Butterflies and Hurricanes

The other day, as I was scrollin through Perezhilton.com, a few photographic stills of a harrowing yet intriguing scene grabbed me. It was Sean Faris, shirtless and bare with some girl in black lingerie, both drenched with red, blood-like wine, in disturbingly lewd positions. I've thought Sean was hot since "Reunion", but always put him off as one of those typical "football jock bros." These photos captured a willing, raw, violent intensity of emotion that changed my mind about him - I had to find the director behind the lens:

Tyler Shields is a celebrity photographer with a seemingly disturbing psyche. He shoots storm troopers and men in mickey mouse costumes. He uses mediums such as (fake?) blood, liquor, dirt, food, fire etc to make a visual mess of his subjects. And he frequently eroticizes his subjects in sinuously sensual scenes. People might be put off/ scared by his work, but it's this sort of avant-gartistry that sticks; it either touches you or shocks you. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the bloodied work, but I love the rest - I love how he captures human emotion in a dark, minimalist manner. One of my favorite of his "video-portraits" is of a lonely, frazzled (her hair is literally frizzy) Juno Temple sitting on a stove smoking a cigarette in her pajamas. This muted black and white scene has her glare at us with piercing eyes, and then she forlornly looks down as a smokey haze surrounds herself. I can easily see this scene in a movie - the character all down and dejected cuz of some drama; a video portrait sets the scene for great characterization.

Check out this video that captures his 2009 moments:

I feel as if scenes like this move me now because I'm sort of in an angsty faze that missed me in high school. I'm in a phase where I'm finding romance in darkness. But don't expect me to be wearing black and white strips, rockin the hot topic look...