Blanco, negro y Lorna
A finales del 2019, casi seis años de conocer a , Lorna, Camille y yo comenzariamos un nuevo trabajo.
Fue en Junio 15, 2014 cuando conocimos a Lorna.
Ella fue parte de una producción fílmica donde trabajamos la iluminación. Recuerdo como si fuera ayer, verla sentada esperando por su maquillista, estaba silenciosa mirando todo lo que estaba ocurriendo, mientras las otras personas hacían chistes sin parar.
Para nuestros ojos de extranjeros, al conocerla ella nos parecio muy seria , Pero después descubrimos que realmente estaba nerviosa, andaba rodeada de extranjeros, tratando de proyectar seguridad ante tantas personas nuevas.
Aunque la producción no llego a su fin, fuimos afortunados de crear una genuina amistad, conocimos a una persona con quien rápidamente nos sentimos muy cómodos y comenzamos un proceso colaborativo que ya lleva seis años corriendo.
Junio 15, 2014 - Day one
Ya a finales del 2019, casi seis años de ese primer encuentro, Lorna, Camille y yo comenzariamos otro experimento.
Esta vez transformaríamos su cuerpo con pintura para un propósito diferente.
La sensualidad de sus movimientos servirían como brocha alimentando una pareja de canvases.
Para este trabajo el negro seria nuestro color singular, el cual iba caóticamente cubriendo el blanco de los canvas.
El cuerpo de Lorna sería acentuado por las líneas pintorescas de Camille, líneas que la adornaban dándole un toque tribalista al baile de la creación.
Fue un día largo y productivo donde terminamos cansados y cubiertos en pintura.
Nuestro trabajo estaba terminado, pero el de Lorna todavía estaba comenzando. Lorna le dedicó otro día para trazar líneas conectando la pintura, dándole su toque singular por lo que es reconocida.
Como muchos de mis trabajos, esto empezó como un experimento, dejando que la musa correr y creando orgánicamente con ideas libres.
Concentrándonos en el arte y permitiendo que el proceso nos dirija a la meta.
Ser artista por tanto tiempo me da la oportunidad de ver a las personas crecer. Ver aquellos seres inicialmente tímidos convertirse en figuras grandes que proyectan seguridad.
Lorna es un ejemplo vivo de esto, ya no es la misma niña tímida que conocimos aquel día. Actualmente es una artista poderosa segura de lo que esta creando. Crear con ella me recuerda porque lo hacemos, no hay razón, la creación de arte es su propio proposito.
Mas dias como estos,
Cada cuadro mide 5 pies de alto por 3 pies de alto. Juntos miden 10 por 6
Creditos:
Fotos y palabras : Senén Llanos
Modelo y colaboradora : Lorna Hernandez
Update: Ambas piezas se vendieron a un dia de este post!
One Night @ La Concha
For most of my photography / art career I’ve worked with individual models on very intimate shoots. Shoots were there's mostly one subject with just me and my wife.
So it was with nervous surprise and enthusiasm that I accepted an invitation to do a live performance at the Hotel La Concha.
For most of my photography / art career I’ve worked with individual models on very intimate shoots. Shoots were there's mostly one subject with just me and my wife. These days, my interests have gravitated to working with multiple subjects, pairing the right people and seeing the results of their chemistry play out on my camera. Even then I've mostly kept a tiny set where only the people watching what's happening are the ones that are a part of it.
So it was with nervous surprise and enthusiasm that I accepted an invitation to do a live performance at the Hotel La Concha.
They wanted a select group of invitees to witness to the way we work. Bring them to fantastic the Presidential Suite where we would be painting and working with people while they watched. It’s something that always makes me nervous.
Our shoots are often chaotic and messy, they’re always full of experimentation and just a little bit of awkwardness.
The invitees would witness everything raw and unfiltered by the magic of fancy lenses, powerful lights and clever editing.
To make it more interesting, we had the added challenge of finding people who were not only comfortable with public nudity but also represented the right chemistry to deliver magic. It was very exciting to pair my two subjects:
We separated the event in two stages, a very intimate bathroom shoot, and a more open roof garden shoot where our subjects would be the brush that painted a canvas.
It was very exciting to work with these two, within minutes of meeting their chemistry flowed like longtime lovers, their energy was INTENSE.
I frequently glanced to the side of our guests seeing their big open eyes as the stared separated by only a sliver or glass doors.
The bathroom section was limited to a small amount of people, they would only enter for a few minutes, watching us through the glass of the bathroom doors as Camille and me worked in tandem painting and photographing while our subjects would make everything appear effortless.
Confession: I had a hell of a hard time choosing the photos. This is what they call “Poetry in motion:”
I need to get this out of the way.
