisingly cold day in the second part of this feature, so stay tuned!

See below for a ZIP file of all 15 photos if you'd like to download them.

To learn more about Eric, please visit www.ericgbrown.com.

Thanks for reading!

- Michael