Jasper Johal

Dark moods

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

– from a poem by Sylvia Plath when she was 23 years old.

Some of the most beautiful art has emerged from tortured souls.

Life can be hard, but poetry provided an outlet for Sylvia Plath’...

Memory, or dream?

She is too fair for any man
To see or hold his heart's delight,
Fairer than Queen or courtesan
Or moonlit water in the night.

Her little lips, more made to kiss
Than to cry bitterly for pain,
Are tremulous as brook-water is,
Or roses after evening rain.

Her neck is like white melilote
Flushing for pleasure of the sun,
The throbbing of the linnet's throat
Is not so sweet to look upon.

As a pomegranate, cut in twain,
White-seeded, is her crimson m...

Love comes in through the eye

Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

– from a poem by by William Butler Yeats

Friendship

“And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And Al Mustafa answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
She is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And she is your board and your fireside.
For you come to her with your hunger, and you seek her for peace.”

– Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931)

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PHOTO: Aria and Simona doing acro yoga in my old studio. We had got together to create a few publicity photos for a performance they ...

Beach Runner (photo essay with yoga teacher Jenni)

A day after moving to Venice Beach my neighbor came over and said, “You should go jogging at the beach. Run in the soft sand. It’s a great workout!”

So next morning I went jogging in the soft sand. Let me tell you, it’s hard! Soon I had to stop to catch my breath. There I was, stooped over, resting my hands on my knees, gulping in air.

A tall, athletic blonde woman came jogging down the beach. She pulled up next to me and assumed the same position, gasping for air. In betw...

Mingle and flow

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle
Why not I with thine?

– from a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

PHOTO: Anastasia is a charming model from Odessa, Ukraine. She is an artist herself, skilled in ceramics and photography. This photo is from the time she vi...

Lean on me

Lean on me,
when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

–– lyrics by singer songwriter Bill Withers, first recorded in 1972

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PHOTO: Friends Crystal and Kelly dancing together in my studio some years ago year.

@mustbecrystal

2021-08-26 05:18:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Fairy flight song

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire!
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;

And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green;
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;

Those be rubies, fairy favours;
In those freckles live their savours;
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

– S...

Come to me

Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream;
Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright
As sunlight on a stream;
Come back in tears,
O memory, hope, love of finished years.

– from a poem by Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894)

Tempest

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

In secret we met –
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee? –
With silence and tears.

– from a poem by Lord Byron (1788–1824)

Join my Patreon to see my art photos

PUBLIC POST: This post is visible to the public without subscribing. If you would like to see my uncensored art photos please  join my Patreon community of art lovers. You will see more photos of Caroline and other yogis and dancers I have photographed over the years. 

My work is about quality over quantity. Each image I post here is of the same magazine quality as the 100s of photos of mine that have appeared in print publications worldwide over the last two decades.  2021-08-21 19:59:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Prayer dance

Mariah is a skilled yogi and dancer who loves to move free form to music. These images are from a shoot we did several years ago when she was visiting southern California.

Aerial Nudes

This is a follow up post to the previous aerial fashion post. These are some of the art nudes Crystal and I created after we had finished shooting the fitness clothing for a client.

IG: Crystal 

Aerial Fashion

Shooting fitness clothes like leggings and sports tops was a staple part of my commercial photography in Los Angeles. Crystal came over to model some outfits for one such shoot. We decided to do all the images as aerials with white silks and a lyra (aerial hoop). We also decided to use a pink wig to add some color. Here are some of the photos we created.

Of course after the shoot Crystal tossed off her clothes and wanted to create some art nudes too as usual. I’ll upload those photos ...

Behind the veil

When you and I behind the veil are past,
Oh, but the long, long while the world shall last,
Which of our coming and departure heeds
As the sea’s self should heed a pebble-cast.

Neither you nor I will know the secrets of eternity
Neither you nor I will read this letter of the riddle.
The dialogue between you and me is behind the veil,
When the veil falls, neither you nor I will remain.

– Omar Khayyam, 11th century Persian poet

PHOTO: ...

Friendship

“And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

�...

