Tbilisi: Jaba, part 2

As some of you may know via my other social media accounts, I'm currently in the country of Georgia in the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. I arrived in late October and have been mostly in the capital city of Tbilisi, with some day trips here and there. My two main reasons for coming here - I've never been and it's cheap! I'm planning to stay at least 1 more month and in the meantime see if I can get some projects or something going here. If all goes well, I'll stay longer. In that time of course I REALLY want to find some willing subjects to photograph, which in a place like this will take some time and effort. It's a very conservative country and most of the guys aren't comfortable showing the skin - gay or straight. I've been using my usual tools - Instagram and Grindr and so far I'm having more luck with Grindr. Here's my first shoot in this new country:

Jaba and I met on Grindr just a week or so after I arrived. He was one of the few guys on the app here who wasn't afraid to show his face, and therefor used his own pics (most the guys use fake pics). Also, he clearly was comfortable and confident in showing his body, as I saw on Grindr. We chatted, I proposed a shoot and he readily agreed. The next day we met over lunch to talk and get to know one another.

First and foremost you'll notice his face tattoos. Pretty intense, pretty bold and not my usual 'type'. On the other hand, I kind of like this hardened, edgy look he has going for him, because he's actually a really sweet and sensitive guy. We talked extensively over lunch about mental health, depression, life goals, relationships, etc. Actually, he did most of the talking 😆 After lunch we walked around a bit and checked out a local flea market that I'd wanted to explore in search for old soviet gas masks, which I found! He helped me in translating and asking the guy questions and then I bought it to use for our upcoming shoot. How much do you think the mask was? I'll tell ya - $11. Deal!

On the day of our shoot we met quite early (for him, not me) - 8:30. The weather was kind of shit, with no signs of clearing. We went to 2 different locations - the first one was my first choice and favorite, but we were soon kicked out of there. These images are from location #2, atop the old fortress ruins overlooking the city. I'd already been up here a couple days prior and got the lay of the land and knew no one would be around. We only spent an hour or so up there and not a soul was to be found. Pretty soon after starting he asked if he could just wear underwear because he hates wearing long pants. Music to my ears! Then after the underwear he did full nude, which come to find out is his favorite, as he considers himself a non-practicing nudist of sorts. At this point my usual nerves kicked in - shooting nude essentially in public. We got the shots quickly as I repeatedly looked around to make sure we weren't being watched. At first when he took his underwear off he was erect, which actually happens a lot. Yes, I have images 😆 He jokingly said something along the lines of 'it's awake now'. I assured him it was normal and we carried on. Once 'it' went down we got various shots of him on the ruins of the stone wall and climbing a bit. I felt we got the shots and it was better to quit while we're ahead. Specifically I didn't want us to push our luck and end up getting caught!

Before walking back down to the city we tried some drone shots. I got the drone a month or so before I left the states and have been eager to incorporate it into some of my shoots and one in this type of location would be perfect. Since he was my first subject with the drone, the video footage could use some improvement, but some of the results I like and I know how to improve for next time!

Ok, I've already gone in to far more detail than I intended, so if you've made it this far - thanks and congrats!

Georgia, Oct 2021