'We left wet, muddy and slightly nauseous.'
Last fall, I had the almost impossible task of narrowing down images from England photographer Klinikle and the hundreds of shots from his work with Marius. The issue wasn't only that there were so many incredible images that stood out to me, it was also the many stories that Klinikle and Marius told through their time together. There were dozens of locations, each with their own feel and story to tell.
The first chapter that I shared last November, Bumper to Bumper, featured Klinikle's images of Marius hard at work in the garage, followed by him heading to the shower to clean off the dirt and grease after his long day. Choosing which story should come second was difficult until I decided I needed a shoot far away from that garage and shower. This shoot, joining Klinikle and Marius in the forest was actually their first shoot together after connecting via a modeling site.
'We went off on location and had a really good laugh as well as getting some great shots. He made the shoot incredibly easy as he is full of ideas and has a natural ability to use light and scenery to make the most of his appearance. By the end of the shoot, we were definitely going to be working together again.'
Since I was a kid, I always had a fascination with trees and the woods. Maybe it was my love of reading fables and authors like C H Lewis that had me running into the forest, believing their was magic just beyond what my eyes could see. I think there were a few years in my life that I spent more years up in tree branches than on the ground. I loved to climb, jump and hide in the trees which provided both a place to fantasize, as well as see what was all around me from a different point of view.
It wasn't all fantasy and fun however as anyone who spends a lot of time outside, knows full well. Fun and games often come with scratches and falls and the forest Marius and Klinikle were shooting in was full of things not so magical... Klinikle shares that this location was part of disused quarry and a railway cutting going into the trees with the sides getting higher and higher as they went along. It ended at a gated tunnel entrance that visually looked great, but..
'However, there was a large pool of water in front row of it with car tires dotted about. We started jumping from tire to tire until it became clear they were quite unstable and slippy. It also turned out there was a strong smell of sulphur whenever the water was disturbed. A yellow sign on the gated entrance warned of toxic gases. We left wet, muddy and slightly nauseous. Never used that location again.'
It is a testament to his skill that Klinikle never let the viewer get even the slightest hint the forest in which he was shooting wasn't as magical as the resulting images display. I especially love the first two images in this piece, with the light cascading into the forest through the tree's. Klinikle also captured many of images looking up at Marius above him which added to the beauty and light behind Marius in the trees.
Marius also looks quite at home on the tree branches and I love how he interacts and poses with and on his surroundings. It is in fact not his incredible beauty that draws me to Marius as a model, but his skill and ease at blending into any location and situation Klinikle places him in. Whether that garage, the shower, the tree's as well as many of the other locations in the images I enjoyed. Sometimes models can look out of place in certain locations, but Marius seamlessly blends into the environments he is shot in, creating characters that look both at home and beautifully authentic.
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