THE BEAUTY OF A WOMAN

The beauty of a woman
isn’t in the clothes she wears,
The figure that she carries,
or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman
must be seen from in her eyes;
Because that’s the doorway to her heart,
the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman
isn’t in a facial mole;
But true beauty in a woman,
is reflected by her soul.

It’s the caring that she cares to give,
the passion that she shows;
And the beauty of a woman
wit...

Yearning

I went out to the woods to-day
To hide away from you,
From you a thousand miles away—
But you came, too.

And yet the old dull thought would stay,
And all my heart benumb—
If you were but a mile away
You would not come.

– from a poem by Jessie B. Rittenhouse

PHOTO: From an early photo session with my friend, Jackie. She has always been a very skilled dancer, model and roller skater. Now she is also a very knowledgeable real...

A Prayer

Teach me, Father, how to go
Softly as the grasses grow;
Hush my soul to meet the shock
Of the wild world as a rock;

But my spirit, propt with power,
Make as simple as a flower.
Let the dry heart fill its cup,
Like a poppy looking up;

Let life lightly wear her crown
Like a poppy looking down,
When its heart is filled with dew,
And its life begins anew.

– poem by Edwin Markham

PHOTO: Caroline flowing through s...

Rising Flame

Shakespeare - Sonnet 45

The other two, slight air and purging fire,
Are both with thee, wherever I abide;
The first my thought, the other my desire,
These present-absent with swift motion slide.

For when these quicker elements are gone
In tender embassy of love to thee,
My life, being made of four, with two alone
Sinks down to death, oppressed with melancholy;

Until life’s composition be recured
By those swift messengers return’d from thee,<...

Ball player

Devon is a ballerina that I love shooting with. One time she came over with a ball and we did an entire session of her playing with it. When most people play with a ball there is nothing remarkable about it. But when Devon plays with a ball she creates the most amazing shapes.

Liquid metal

To balance my commercial photography work sometimes I shoot with friends just for the fun of it. Cali and I were playing around in the studio, seeing how many different ways we could shoot her body. Here we were attempting to make it look like her torso was sculpted with liquid metal.

Instagram: @calimiles 

Mermaid

Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne?

– poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson

PHOTO: Liz Ashley in her back yard pool.

Instagram: @thelizashley 

Friendship

Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree—
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?

– poem by Emily Bronte

PHOTO: Some years back my neighbor came over with her friend and said she wanted to try some acro yoga poses in my studio.

Yoga King Cobra pose - Raja Bhujangasana

“It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.” – M. Williamson

YOGA - the king cobra pose is about opening our heart. Opening it to the light we are willing to receive. And to radiate it back into the world.

Yoga Flow with Natasha

Natasha is a very sweet and unassuming yoga teacher from Santa Monica, California. A gymnast when she was young, she now teaches strong Vinyasa Flow yoga classes. Living in Southern California she has become friends with many of the well known yoga teachers in the area.

When she heard her friends Caley, Miki and Sophie were coming to my studio to do a nude shoot her curiosity was peaked. She called and asked if she could tag along.

All three of her friends have been in multiple ma...

Candlelight Dancer

I remember well, your flashing eyes
Soft and green as key lime pie
And how they filled with love
When you looked at me
And the shadows upon the wall, at night
As you danced for me by the candle light

– lyrics by singer-songwriter Bertie Higgins of "Key Largo" fame

PHOTO: Zamy and I had talked several times about shooting together but time and space got in the way. When she found out she would be visiting Houston we were able to schedule a shoot and had ...

Bound together

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of your be alone,
Even as the strings of the lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

– from a poem by Lebanese-American poet, Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

PHOTO: C...

Eternal Summer

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

– Shakespeare (Sonnet 18)

PHOTO: Cole is a sweet soul, skilled at yoga, modeling and music. Also a great chef! This photo is from when she visited me in Texas. We had so much fun!

Instagram: @colekniight ...

Light as air

In the early 2000s I was visiting New York and a friend invited me to a dance performance. She refused to tell me anything in advance, so I could fully appreciate the surprise and wonder of the show.

As we stood whispering and crowded inside a large dark room, the ceiling suddenly burst open (it was made of paper) and dancers attached to wires fell through. What followed was the first aerial dance performance I had the pleasure of seeing, done by an Argentinian troupe called De La Guard...