Brenton Parry

You just never know

Added 2021-05-25 09:39:52 +0000 UTC

This beautiful man is one of the several men called Andrew that I've photographed over the years. He's a lovely guy and this was yet another shoot that took a while to organise but when it happened, it was easy and fun. It was also not without some interesting challenges.

This is a cheeky spot in the Royal National Park south of Sydney that you are definitely not technically allowed to be nude but I have done a few shoots there over the years. As with any shoot where you are putting a nude man somewhere they shouldn't be it was relatively early in the morning and when we arrived conditions were perfect. The sky had a layer of fine cloud to soften the light and there was not a hint of a breeze so the lagoon was glassy.

Now, you aren't allowed to camp in the National Park if you aren't in a camp ground so it was a bit of a surprise to find a tent in amongst the trees where we planned to shoot. The young couple we eventually saw coming out of the tent probably wouldn't have minded but we decided to stay away from them.

The lagoon I mentioned before was looking very tempting and we were just about to get Andrew in there to make the most of reflections and the amazing conditions when two Muslim families arrived to get a big amazing picnic set up for the day. The women had their headscarves on and there was little children there so we very quickly made other plans and waded around the corner and up the river.

These are the things that are slightly frustrating at the time but are funny to look back on and really not a big drama. If you photograph in public places, it's part of the process and adapting makes you think on your feet.