I am generally a shy person, opening myself up to a public and guiding them to the way we work was nerve wracking.
But at the same time, I’ve never felt more alive or happy.
After the bathroom, we invited all guests to join us in the Rooftop terrace.
It was here where our subjects illuminated by the light of the moon became the brush of our canvas.
They would perform against a white backdrop, their movements and energy gracefully tracing paint on the canvas.
their paint would brush against the canvas, quickly becoming the memory of their movement.
Once their performance was ended, me and Camille sealed the canvas applying a layer our paint, it was then that our painting was finished.
I live for moments like these.
moments where hours feel like seconds.
Those moments where we create a really good mess
Down the road, I might forget what I said, but never how it felt.
The finished piece stands stands at just over 6 feet tall.
It’s conflicting lines and brilliant color stand as the only remains from that amazing night.
It is now available for purchase through this site.
Want it?
Thank You:
La Concha - For believing in us and letting go crazy in your space
Albert - I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us. Thank you.
Cristian and Yulie - For being our subjects, our canvases and flowing with our ideas. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
Foto One - Our printing place of choice in Puerto Rico. Luis you’re genius and I can’t thank you enough.
To all my guests, those that stopped by and those that showered me with love, your support means everything to us.
More to come…
Looking back at Hurricane Maria
It's been nearly a year since hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and there's another hurricane season starting now.
It feels like a good time to go back and share my experience.
It's been nearly a year since hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and with another hurricane season starting, It feels like a good time to go back and share my experience.
What follows is my point of view during and after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico.
Before I start I need to mention; We had it better than most people in the island. I had the chance to fly my wife and kid out of Puerto Rico shortly after the storm. For the most part I had water and I didn't pass much hunger.
There are thousands of heartbreaking stories of people losing everything. We truly were the lucky ones.
Also I'd like to warn my viewers, there's an odd mix of baby photos and naked people ahead. It's just the nature of my reality.
Before Maria, Hurricane Irma was announced, we wanted to be near family so we boarded up our apartment and headed for my parent's house
My favorite thing in this world, we share him at https://www.instagram.com/teamcamsen/
We worked preparing everything, even doing the traditional patio furniture in the pool
We were nervous as fuck with Hurricane Irma. Now that we are parents we worry to death about our little dude who had no idea what was to come.
Also just before Irma I did a fantastic art install for a client, I am very proud of this one.
Irma barely did anything to us. We lost power in the apartment so we continued to stay at my parents house.
It was Maria that truly fucked us over
This photo was taken just after the hurricane ended. The street drains had completely clogged and the first floor of the houses were flooding.
As soon as the winds died down everyone ran for the drains doing their best to clear the drains.
That's me on the green shirt
A day or two after the hurricane we tried to find some cellphone signal. At this point we were running on our local power plant and had no cellphone signal or water. We had no idea of how much the hurricane damaged the island.
We had a good amount of supplies as well as a solid power plant so it really was a waiting game.
One of the main roads of Dorado
I love how he's always happy
Navigating the roads was nearly impossible, there were brave souls that risked their life to help people move.
We heard a rumor there was some phone signal next to the local Walgreens. At this point we still had no way to contact anyone outside our house and only a single AM radio station was working. Everyone was there struggling to find a hint of signal to contact their loved ones. We had no luck
Dorado, Puerto Rico looking for phone signals
After a few days we headed to take a look at our apartments, the highway was clogged with people trying to find signal, this went on for miles and lasted for weeks. Luckily the apartments only suffered minor damage.
Highway to San Juan
The days before and after the hurricanes were intensely hot.
There was no air conditioner so we gave frequent baths to the little guy. He enjoyed them immensely.
A boarded house in Dorado
Kids entering an empty house
My kid LOVED the extra attention, no phones were working, no playstations were running, no tvs were on. Young kids everywhere had a reason to go outside now, and the neighborhoods were full of bikes.
New friendships were started these days, between all the doom and gloom it was a beautiful thing to witness.
In the early days we spent a lot of time in the family business. The offices were better prepared for emergencies with a stronger power plant and more supplies. One of my father's employee lost everything and had to live there with his family for some months.
My kid would take naps on the air mattresses when we visited.
Our power plant, didn't last long, the constant abuse killed it and there was no repairman available.
The heat became unbearable at nights.
We were also dependent on water deliveries as our drinkable water supply was running low (we had piping running from the pool to the house, so for the most part we could take showers and use the bathroom comfortably).
It was around this time that I started getting seriously worried.
