Zoe Fest X 2011 was held in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
figuremodels.org/festx

Behind the scenes footage courtesy of Michael Marlborough. michaelmarlborough.com

It was 100 degrees on the Southern Tip of Baja at the end of the day on October 24, 2011.

Zoe Fest is a yearly fine art nude artist retreat held in different areas of the globe. 2009 and 2010 were held in Australia. From 2002-2008 we were in different areas of the United States. This was it’s 10th year, hence the “X.”

Models: Carlotta Champagne, Sara Liz, Anne Duffy, Tara Liggett, Claudine, St. Merrique, Anoush Anou, Ella Rose, Brooke Lynne, Samantha Grace, Stephanie Anne, Meghan Claire, Keira Grant, Rebecca Lawrence and Candace Nirvana.

You do funny things when you hold a camera sometimes to get certain angles. I know I’m weird.

First video by me.

Thanks to Michael Marlborough for filming the behind the scenes action!

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And an image from the shoot.

15 Mexico © 2011 Zoe Wiseman

then you are very strange.

Happy Tuesday!

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Thank you to everyone who played a part in making 2010 a special year for me. It was filled with happy moments and great picture making. Trips to Australia, New Orleans, New England and all over my home state of California. Book publishings, gallery exhibitions, magazine features, working with amazing models and learning quite a bit and growing quite a bit.

A really special thank you to all the people at A&I. The exhibitions that I participated in were so much fun and I met so many wonderful people. It’s nice being part of a beautiful photo community in the city where I live. Thank you for allowing me to put on such a big solo exhibition too!

Australia. I love you. I love your people. I love your land. I want to throw a rope around the tail hitch of the plane each time I leave and drag you back to California with me. I do. I do! I hope all of you in Queensland are staying somewhat dry right now. What a flood! Sorry.

Thank you to all the collectors who purchased my work this year. While book and magazine publishings really make one happy, nothing makes someone happier than when someone likes the work so much that they buy it and hang it on their wall. Pure happiness!

Thank you to American Photo for making me their centerfold this July! What a hoot! 1o years later this photo is still being published. Love that.

Thank you very much to all the models who worked with me this year. I hope the work we did reaches the pages of more books and magazines in the future. You’ll be the first to know!

Thank you to Feierbend Unique Books, 1x, Sunset Studios and A&I for all the publishing and exhibits!

Thank you to everyone who has joined up on my new site Figure Models.

Thank you to Julia Dean Photo Workshops for having me participate in their workshop line up. It’s great to be teaching along with so many amazing photographers in such a warm and professional atmosphere.

And speaking at Apple about iPhone photography! Geek moment to remember!

And thank you to all the people who have touched me personally this year. Who have helped me see the world a bit more positively and shared my love of the earth, sky and water. Made me laugh, made me cry, and supported me in ways that gave me that special boost to carry on. I love you all.

Enjoy some photos from what will be remembered as a very amazing year! Bring on 2011!! Happy New Year!

A little bit of work I did when I was shooting in Australia. Enjoy. More soon…

2009 was rather good to me. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, and there are a lot of people out there I send my love to and thanks. You all know who you are… and there are so many of you I don’t think I could begin to name each one of you or I would be here till next year! Yes… I’m that thankful and that graciously overjoyed that you are all in my life.

In these troubled times of economic crisis and the loss of work of so many people around the world, 2010 really should be a time to come together and stand by one another in order to better all of our lives. I’ve been trying to do my part within the art community by building bridges and creating opportunities for not only myself, but for all the friends who share my love of photography. I was able to do this several times in 2009. I feel honored to have contributed to connecting people and hopefully leaving them with a bright spot when they look back upon the year in reflection.

January 2009 started out working with the Palm Springs Photo Festival producing all the workshops and organizing all of those days. Finding talent and assistants and working with some quite amazing photographers helping them get their classes off without a hitch. I got to meet some of my favorite photographers, Greg Gorman, Steve McCurry and Duane Michals and help them produce an outstanding workshop program for their students. It wasn’t all fun and games at times because it was a lot of work, but it was a great experience that I’ll always look back on and smile at. A bright spot.

