“I wanted to build a collection showing that bodies are just bodies and that they can be natural, sensual landscapes, far more than just sex objects,” says David Moreno, an artist, graphic designer, and photographer based in Medellín, Colombia. We found out about his work and his connection to Ruth Bernhard, and we simply had to ask him for an interview.
The essential gear of David Moreno
I’ve got my trusty Canon EOS30D, a Canon Speedlite 380EX flash, and a Neewer softbox. It’s all really basic, but it’s been enough to learn by experimenting. My flash unit only works on manual, so I had to play around until I got the results I wanted. I think it’s helped me learn a lot about how light works.
The Phoblographer: How did you start in photography?
Daniel Moreno: Around 2016 I took a class on photography at Uni. Everyone was assigned a famous photographer as an inspiration to base our work on, and we had to do a project based on them. In my case, it was Ruth Bernhard. I had always been interested in photography, but this was my first time taking pictures of someone with a real camera. I’m incredibly introverted, so I didn’t even know how to get a model to pose, but I was so fascinated with Ruth’s work and her way of using lights and shadows that I ended up convincing a friend to pose for me. We tried. It worked. My love for photography was kindled.
The Phoblographer: What’s the inspiration behind this project? Why the title Bodyscapes?
Daniel Moreno: After that project, I fell in love with the idea of portraying feminine bodies au naturel, without any kind of sexualization thrown in. This was my second try, and to be honest, my favorite. I don’t think I’ve made anything up to that standard so far.
I wanted to build a collection that shows that bodies are just bodies and that they can be natural, sensual landscapes, far more than just sex objects—predominantly female bodies. The title comes from my fave photograph in the project, a body landscape.
The Phoblographer: Why women and not men?
Daniel Moreno: Honestly, nothing stops me from working with men, except at the beginning, since Ruth Bernhard specialized in female nudity; it just didn’t happen. I was studying at University, and I wasn’t very focused on photography; anyway, I’ve always wanted to put an emphasis on female bodies as they’re the ones most commonly sexualized in advertising.
The Phoblographer: We’re used to seeing soft and gentle lighting on nudes. What made you go for higher contrasts in your work?
Daniel Moreno: My first time shooting nudes was also my first time taking pictures with a professional camera. I didn’t have a flash; the only light I had available was sunlight coming through a window. I tried to do the best with what I had, and honestly? I fell in love with the results. The silhouetting, the way I could show a naked body in such a subtle way, without a need to show anything. This was also keeping my possible models from working with me, as posing naked was something they hadn’t done before, so once I bought the flash, I kept trying to capture lines and details.
The Phoblographer: Taking a look at your Behance profile, I saw that your first attempt was in black and white. What made you decide to jump to color?
Daniel Moreno: Curiosity. Nothing else. That session you spoke about was my first attempt for the university project. We made it in a room with nothing else but window light, and although my idea was to keep shooting in black and white, I tried doing it in color. I fell in love with her skin’s warm tones, so I decided to keep shooting like that.
The Phoblographer: What kind of post-processing do you apply to your pictures?
Daniel Moreno: When I’m working on portraits, I do the usual pack, you know. Skin softening, cleaning up imperfections, fixing makeup, etc. Always softly so it’s not noticeable, so when people look at the pictures, they say, “what gorgeous skin” instead of “what a beautiful photoshop.” I’m not an expert, though, so sometimes I overdo it.
When I’m working on nude photography, the only thing that matters to me is that they are as natural as possible. I only do the basics on Lightroom —exposure, cropping— and some background cleaning if needed. After all, I work in a regular, furnished room, and even though I use the flash in such a way that the background doesn’t show, sometimes you have to clean it up. I also erase tattoos and other marks if needed for privacy.
In this particular session, I didn’t do anything but a light cropping; color and light are precisely as shot. You can even notice details left in, like a reflection or two or even part of an exercise machine in one of the pictures.
The Phoblographer: If you had to name a photographer you were inspired by, who would you name?
Daniel Moreno: Again, I’d have to choose Ruth Bernhard. Thanks to her, I not only discovered this kind of portrait, but I fell in love with photography as it is.
The Phoblographer: Are you working on something right now?
Daniel Moreno: As I said before, my primary motivation and idea were making an extensive body of work centered on showing naked bodies without sexualizing them, proving that they can be sensual and that naked bodies don’t have to be looked at sexually. After all, sex is in your head or in the attitude you display before or behind the camera. Due to time constraints, university, and life itself, though, I haven’t been able to shoot enough pictures; I’m looking forward to starting again.
All images ceded by Daniel Moreno. Used with permission. This interview has been translated from the original Spanish. Be sure to visit Daniel’s Instagram, Flickr and Behance to see more. Want to get featured? Click here to see how.
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