Getting drinkable water
Two weeks after the hurricane we decided to drive to our mom's house, we still hadn't heard from her in all this time and were very worried by now. She lives in the country about an hour and thirty minutes drive from where we were staying.
On this trip we realized how truly fucked the island was. The same story happened for miles and miles, endless gasoline lines, wherever you saw. People were just camping there and many times they would push the cars forward as to not waste more gasoline than needed.
Tankers were always flanked with armed policemen as it became a regular thing for them to be attacked.
San Sebastian
My mother in law was fine, but her sister's house was destroyed . As I write this, it is currently being rebuilt
By early October we had the chance to fly to Miami, we had a photography engagement booked before the hurricane and after having out ticket initially canceled, the airlines honored our ticket.
When it was time to returned I had my wife and son stay on Miami until things were more stable in the island. I hated to be separated from them, but it gave me peace of mind knowing they were safe.
I had not predicted how being by myself would be so detrimental to my mental well being, I went back to my apartment where living conditions where quite poor. There was no water or electricity and my fridge had found new smelly tenants living in there. I'll never forget the smell.
The nights were the worst, it was pitch black in most places and there was barely any distraction to pass the time. I could not edit photos since my main editing machine is this heavy colorful desktop. I also gained twenty pounds eating pure crap everyday (burger king whopper with a warm soda, anything to take my mind of the situation). I was also drinking every heavily every day, anything to pass the time.
During this time I turned once again to my passion and started shooting for myself again.
I started putting calls out for people to shoot with me. Rooftops, abandoned houses, whatever location I could find that would help me focus my energy more positively.
These people quickly became my friends.
Late night rooftop adventures
no tv for you
I also went to a house that seemed abandoned, not sure if it was the hurricane or kids breaking inside that destroyed it. Seeing such a lovely house in the state it was in was a sad reminder of how precarious our situation was.
I started pivoting to shooting couples, by this time I getting close to a month without seeing my wife or my baby and it was taking a toll on my well being.
These guys were amazing. Just being around them filled me with positive energy.
I was offered a second chance to return to Florida and was blessed with a picture perfect moment when I saw my little guy.
Something we loved about Orlando. It's really family friendly. There's a lot of activities that we could take the little dude to.
This is kids park called the "Funderdome"
https://www.instagram.com/camille_dp/ watches over the little guy on a slide
We also fell in love with the Orlando Science Center. It's a pretty special place, one I would love have available closer to home.
Never though I would like Orlando, but as a first time parent I can now understand why so many families move there. It's very family friendly
There's also an abundance of parks and slides.
We spent Halloween in Orlando where he had his first proper Trick or Treat and his first lollipop.
After this we went back to Puerto Rico where things were slowly turning back to normal.
If there was one thing I could learn from this experience is realizing how fragile our sense of well being is.
I'd like to think i'm a pretty positive person but my state of mind degraded at such a speed it took me by surprise. If it wasn't for my love of photography and pushing to do something that gave me happiness i'm not sure how I would've passed those days.
Senén Does Dance: Alejandra
I've always been a fan of people that dance to the beat of their own drum. Alejandra is such a person.
I've always been a fan of people that dance to the beat of their own drum.
Senén Does Art: Color Conspiracy Installation
I'm at my happiest when challenged to do great creative things.
I'm at my happiest when challenged to do great creative things.
I have a lot of respect for Juan Salgado, he's an dedicated artist and someone who constantly inspires me to do better.
He came to me with an idea and a challenge.
10 days, a 12 hour shoot and many buckets of paint later, this is the result
I'm proud to say this is my first art installation, a marriage of the photographer , the tattoos and the artist
It is now the front face of the Color Conspiracy Tattoo shop and art gallery.
Located in San Juan, PR Calle Loiza.
I'd love it if you saw it
A few thank yous
Thank you Juan for believing in me.
To Marie, thank you for all your help, your work ethic is something to be admired! I think I might try being a vegan thanks to your amazing tacos!
To all the models, thank you for your patience and i'm sorry if the water was too cold!
and to Kilomora, who provided me with tremendous assistance especially in the last night of mounting this . Thank you
Senén does Writing: Sunrise with instagrammers
Big Apple 3 A. M.
The day is Saturday and my phone alarm is screaming. It's vibrating furiously crawling away from the table, trying it's very best to drop to the floor and escape my desperate attempt to shut it. It's time to wake up and head out to shoot sunrise. I grab everything that's laid out on the table, glance at the MTA last minute changes and run outside, it will take me two hours to reach Coney Island.
Big Apple 3 A. M.
The day is Saturday and my phone alarm is screaming. It's vibrating furiously crawling away from the table, trying it's very best to drop to the floor and escape my desperate attempt to shut it. It's time to wake up and head out to shoot sunrise. I grab everything that's laid out on the table, glance at the MTA last minute changes and run outside, it will take me two hours to reach Coney Island.
