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Click any image to view the
pop-up gallery slide show. Helms has built a reputation as one of the most creative photographers in the fetish world, while also maintaining a high-profile career in the world of commercial photography at large. He took a moment from his busy shooting schedule to chat with Eros Zine.
Michael Helms: If it is a model I haven't met before I try to look at her web site or other photos of her to see what she either needs or wants to "fill gaps" in her images. I almost always have a general idea for a "feeling" I want, but all bets are off when the shooting starts. And yes -- as an artist, a photographer must allow creative flow to happen and be sensitive to it. For instance, I shot a model today and what we spent the entire day doing wasn't even in my head until I saw a patch of light by my back door. I've been by that door a thousand times but today, with her, I saw it. Eros Zine: I mentioned light before, and the lighting in many of your photos is so rich. I'm guessing there's a lot of natural light in there? Michael Helms: I love natural light. Soft, diffused, directional. Although I am loving shadows lately. I've had two huge influences in my career. Early on it was Helmut Newton. More recently is has been the amazing work of Perry Gallagher. That guy is a freakin' genius. Photography is about light period. Being a photographer is about being able to see that light. Line, form, movement, texture, composition are all things you can teach. The ability to see is born. Ya got it or ya don't. From Helmut Newton I learned to make images have "feel". Perry influenced me to look at the shadow side of imagery. Perhaps in metaphor as well as in reality. Eros Zine: Do you augment with photofloods or strobes, or do you prefer to illuminate strictly with natural light? Michael Helms: I've been having fun with "hot lights" (tungsten) lately and combining it with natural light. I love seeing the combo of blue and yellow. I have two 2K Bardwell McAllisters that I love. I love ring flash but it is very specific and high key. I use reflectors also -- white ones and silver ones. But mostly I just love to shoot the natural light that is there... whereever "there" might be. So -- yes -- I do prefer to keep it natural as possible. Eros Zine: Is your work shot digitally, on film, or a combination? Michael Helms: Ha -- I'm so glad you asked this one! Film is dead. Not as an art form but for anyone serious about photography. I do this for a living; I can't be messing around with film. There is nothing you can do with film that you can't do, and better, digitally. People who say differently either A) Don't know how to shoot digitally or B) Can't afford a high end pro digital camera or C) Are resistant to change or D) are just too lazy to learn a new way to do things. It isn't easy. And it doesn't stop with just shooting the images. No working pro will survive shooting film in less than 10 years. I like film, I cut my teeth on it... but digital makes me wanna do art. Some magazines still prefer film, but that'll pass. It's a matter of commerce.
Michael Helms: I do a lot of Photoshop work because I have a statement to make with an image. To me, art is communication. So if I have to put butter on a Chihuahua and then stretch him in Photoshop to get the emotional content I want -- then I say "butter and stretch." I saw an image recently with a caption under it. The photographer was bragging about it "not being Photoshopped." To my way of thinking that's like saying "look how dumb I am." If you pick up a camera and point it at someone and push the button, you have manipulated what was there. Photoshop is merely another tool for an artist to affect the feel of an image. A wide angle lens does the same thing; a telephoto lens does something different. I love Photoshop. Look at the crazy wonderful stuff Jeffrey Scott is doing. Practically impossible before Photoshop. Cameras, Photoshop, printing -- they are all different tools of the art. Eros Zine: Do you have a make-up artist you work with, or do you get assistance in staging or costuming? Or is it just the model and you? Michael Helms: I have a gaggle of makeup artists I work with. Some more than others. But with erotic images I prefer the model to do her own makeup and to work with her alone. There's chemistry that happens. I don't mind other people being there - just not in the way or making comments. And I like the model to bring her own clothes unless I am going for something specific... like some images I shot for Tressa at Fierce Couture or Louis at AMF corsets. Those were more specific images for a purpose. If I have a job to shoot or a catalog -- then definitely I'll have hair and makeup. Eros Zine: How did you get into doing erotic photography? Was it always an interest or did something spur you into that form? Michael Helms: I love women. It's that simple. I think their bodies are beautiful and the essence of them. Ever since I was very young I've loved the female form. I got my start a thousand years ago shooting fashion in LA and I asked some of the fashion models about shooting nudes and was fortunate enough to get some wonderful subjects that way. And I had a makeup artist who was a huge model in New York years ago that taught me about posing and line.
