Death Valley: Borax Hills

I'm going through old photos from when I was living in my car in California (2019) because I'm FINALLY getting ready to pursue this lifestyle again. 

In March of 2019, I met up with and did a trade shoot with an old photog friend from Moab. One of the first photographers that I worked with the year prior--  which had immediately instilled a lot of inspiration and encouragement to continue frolicking nude in nature til I could figure out what was going on with my body. So anyways, we got in touch and he drove his van out to meet me in Death Valley and spend 7 days shooting in the constant, blistering heat. I was chilling in San Diego at the time, so it worked out perfectly. 

He shot some good shit, but we actually had a falling out the year after due to him selecting photos where I had "bad posture" and refusing to understand why it was that I shot naked and really my entire posture journey. He was a 65 year old retired engineer who took daily morphine for chronic pain that wasn't gonna change, so the extent of his process was selecting photos that were "technically good" ie. lighting, exposure, shadows falling on the model etc. He didn't understand that I was using this whole sha-bang as a tool to heal and change my situation. He was insanely protective of any technically-bad photos, even if I wanted to see them just to check on my posture. I felt so timid and rejected trying to convey this thing I needed but hadn't even quite fleshed out, that it was easier to part ways and start shooting myself so that I could retain all rights and control. Plus I got really good fast, but I digress. I remember feeling frustrated for a lot of this week and found myself wishing I was alone in the vast desert to make my own art. Lol. I'm not a total shit-- I hadn't yet found my voice or my art brand and so I felt really guilty for feeling this way. Now I'm a lot stronger and more secure in my journey, and am really looking forward to coming back here by myself. I could even shoot with this photog again someday as a personal achievement as every single photo will contain good posture-- I won't even say anything about any of it, it'll just be for me. 

Anyways, for a majority of the day during our days there, the sun was "objectively too harsh to shoot." So my photog would nap and I would shoot with my tiny tripod and point and shoot. He even got annoyed a few times and asked me to "stop shooting so much" lest I get too much good stuff haha. 

ANYWAYS AGAIN, SO YEAH I TOOK THESE. I was in between bouts of guilt and feeling really good to be frolicking far away from my weaker link and rubbing my butt all over those hills. Yes the sun was harsh, but it really really adds to the stark strength of the photos. Like I'm lounging on the deck overlooking MY desert. I will absolutely totally share some shots that I modeled for and did not take if anyone requests it. 6 of the images that I modeled for got published in an international magazine the following year (a couple featuring bad posture that is not empowering to look at). I fully intend to get my shit together and submit some of these to that very exact same magazine just to commemorate my own artistry and to maybe kind of be a dick. 

Self shot midday near the Twenty Mule Team Canyon on some borax-filled hills that were really this yellow. According to this link (https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/star-wars-in-death-valley.htm), Star Wars was filmed in these yellow hills for Episode IV -- A New Hope and Star Wars Episode VI -- Return of the Jedi. Cool guy emoji. 

Also, yes. Yes, my bush and my armpit hair is dyed hot pink. I am doing purple very soon!

I'm publishing this for Lordosis($5)+ as I'll be adding these to Instagram. 

PS. I am coming full circle with some of these sets. You can check out the hash tags to find similar sets or go find more from "throw back" content that I post. Here is what I posted from this trip a few months after my return: 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/sandstone-29495239