Arriving at Coney Island
The subway is full of people trying their very best to get home from last night's bender. As i'm walking by I spy a beautiful couple laying on the floor of the dirty subway station, the female is wearing a very short sparkly turquoise dress, one broken shoe and her partner’s coat. Her makeup is messed up and her head is rested on his shoulder. He’s doing his best to stay awake, making sure no one gets too close, he’s counting the minutes till the train arrives wishing he was home already.
I am very tempted to capture this moment.
I reach my destination just in the nick of time, with the thundering sun rising over the horizon and the morning birds singing their song.
The empty Boardwalk
My friends are already there, further down the path running to line up shots as soon as possible. We meet up and spend the next hours capturing portraits in the emptiness and silence of the morning sunlight. The only people we see are early runners and elderly couples. We talk about how Instagram has changed and how we’re adjusting to keep things interesting.
It was a successful morning, some incredible photos have been shot and now the sun is too high for to continue shooting. We have breakfast together and head out our own ways.
Days like this have become a somewhat of a tradition in my life. Be it cold, raining or cloudy. The call to shoot sunrise usually comes from Instagram, sometimes a direct message sent by friends, other times a post that is seen by hundreds of thousands of people. The idea is always the same, let’s get a group of talented folk with a passion for shooting together. Let’s see the city from a different point of view and embrace our own unique weirdness.
This is not something I’ve done all my life. For the most part I’ve shied away from working with other photographers. I grew up in a competitive environment where every photographer was jealous of each other. The typical photographer wouldn’t hesitate to stab you in the back and climb over your dead corpse in the desperate attempt to land more gigs, or so I thought. Seeing them not only working together, but also using each other as inspiration and as photo subjects was something alien to me.
For the change of heart and convincing me to open my eyes I have to thank my friend Paola.
She’s nothing if not persistent, driven by a hunger of great things that is matched only by her heart and love for the people around her. She's not only a great photographer, It also helps that she has one of the most genuinely warm smiles I’ve come across
She told me about this thing sunrise thing happening in Seaport and argued with me until finally convinced me to give it a try. I figure at the worst I'll get a few cool photos of the city in a area I don't normally visit.
Pier 17 swarmed by eager instagrammers in the morning fog
That was two years ago and I'm still amazed by seeing the relationships that were formed that day. I still look at those photos with a smile in my face. I've always been grateful to her for pushing me to go. It really only took that one meet for me to get it. Only the dedicated come to shoot sunrise, they bring a passion and for the most part an unique vision. It’s the type of inspiration that can feed an artist. Embracing the community has changed the way I shoot.
Creating moments.
I recommend to anyone that's on the fence about joining a meet to give it chance. Come to one with an open mind. It just might change the way you shoot forever.
Too many to tag
Senen Does Sexy: Laura Ivette
Laura Ivette is a Fitness beauty
A collection of images from my shoot with Laura. See more of her at:
Senen does Writing: On the bipolarism of inspiration and plagiarism
I get a lot of people tagging models and photographers in my Instagram. Like a night fox, they drop someone's name in my feed and then promptly disappear, never saying a word and never hearing from them again. I've always been conflicted on how to react to this.
I get several people tagging models and photographers on my Instagram account. Like a night fox, they drop someone's name in my feed and then promptly disappear…never saying a word and never hearing from them again. I've always been conflicted on how to react to this.
my instagram instagram.com/senen
Some days I am cranky, frustrated and very protective of my work. I know where it ends up. I see someone who's never done anything remotely related to paint suddenly posting images that are disturbingly similar. Sometimes they even end up getting featured all over and praised by their originality. Sometimes they’re sent by friends. Usually followed by messages like “DID YOU SEE THIS!" or "dude this this guy copied your work".
Then there's that repetitive question I get, always from a photographer: What paint do you use? This one makes me want to write an essay how I experiment with paint so I can tell those stories about the long nights where my wife and I would microwave play dough. Or the time I used the wrong paint and ended up getting two different bathtubs completely clogged. Or even the time that we baked colored powder and we ended up looking like something straight out of Breaking Bad..
This is how it looks after a shoot
It makes me wonder what my neighbors think about the funky smells that can come out of my apartment. Short answer: it's never just one source of paint; I’m still experimenting and changing things around.
Camille getting her hands dirty. See more at instagram.com/camille_dp
There are days however, when I stop myself from being so defensive, I realize that inspiration comes to us all in many forms.
