Jasper Johal posts
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Shadows
I don’t normally shoot typical “glamor” images. It’s not because I think there is anything wrong with it; I just find it more interesting to shoot images that capture an athlete’s strength, a dancer’s skill, or a yogi’s practise.In this case we started off shooting some yoga nudes in my studio. But once we were done my friend asked me if I could create some “straight glamor” images for her. She needed some to submit to a magazin...
Reflection
O, weary hearts! O, slumbering eyes!O, drooping souls, whose destiniesAre fraught with fear and pain,Ye shall be loved again!No one is so accursed by fate,No one so utterly desolate,But some heart, though unknown,Responds unto his own.Responds,—as if with unseen wings,A breath from heaven had touched its stringsAnd whispers, in its song,“Where hast thou stayed so long!”– from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Dancer
“You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.” ―Merce Cunningham
Let it be
Let it be, let it be,Whisper words of wisdom, let it beAnd when the night is cloudythere is still a light that shines on meShine until tomorrow, let it be–– Paul McCartney (1969)MEDITATION, more than anything, helps me through the hard days of life. It creates a sense of stillness in my mind, and serenity in my heart.
Music on the Waters
There be none of Beauty's daughtersWith a magic like thee;And like music on the watersIs thy sweet voice to meWhen, as if its sound were causingThe charmed ocean's pausing,The waves lie still and gleaming,And the lull'd winds seem dreaming– from a poem by Lord Byron
Kiss of Love
On such a tranquil night as this,She woke Endymion with a kiss,When, sleeping in the grove,He dreamed not of her love.Like Dian’s kiss, unasked, unsought,Love gives itself, but is not bought;Her voice, nor sound betraysIts deep, impassioned gaze.It comes,—the beautiful, the free,The crown of all humanity,—In silence and aloneTo seek the elected one.– from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1807-1882)
Bound Lotus pose
BADDHA PADMASANA (बद्ध पद्मासन): When feeling scattered I find the Baddha Padmasana (bound lotus pose) the best for grounding my energy. It helps to rein in an overactive mind, and brings my focus back to a still, quiet place in my heart.
Temple Dancer
I had a friend who was a book worm, and totally obsessed with fantasy novels. I decided to create a photo for her where she is a character in one of her novels.
Dance Flow (Photo Essay)
Karina is now an exceptionally gifted yogi, but I met her long before she started doing yoga.She saw my work and appreciated the tasteful and elegant nudes I was creating. When she came to my studio I was struck by her intelligence and enthusiasm. Since she did not have any yoga skills yet, we just turned on the music and let her flow.I loved the beautiful impromptu dance she created.
Angel
You call me an angel of love and of light,A being of goodness and heavenly fire,Sent out from God’s kingdom to guide you aright,In paths where your spirits may mount and aspire.You say that I glow like a star on its course,Like a ray from the alter, a spark from the source.You must thank your own worth for what I grew to be,For the demon lurked under the angel in me.– from a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1815–1919)PHOTO: Julina was a traveli...
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form, mixing dance with martial arts. It owes its existence to sugar.In the Indian subcontinent, sugar has been in use for over two millennia, but for Europeans, it was an expensive novelty when the Crusaders first discovered it in the middle-east around 1100s. Honey was the sweetener Europeans were familiar with.When the Portuguese sailed out into the Atlantic and started colonizing the eastern coast of South America ...
Prayer
Life is a mysteryEveryone must stand aloneI hear you call my nameAnd it feels like homeJust like a prayer, your voice can take me thereJust like a muse to me, you are a mysteryJust like a dream, you are not what you seemJust like a prayer, no choice your voice can take me thereJust like a prayer, I'll take you thereIt's like a dream to me– lyrics by Madonna (1989)_This highly controversial song was a turning point for Madonna. She wrote...
Serenely sweet
One shade the more, one ray the less,Had half impaired the nameless graceWhich waves in every golden tress,Or softly lightens o'er her face;Where thoughts serenely sweet express,How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.– from a poem by Lord Byron (1814)
Wisdom within
My goal out-distances the utmost star,Yet is encompassed in my inmost Soul;Iammy goal—my quest, to know myself.To chart and compass this unfathomed sea,Myself must plumb the boundless universe.My Soul contains all thought, all mystery,All wisdom of the Great Infinite Mind:This is to discover, I must voyage far,At last to find it in my pulsing heart.– a poem by Carrie Williams Clifford (1862–1934)PHOTO: Laura Jane is an Australian dancer who...
Magic like thee
There be none of Beauty's daughtersWith a magic like thee;And the midnight moon is weavingHer bright chain o'er the deep;Whose breast is gently heaving,As an infant's asleep:So the spirit bows before thee,To listen and adore thee;With a full but soft emotion,Like the swell of Summer's ocean.– from a poem by Lord Byron (1788–1824)
Eloquent back
Most people are used to expressing themselves through intonation and facial expressions. But dancers learn to express themselves with their entire body. Some of my dancer friends can say more with just their back, that others can with words.
Vargas Pinup
Photography was preceded by painting as the preferred medium for magazine illustration.Back in the 1930s an artist named George Petty created the classic pinup illustrations for GQ magazine. These “Petty Girls” proved very popular, and fueled GQ’s sales.When Petty asked for a higher fee for his work, GQ terminated his contract and replaced him with a Peruvian born artist named Alberto Vargas, paying Vargas just a fraction of the money they ...
