Honorable Mention
The statue
DESCRIPTION
The main challenge in this type of contest is to choose among dozens of photos the one you consider as being your "best" photo and hope to be among the finalists and possibly get an award for your work. I leave the choice to the jury to appreciate the artistic and technical quality of this picture. I chose "the statue" because it best reflects the recent evolution of my style and the way I work in artistic nude photography. First of all, it is the result of team work because a good friend of mine, a photo artist and lecturer, coached me with lighting, natural light for the most part. Second, the choice of color. This picture is also available in monochrome but this color version reflects the atmosphere of the moment and location much better. Third, the location. After having worked in many classical studios with paper backdrops, I now work more and more in less traditional studios to be able to create a story more easily around the picture, here a factory in Budapest that has been transformed in several studios, each one with its own theme. Fourth, the square format that is not used that often in photography allows me to eliminate what is superfluous in the picture and focus on the story. When retouching, my idea was to integrate the model as a statue in the floral setting. The credit for this photo certainly goes to Dorka, a talented model based in Hungary. I asked her to improvise and she chose this pose inspired by the special atmosphere in this studio. AUTHOR
Eric is a French amateur photographer who is often considered an artist due to his international awards and his distinctive approach to nude photography. For over 20 years, he has explored the sensual beauty of the female form. Germany, Hungary, and Croatia are the main countries where he creates his art.His pictures have been printed in respected magazines, books, and catalogues from contests and exhibitions, and have also been shown in four exhibitions - both solo and group - highlighting his presence within the photography community. Eric’s artistic development has been shaped by collaborations and mentorships - from early technical training with German photographer Arboulan to a deepening artistic sensibility under Hungarian artists Szeni Jung and Sandor Benkoe, who continues to coach him.
Eric’s approach combines refined technique with emotional depth. While he has done a great deal of studio work in the past, he now prefers to shoot outdoors, embracing natural light. His style transcends conventional eroticism to feature models in stories and narratives that don’t focus on nudity, while both revealing and concealing their nude form.
Having worked with over 100 amateur models, Eric’s work is a passionate dialogue between artist and model, where sensuality and emotional truth meet. The best way to describe his passion is through the words of Richard Avedon: “If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.”