My mother used to work long hours at Plaza Las Americas mall in Puerto Rico. She would pick us up after school and take care of us at work. We would spend long hours in a huge shopping mall trying to figure out a way to kill time. A lot of that time was spent in the now defunct Borders thumbing through photography books for what felt like an eternity.
Being amazed by how incredible David’s La Chappelle's use of color was. Gazing at Jaume de la Iguana’s incredible cinematic look. Observing Helmut Newton’s and trying to understand his take on the female form. I still remember the smell, the feel and texture of those books. The heavy photography paper in my hands felt so rich. It’s why I love the physical medium so much.
I still do this!
I realize then that people thumbing through my instagram is just a modern version of what I was doing and I’m mostly being silly. I get back to feeling proud that someone is looking through my images and new stories are being inspired from my work. I remember that if I didn't embrace experimentation and failures I wouldn't have found the love for what I’m doing today. It has led me to some incredible moments.
At the end of the day my images are creating a narration, a conversation and maybe one day after I'm dead and gone there will be someone thumbing through my books, digital or otherwise, with a bright eyes feeling just as inspired as I was.
Julie and Gaby - A Pretty Martian Women story
Today,an earth girl met a pretty martian woman.
Today,an earth girl met a pretty martian woman.
Pretty martian women are born to celebrate life.
For Them
Genders are merely a biological assignment
and the pursuit of pleasure knows no bounds.
When they celebrate life, their stripes swirl, colors bursting with excitement
When they celebrate life, their stripes swirl, colors bursting with excitement
Photos & Concept: Senen llanos | @senen
Brunette Model: Gaby Pagan | @gabypagan Blonde Model: Yulie Padilla | @yuliette3
Makeup: Jeff Orjales | @jefforjales
Paint: Camille Duran | @camille_dp
Senen Does Writing: The Issue
I've spent the last ten years of my life doing mostly nude photography. Last I checked, I have well over 2 million shutter presses and over 400 thousand photos saved on my numerous hard drives. In this time I've seen a lot of naked bodies. It's a privilege to see humans drop their pretenses along with their clothes and embrace their vulnerabilities.
2015 - Chaos
I've spent the last ten years of my life doing mostly nude photography. Last I checked, I have well over 2 million shutter presses and over 400 thousand photos saved on my numerous hard drives. In this time I've seen a lot of naked bodies. It's a privilege to see humans drop their pretenses along with their clothes and embrace their vulnerabilities.
A lot of my subjects compare the process to therapy. Many times they come in as strangers, they talk to me about their life and by the end of it they leave as friends
Camille working the paint
A crucial component of this is my wife Camille. She is always with me working just as hard as I do, sometimes applying paint to our subjects other times becoming a subject herself.
I can't overstate how much she means to me. Her support, her willingness and dedication to do what we love is incredible.
Every day I fall in love with her all over again.
My work has been published in more mediums than I care to count at the moment . I've had some fantastic solo exhibitions where my photography has adorned the walls of incredible exclusive places. Places I would never had seen had it not been for my work and the people that believe in me.
2013 Solo Exhibition with my family.
Thanks to these opportunities I was able to sell my prints for what they are worth and have printed aluminum masterpieces which I'm hugely proud of.
Art on walls
Controversy comes naturally as there's always someone that feels uncomfortable looking at my images. While I expect it to happen I’m pretty blown away by what people choose to find offensive.
Recently we became parents as our little Kael was dropped into our hands screaming and crying. As parents we've been thrust into a crazy new world filled with unexpected insane challenges and some curious human behavior.
I would never imagine the two photos that would cause me the biggest grief are the ones of my pregnant wife and the photo of her breastfeeding our child. It boggles my mind to think THIS is what finally caused people to be so upset with me.
I've received a fair share of messages I won't post here. I've heard of people contacting my family members letting them know how appalled they are by these images.
"OMG Camille is NAKED! He's showing off his wife! OMG He's showing off your grandson while he feeds. That's incredibly rude! THOSE PHOTOS SHOULD BE PRIVATE!" – This is really my interpretation of your reactions
at 8 months pregnant
These words are for you, the people that follow me that are appalled by what they see in my feed.
An intimate moment
What is wrong with you? How is it possible to find a moment as honest as this offensive? Don't you understand that you are what's wrong in this world? Where does this need to feel offended come from?
Please do me a huge solid and delete me from your social media. It’s extremely easy to delete me from Facebook, unfollow me from Instagram etc. I promise I won’t find it offensive at all.
I won't censor my images because they offend your senses. I refuse to believe that's the way things should be.
I'm tired of these petty fights.
All I want is a life worth living. A life behind a lens that celebrates beauty and captures imagination.
All I'll leave is a collection of photos.