Photo Events: Art and Run.

Photo Events: Art and Run.

Patrick Richmond Nicholas has decided to show off. He organises photo events in cafés, spas, clubs; they are not strictly exhibitions as nothing is hung on the wall. Rather he displays his work on an easel, explaining how the Belle series has developed over the years.

During his photo events, Patrick recounts anecdotes about the individual works. He invites some of his collaborators to appear with him: the make up artist Simonetta Baletti, and sculptor Giorgio Bevignani with whom he has often worked, and one or two of his models.

Pauline alongside her picture "Dragon" by Patrick Richmond Nicholas during Art and Run Photo Events

Pauline alongside her picture “Dragon.”

Here he is (left) with Pauline who appeared in Dragon 2011. The role of the model in art is often underestimated and though she is sometimes given credit as a muse this tends to sound passive, almost ethereal.

At  Art and Run Patrick introduces his models as active participants in the development of the image. He does not work with professionals on the Belle. He chooses the models, or very often they choose him, women from all walks of life, and they are from the very first involved in the creative process. The advantage of using old masters as inspiration is that both artist and model can choose paintings and sculpture as a jumping off point to explain, to illustrate, and to bounce around ideas.

In a creative venture like the Belle, the model is more important than in a conventional fashion shoot. She is the protagonist in a unique image; she is centre-stage, she is involved from the outset in the creation of the picture; without her the image would probably have been very different…… or may not have been born at all. To see the model on the stage, talking about her picture, ready to answer questions from the audience, willing to explain her role in the creation of her image, is fundamental to an Art and Run event.

Rosita with her picture "Flying Down to Rio" by Patrick Richmond Nicholas during Art and Run Photo Events

Rosita with her picture “Flying Down to Rio.”

In this particular event in Bologna, the city where Patrick created the first image in the Belle series back in 1988, he invited Rosita onto the stage to talk not only about her role in the most recent picture from December 2012 Flying Down to Rio, but also to recount how they had worked together over twenty years ago, before marriage, before children, and why she decided to pose again after such a long gap.

Art and Run photo events last about an hour. After which the public may come forward to look more closely at the prints, browse through the Belle book, and ask further questions of  the artist, his collaborators and the models. The audience loves meeting the models.

The pictures on show are for sale as are the Belle books.

Last but not least, a member of the audience may enquire about participating in a picture with herself as the protagonist; it is one of the attractions of Art and Run Photo Events that the audience is given the opportunity to appear in the next show.

 

Siren. Association of Photographers award winning picture of Rosita, 1994. Image by Patrick Richmond Nicholas

Siren. Association of Photographers award winning picture of Rosita, 1994 Image by Patrick Richmond Nicholas