Interview with Paul Veron / Amazilia Photography

Amazilia’s art focuses on the beauty, grace, and intrigue of the female nude; a subject which has fascinated and drawn artists like moths to the flame in every discipline for centuries.
Paul’s work embraces three core areas of people photography – fine art nudes, sensual nudes and nudes in nature. He is an internationally published photographer with several print publications, who has recently won the Runner- Up Photographer of the Year position with an international magazine, as well as achieving success in several global fine art photographic competitions. He holds Distinctions in both Foundation and Advanced Photography Diplomas.
His work has so far been included in juried exhibitions and galleries in Hamburg, Lisbon, London, Milan, and Seattle. In 2020 he was included in Current Masters Volume 5 of World Wide Art Books, which is distributed to art galleries and collectors across the world.
With a growing interest in his work from serious art collectors, Paul is now producing a restricted range of Limited Edition Signed Prints (supplied with Certificates of Authenticity), aimed at serious art collectors, as well as continuing to combine his writing and photography skills through a series of monographs on Nudes in Nature.

Can you pinpoint the moment you decided you wanted to become an artist?

Training and then working in scientific fields, my artistic side had been very largely dormant or supressed for most of my life. Then in 2015, I visited several art museums and galleries in Paris and London, where the paintings that caught my eye were the fine art nudes of famous artists such as Botticelli, Courbet, Manet, Renoir, Titian, and Velazquez. 

Soon after that I went to a photographic studio with my camera and worked with my first fine art nude model. Early in that shoot I turned the screen on the back of my camera to monochrome, and from that moment on I was totally hooked on the beauty of creating fine art nude images.

Where is your studio and where are you from?

I was born in the British Channel Islands in 1959, and apart from four years attending universities in Wales and England, I have lived and worked in the islands all my life. My photographic studio is based in my home on Alderney; the northernmost of the Channel Islands.

Tell us a little about your artistic background. What were your first influences to be creative and become a serious artist?

While my wife is an accomplished artist in water colours, I have little hand to eye coordination for painting. Wanting to develop my artistic side I soon discovered a natural interest and ability behind the camera lens. This combined with a fascination for the often-indefinable beauty and mystery of the female nude has drawn me deeply in to photography.

As mentioned above, paintings of several of the Old Masters have been very influential in my interest in the female nude as one of the most enduring of all creative subjects for artists across all disciplines for Centuries.

Once I took up photography seriously, I studied the work of many photographers, including some contemporary ones. I would list the following as the most influential, for the reasons given: -

Andreas H Bitesnich – for his superb ability to control light and work with skilled models, to produce wonderful sculptured fine art nudes (https://www.bitesnich.com);

Bob Carlos Clarke – for his sheer originality and audacity in creating images which always provoke a reaction (http://www.artnet.com/artists/bob-carlos-clarke);

Frank de Mulder – for depicting the female lines and curves in ways that while being intriguing and beautiful, are entirely plausible and realistic (https://www.frankdemulder.com); and more recently: 

Thomas Holm – for his ability to control light emphasising the sculptural beauty of human form (https://store.commandoart.com);

Imagesse – because we appear to share many of the same key drivers and feelings for our fine art nude photography (https://imagesse.smugmug.com) and:

Carl Grimm – the master of modern-day chiaroscuro creating images with true depth, emotion, and beauty (https://www.carlgrimphoto.com)

Can you tell us what you have going on right now?

I currently have three projects active. I will shortly publish two books representing my Nudes in Nature work, each with a selection of my favourite images and a short text. I continue to shoot building a portfolio of images for the third book in this series.

I am also looking forward to a new project which celebrates the diversity of female beauty, reinforcing the message that there is no one stereo-typed definition of what is feminine beauty; rather it is a collection of works celebrating the individuality and diversity of true beauty.

My third main project for the immediate future is to create some more dynamic art nude models shot principally with talented dancers and athletes. Ultimately this will lead to the publication of another book focused on Dynamic Nudes.

Beyond this I am continuing to submit work for print publication in a range of magazines, exhibit work at galleries and exhibitions (where this is cost effective) and produce a small number of Limited-Edition Prints.

Can you describe what an average working day for you is like? Do you work on many creations at once or one at a time?

I am mostly retried from paid work now, but I spend time each day on photography. Ideally this will include at least one new shoot each week, which will then result in many hours work selecting and editing the chosen images, and then deciding how they can be used in various projects. The Covid pandemic has seriously impacted this of course, but I have used the time to study other artists’ work, and to learn new techniques both in shooting and editing my work.

What makes your art different from others?

My art is very personal. In each of the three main genres that I work, I have clear ambitions for what I want my images to say to the viewers.

It is very important to me that my work causes viewers to pause and look in detail at the image. I am always telling a story, many times it is only a partial story, where the viewer must interpret and complete the scene as they see it. 

For my Nudes in Nature work the key aspect is getting the viewer to experience a connection with, or sense of belonging in, our most amazing natural world, with all its beauty and diversity. Every person has their own innate way of connecting, and the joy for me when shooting is to try to capture how this is being done, in such a way as to make the viewer feel a part of the scene. 

For my sensual work, emotion is key. Here I am always trying to convey some feeling or emotion, and ideally this should stir some memory (distant or recent) in the viewer; something which makes that person look longer and deeper into the image.

My Dynamic Art Nude work is in the main less personal in nature. The images do not necessarily convey a sensual or erotic emotion; instead they invoke a sense of wonder.

In each of these areas I hope I tell a story in such a way that it is recognisable as my work, in the same way that I can instantly recognise the work of other photographers whose work I particularly admire.

In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society? What do you hope that others will gain from viewing your art?

Artists have always played an important role in society, perhaps now this is even greater than before. Creatives tend to be at the cutting edge of ideas and philosophies, and they challenge what societies can all too easily accept as inevitable norms. Humankind becomes more civilised partly by asking questions of current life, and how it could be better. Creating art (in whatever forms) plays an important part in this. This is why I feel my Nudes in Nature work which seeks to re-establish and/or strengthen the connection between we humans and our natural world, and the sense of belonging that we have in it, is so very important to me. I feel that this is the central issue in my most important photographs.

What’s the most important element in your artwork?

Originality, and something which makes the viewer pause and look at the detail in my work, and then to think about the story in the image.

That being said, are there any lessons that you’ve learned that you could pass on to the younger generation of artists as they begin their journeys?

Yes, when you begin in fine art nude pay for the best professional models that you can afford. At the outset there is more than enough to learn regarding composition, lighting, exposure, general camera settings and working with models, who may be nude. Working with professional models means that they will be able to look after many aspects of the shoot, and in particular they can pose in ways that give you the best chance early on to go away from the shoot with some wonderful images that will inspire you to continue.

Beyond that in any art discipline keep studying, practising and working hard, and remember that even the most creative artists struggle with inspiration at times!

Website www.amazilia.photography

Instagram @amazilia_photography