by Nahp Suicide

Waikiki is from Italy and spends her time shooting between Italy, Holland, London, and Berlin. She has been a SuicideGirl since 2006 and a photographer since 2009.

How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls?

A close gay friend of mine introduced me to SG for the first time. It was the summer of 2005.
 A month later I shot my first set as a model with Albertine. Three years later I did my first one as a photographer.



What’s your background photography-wise?

I have a BA in Fine Arts. I did photography, video, and sculpture. Back then I mainly shot in analog. The dark room was my favorite place in the whole University. 


What was the first photo you had published?

A self shot photograph which was part of my last year examination project.
It got published on a Dutch catalogue.



How would you describe your style?

My style is continuously mutating. It’s in motion. My photography is pretty varied as is my style. Shooting for the site has definitely changed it. I used to be always an art photographer. I worked with models but on a different level. My photographs were mainly black & white images.
 SG gave me the possibility to embrace a new layer. Capture models’ sexyness, beauty and creativity through their body, moves, peculiarities.

What gear do you use?

I currently use a canon 5D Mark II. I have a few lenses, which I like to switch depending on what the subject is and where I’m shooting. I also have an old Nikon F2 which I’ve started to use again lately, and a fewmore, but due to work and media I mostly use my Canon.



How important is Photoshop in your final images?

Since I work on digital images Photoshop has become essential for color correction and to adjust lighting. Needless to say, Photoshop and Lightroom have both become the digital dark room of our future, although, for the most part, good results should always be done ideally with the settings on the camera itself, before you pull the trigger.




What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing sets?

Certainly the model, she is my very first inspiration. I do travel quite often and I am a big observer of spaces, landscape and whatever my eyes capture. Music videos, literature, magazines are a big inspirations as well.



What is your favorite image?

I couldn’t pick just one.

Tell us why it’s your fave and how you achieved it?

I love working with Janette and everything we did together. She is one of my favorite models I’ve been collaborating with. She is an artist, a performer, and a friend.




Is there anybody or anything you would love to photograph that you haven’t?

I want to photograph a lot more girls, people, anyone who communicates a feeling, a sensation, weather positive or not. People that can tell a storywith their facial and body expressions.
 Among the SG models, probably the first one who comes to my mind would now be Vice. I have adored her since I joined the site. Manko is another artist I would love to collaborate with.
 I fell in love with her mind, her thoughts, her creativity. She is so inspirational in so many ways. Chunny has intrigued me since always. Or Amina, just to mention another one.

Related Posts:
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Zoetica
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Anemona
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. P_Mod
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Talena
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Lavonne
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. DarrylDarko
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Albertine
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Holley
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Dwam
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Writeboy
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. IvyLlamas
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Lavezzarro

by Steven-Elliot Altman (SG Member: Steven_Altman)

Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World…

By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.

Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.

When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.

(Catch up with the previous installments of Killswitch – see links below – then continue reading after the jump…)

[..]

by Blogbot

Artist / SG Member Name: My real name is Gary Mike, and my SG member name is Guss1470. Guss is just a name I like and used while online but I am starting to use my real name more often.

Mission Statement: For my art I really don’t have one. I just like to draw and find out what I can do. The first and main purpose for my art is my own enjoyment, challenge, and to see people enjoy my work. I want to see if I can do it. I like to try different styles just to see if I can.

Medium: Well anything I can get my hands on. I think anything can be a medium but the main one I use is pencil and pen. With my computer it’s a Bamboo and Photoshop. I draw my art on paper first then scan, touch up or trace in Photoshop then color. In the past I have worked with watercolor, color pencil, acrylic, chalk, and clay. I even thought of buying a load of makeup from Mary Kay just to play with skin tones in my art.

Aesthetic: I really don’t know. I like sketchy style, clean style. It’s like the question “who is your favorite band” – it just depends on your mood, what your doing, and how your feeling.

Notable Achievements: I think just making people smile with my art. I really am not aiming for anything when I do my art except to challenge myself and make you smile.

Why We Should Care: Not to sound mean, but you don’t have to. If no one cared about my art I still would be doing the same thing. I have been doing this since I was 3 or 4 and this is what I do for fun. I don’t know any other way. I don’t consider my work special. I draw all the time and throw away my sketches and finished work cause I can do it again. I have given away sketch books to friends, my ex, and to random people because I’m done with them and have no reason to keep them. I think it’s the people that see my art that consider it special so the question goes to you: Why do you like my art???

I Want Me Some: I don’t do contests, I don’t sell my art, I have no political agenda. If you want me to draw something I’ll do it for free. If I have time, all you have to do is ask. You can also check out my work on DeviantArt.

[..]

by Nahp Suicide

Zoetica is a photographer, painter, the proprietress of the popular art and style blog Biorequiem, a co-founder of Coilhouse Magazine, and an occasional cosmonomad. She hails from Moscow, but resides in Los Angeles, California. She has been a photographer for SuicideGirls since 2006, and has shot more than 100 sets for the site.

How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls?

Fractal (a friend of a friend at the time, now a good friend of mine), had scouted me to model. I explained that I was actually in search of a steady job at the time, and she suggested I come in to interview for an intern position. I quickly became a design assistant and, eventually, Sean suggested I try my hand at shooting sets. For a time I also worked as the SG photography coordinator, style technician and in-house photo-editor.