Acro Yoga
Starting with the early 2000s I started to see yogis come to my photo studio in pairs and do acrobatic poses that seemed more circus than yoga. The most skilled ones were actually circus people who had taken up yoga.Though I had photographed some partner photos similar to this as early as the late 1990s, after the turn of the millennium I started to hear a new term, “acroyoga”. This particular photo was taken 12 years ago. These two were stud...
Urdvha Dhanurasana (Wheel pose)
Urdvha Dhanurasana (Wheel pose), and the more advanced Eka Pada Urdvha Dhanurasana (One-legged Wheel pose), are difficult yoga poses. But once we learn to rise up into them, they are a great way to warm up the whole body, and the spine in particular. It is a favorite way for many of my yoga models to warm up their backs before we do poses that involve deep backbends of any kind.
Hangin' upside down
Hangin' onHangin' outSome are hangin' upside downA perfect worldA perfect girlOh - another year rolls byI'm the kingAnd you're my queenWhen those zombies all awakeA broken heartA broken homeAin't no tears upon your face– lyrics from a song by David Byrne, one of the seminal voices of New Wave musicPHOTO: Kitti is a Hungarian model who is very adept at hanging upside down from a lyra. From a shoot we did in LA some years ...
Live again
Ah! Up then from the ground sprang IAnd hailed the earth with such a cryAs is not heard save from a manWho has been dead, and lives again.About the trees my arms I wound;– from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)PHOTO: Issa is a charming athletic goddess from Sweden. We had a fun afternoon shooting when she was visiting Venice Beach in southern California some years ago.IG: @isssas
Perish
All sin was of my sinning, allAtoning mine, and mine the gallOf all regret. Mine was the weightOf every brooded wrong, the hateThat stood behind each envious thrust,Mine every greed, mine every lust.And all the while for every grief,Each suffering, I craved reliefWith individual desire,Craved all in vain! And felt fierce fireAbout a thousand people crawl;Perished with each,—then mourned for all!– from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892...
Searching for Peace
‘Were not all her life but stormWould not painters paint a formOf such noble lines,’ I said,‘Such a delicate high head,All that sternness amid charm,All that sweetness amid strength?’Ah, but peace that comes at length,Came when Time had touched her form.– from a poem by Irish poet, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)PHOTO: Liz combining yoga with dance, as she moves to music in my Venice Beach studio.Instagram: @thelizashley
Angst
My anguished spirit, like a bird,Beating against my lips I heard;Yet lay the weight so close aboutThere was no room for it without.And so beneath the weight lay IAnd suffered death, but could not die.– from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
TURN, TURN, TURN
A time of love, a time of hateA time of war, a time of peaceA time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracingTo Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)And a time for every purpose, under HeavenA time to gain, a time to loseA time to rend, a time to sewA time to love, a time to hateA time for peace, I swear it's not too late– song lyrics by Peter Seeger (1919–2014)_________________Today I sit here and ponde...
Prayer Dance
Lift my knees from the groundI will put my feet downI will dance all my prayersUnto GodWith a swing and a swayI will do it my wayThat's why I dance all my prayersUnto GodDo I stand for peace and love?Yes I will...express myself to God in my danceAnd when I pray I feel rhythm and songThat's why I dance all my prayersUnto God– song lyrics by Rachelle FerrellPHOTO: Shawn is a yoga teacher from Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a mystical bent. Sh...
DREAM
Last eve in dreams, I saw thee stand,Like queenly nymphs from Fairy-land—Enchantress of the flowery wand,Most beauteous Isadore!And when I bade the dreamUpon thy spirit flee,Upturned, did overflowing seemWith the deep, untold delightOf Love’s serenity;Thy classic brow, like lilies whiteAnd pale as the Imperial NightUpon her throne, with stars bedight,Enthralled my soul to thee!– from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
Fire
You've walked me through firesPulled me from flamesIf You're in this with meI won't be afraidWhen the smoke billows higher and higherAnd it feels like I can barely breatheI'll walk through these fires'Cause You're walking with me– lyrics by Jordan St. Cyr, Krissy Nordhoff and Micah KuiperPHOTO: Devyn has a beautifully muscled back and inspiring form. Watching her dance and flow to music is such a pleasure. Each time we s...
Dream of you
I ask but one thing of you, only one,That always you will be my dream of you;That never shall I wake to find untrueAll this I have believed and rested on,Forever vanished, like a vision goneOut into the night. Alas, how fewThere are who strike in us a chord we knewExisted, but so seldom heard its toneWe tremble at the half-forgotten sound.The world is full of rude awakeningsAnd heaven-born castles shattered to the ground,Yet still our human longi...
Ballerina
As society was being transformed by industrialization in the 1800s, dance became a dominant form of mainstream entertainment. No longer reserved for just the aristocracy, dancers started performing at cafes, bars and local theaters.Other artists, hanging out at these urban watering holes, were entranced by dancers as subjects for their own art. Painters like Edgar Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec found them a rich source of inspiration.As a teenage imm...