Michael Helms: For 25 years I've made my living as a headshot photographer in LA. I am very fortunate in that my business supports my art. I'm very particular about who I shoot and am very guarded about my time so I try to do one erotic shoot a week. Maybe two if I meet someone that intrigues me. Eros Zine: What do you look for in choosing models? Obviously physical beauty -- you've worked with some breathtaking models -- but are there other traits that intrigue you? Michael Helms: Quite honestly, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen (not a fetish model) bored the living hell out of me. I love different. That's one of the things about fetish that intrigues me. The models are different. I like models with beautiful bone structure. One man's "beautiful" is another man's "not so much." But yes, I've had marvelous opportunity to work with many incredibly beautiful women. And I have to say, almost all of them were beautiful all the way through. Makes me want to name names here... but I won't. Those I love know I love 'em. Eros Zine: I know I had the pleasure of meeting you at the San Francisco Fetish Ball -- do you attend a lot of fetish-oriented events? Do you like shooting at events as much as in the studio? What are the different demands of event photography? Michael Helms: No, I really don't care for event photography. I do it because it is fun and there is no pressure other than what I put on myself. I hate on camera flash... ugly light. Events are usually crowded, impersonal, and faster than my slow Southern pace. BUT - the upside is people let go at events. And I can also meet and greet. I'm rather gregarious. I love people. And the SF Fetish Ball was a hoot. Thank you, Paige and the gang! Eros Zine: I notice there are some sculptures and drawings on your commercial photography site. You're known primarily as a photographer, but do you do a lot of other visual arts? How do you think that informs or affects your photography? Michael Helms: Yes -- I'm a stone sculptor. I love the feel of stone and the pleasure of working with the greatest artist there is -- Mother Nature. My drawings are mostly from photographs that mean something to me. Like images of my Mom, my Grandma, my daughter, and a woman who broke my heart years ago. Sculpture informs me about texture and form. Like the way a woman's hip curves or the cup of her breast. The first stone sculpture I ever sold was a breast made of Utah Gold Alabaster. I was on the way to put it in a show I was having and was staring at it frustrated because it felt to me like it lacked something. I got what it was on the way to the show so I dashed in to a Macy's and bought a gold hoop earring, went to the gallery, pierced the nipple on the sculpture, and hung the gold earring in it. It was the only piece in the show that sold and it was gone the first night.
Michael Helms: I'm in a book Taschen is publishing, hopefully this year. Perry Gallagher and I are both in the "Top One Hundred Erotic Photographers" book they are publishing. There is also another book by Feierabend Verlag, out of Germany that is featuring Perry and me. It's a book on fetish. Michael Helms: I've sold a boat load of images through a gallery in Denver that carries my work. I did a show in Ventura at Art City. Some commisions here and there. Bunches of private collectors. I'll get an email from someone who'll want to purchase an image now and then. But, I'm also not as good at marketing my erotic work as I'd like to be. And honestly, I'm not good at keeping track of where I've been published, who has prints of mine, or where they've been used. Once I get paid - I'm done. I don't have much ego attached to my work and I'm actually a little shy when it comes to PR. Even this interview is flattering and nice but a tad embarrassing. If I can pay my mortgage, eat, and buy a few toys... I don't need to be rich or famous. But I'm glad to see people enjoying my work. Eros Zine: What projects are you working on now? Do you have anything planned for the near future that we can anticipate excitedly? Michael Helms: Yeah -- I have an interview with a really groovy on line magazine called Eros Zine -- that should be coming out soon. Hah. I am working on a book of my own. But I also have two stone sculpting projects on the drawing board that are gonna take a little time. And I'm very excited about some underwater and half in/half out of the water images that I'm gonna shoot this summer when it gets warm. I have one such image up on my web site from when I first got the camera housing... but the weather turned cold before I could do more. Eros Zine: Thanks for talking to us, Michael! Fans of Michael's work can keep up with him at his erotic site at MLH Photo or at his more commercial site, MichaelHelms.com.
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