What’s your background photography-wise?

I’m self-taught, having taken photos obsessively my entire life. Before digital, I took cheap little film cameras everywhere – and have seven scrapbooky photo albums to prove it! 



What was the first photo you had published?

I honestly don’t remember. Probably something in one of my schools’ yearbooks or something in a zine.



How would you describe your style?

Obsessive. When I work with SGs, I often ask them to hold a pose for several minutes at a time, while I capture every nuance.
 In my other work, this is true as well. I look at every detail, search for secret spaces and details, whether I’m shooting a portrait, an editorial, a forest, or a steaming breakfast plate (I love food photography – I even break out a macro lens for that sometimes!). My goal is to capture the feeling of the moment, the texture, the energy. The smell, too, if possible. 



What gear do you use?

Generally, I keep it simple: Canon 5D and a 35 1:4 lens, available light only.




How important is Photoshop in your final images?

It depends entirely on the image and the mood I’m after that day. For SG, I tend to stick with minimal retouching and color correction for the most part, but some sets call for a more stylized approach. 



What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing sets?

I feed my brain as much as time allows – good input yields good output.




What is your favorite image?

It has to be this one (see above) of Radeo, from our set called, Prisoner.

Tell us why it’s your fave and how you achieved it?

I think it still might be my favorite set of mine. There was almost no light aside from a far-away overhead fixture, and it worked out perfectly in helping us create the foreboding atmosphere we had in mind.



Is there anybody or anything you would love to photograph that you haven’t?

No – I want to shoot everything, all the time. Like I said – I’m obsessive!

Related Posts:
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Anemona
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. P_Mod
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Talena
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Lavonne
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. DarrylDarko
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Albertine
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Holley
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Dwam
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Writeboy
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. IvyLlamas
In Focus: The Photographers of SuicideGirls feat. Lavezzarro

by Steven-Elliot Altman (SG Member: Steven_Altman)

Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World…

By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.

Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.

When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.

(Catch up with the previous installments of Killswitch – see links below – then continue reading after the jump…)

[..]

by Blogbot

Artist / SG Member Name: Inks.

Mission Statement: I have always wanted to mix the classic pinup with propaganda art. I always wanted to make art that people can afford.

Medium: Ink, graphite, digital, spray paint.

Aesthetic: Beauty in simplicity, line that shows natural curves not idealized and unrealistic ones.

Notable Achievements: I have been part of over 30 shows in the last 8 years. I have had the honor of showing with artists like Erik Jones, Shepard Fairey, Dennis Brown, Hydro74, and so many other artists. I am also honored to have designed posters for the Hot Toddies, Sharkteeth, and a few other bands.

Why We Should Care: I always wanted to make art that people can afford. I don’t make art to make it rich, but to add richness to peoples lives.

I Want Me Some: You can find me at:
boardinker.tumblr.com
gorillasdontpaint.tumblr.com/
boardinker.com

[..]

by Andrew Shaffer

On February 18, PayPal contacted ebook distributor Smashwords with an ultimatum: Remove certain types of erotic ebooks (featuring underage characters, incest, bestiality, and rape), or face deactivation of their PayPal account. Since PayPal is integrated into the Smashwords website, they had no choice but to remove the “edgy” erotica identified by PayPal as “unlawful.” No U.S. court had ever found any of the ebooks in question illegal, but that was rather beside the point for PayPal, who seemed to be confusing illegal sexual activities with legal depictions of those activities.

What started as a dispute between a payment processor (PayPal) and a handful of ebook stores (including Smashwords) snowballed into a widely circulated petition from the Electronic Freedom Foundation (signed by the Authors Guild, the CBLDF, and the ACLU, among others) asking PayPal to reverse their policy.

“What I find chilling is that the money exchanger, not the merchant, can make such a decision,” commenter L.K. Rigel wrote on a Dear Author blog post, where news of PayPal’s actions was first reported. “PayPal is, after all, basically a bank. So now a bank gets to decide what customers can buy or merchants can sell? The decision is only palatable because they’re cutting off stuff people mostly find abhorrent.”

When PayPal allegedly tried to lay the blame on credit card companies’ terms of service, Visa flipped a finger right back. “Visa takes no position with respect to lawful goods and services bought and sold by the people and the companies who use our payment service,” Visa’s Investor Relations wrote in a letter to BannedWriters.com. “We want to clarify that Visa had no involvement with PayPal’s conclusion on this issue.”

After Visa clarified their position on credit card usage (“anything legal”), PayPal’s excuse (“the credit card companies are making us do this!”) fell apart and they had to admit defeat. On March 13, PayPal announced an updated policy with regards to handling ebook transactions that “will prohibit use of PayPal for the sale of e-books that contain child pornography, or e-books with text and obscene images of rape, bestiality or incest… In addition, the policy will be focused on individual books, not on entire ‘classes’ of books.”

PayPal’s policy change represented a win for online retailers as well as for freedom of expression “This is going to be a major victory for writers, readers and free speech,” said Smashwords’ Mark Coker.

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