I launched ARTnudes Network in June – A Networking/blogging website for models, photographers, painters, sculptures and sketchers – Mostly fine art nude photography, but all artists are welcome to jump in as long as it’s art related. I’ve had this concept on hold for so many years and it is amazing to finally get it going and see so many people connecting with each other. There are still many things to do with it and it will be done! It’s intended for serious artists, and artists who want to be serious.

In August my best friend, brides maid, and always epic photographically model (that was a mouth full) – Ida Mae, gave birth to a baby boy. I am so happy for her!!! We were planning on another maternity shoot before she gave birth two days before she went into labor a month early. What a beautiful moment of 2009. I got to see her in November when I was staying in Hanover, New Hampshire over Thanksgiving. Brief but special. It was great seeing her in her element.

In October I had a most excellent vacation to Australia with several of my friends from Community Zoe. I’ve written quite a bit about it on this site, but I can’t begin to describe the amazing time that was had. It was perfect. The best one yet. Might have to do it again! This is definitely a bright spot – but more like an entire sun ray – or if you would look at a pie chart this would take over about 40% of the pie. At least. So, super sunny spot. Maybe I should create a pie chart with the amount of bright spots and relative percentage of impact they had on me over the year. hmm.

In September my modeling work was hanging in two galleries at the same time. In Melbourne, Australia in the work of Michael Marlborough and in Charlotte, North Carolina in the work of Bryce Lankard. Two of my best friends and they both had gallery shows at the same time. Kind of cool. And my photography work was published in the book 210 Photographers – 1×2. That three thing. Sunny.

October was Australia, but more of my work was also published in the book NUDES Indexx II . Then the newspaper clip about all of us in the Cairns’ Post.

Once returning from Australia I helped Jeff Dunas get his Palm Springs Photo Festival community site up and running, then it was a gallery show at A&I called I Spy With My Plastic Eye, and another book publishing that was produced for the show. The print that I made for the show has sold too, so bonus! It all benefitted WeSpark – a non-profit organization that provides free support for cancer patients. It makes me feel good that my art was benefitting such an important cause and thank you to A&I, Astor Morgan and Baret Lepejian for having me be a part of such a cool event!

I attended the BMI Awards to watch my husband receive his 8th BMI Crystal Statue @ the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the one from Pretty Woman. You never know who will be at these award ceremonies. One year we were sitting at a table next to Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys and another time Paul Anka and Mark Mothersbaugh from DEVO and another time the family members from the late Howling Wolf. It’s great people watching, good food, and a great celebration for all the recording artists that BMI represents. And concerning copyright, I don’t know of another organization that fights for the rights of artists in the way they do. If only photographers, painters and other artists had something similar. I learn a lot each time I go. And it’s always a proud moment watching my husband get an award.

In December I got a wonderful opportunity to have a solo showing of my nudes @ A&I in Hollywood. I’ll be producing a book and showing about 40 – 50 of my prints. The opening reception will be on February 18, 2010. (my fingers still want to type 2009, eeek, have to get used to that!) So, I’ve been in editing mode from the day I found out until now. Excluding the lovely time I spent in Kauai, Hawaii during the Holidays. I think I’ll be making Hawaii a December ritual.

Speaking of Kauai – I also was able to make beautiful pictures with a model there named Whitne Drake who, as luck would have it, lives about 15 miles from where we were staying. So, I’ll end this with a few pictures we made together in Kauai at the end of the road and at the end of 2009.

Thank you to all who have come into my life, I’ve learned many things from all of you. If you stand in the light, the shadows look prettier. And if we can all come together for good in 2010 maybe the shadows won’t feel so forgotten or “insert random thought of wisdom here.” I think all of us can make it brighter. I’ll do my best.

Enjoy some pictures. Film images coming later… these are iPhone nudes if you can believe it. My secret’s out!

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

© 2009 Zoe Wiseman ~ Model: Whitne

What an amazing time I had in ….. Australia! Carsten Tschach was the only one who guessed correctly. But, I wonder if he had the inside scoop. ha.

So, back to reality and processing many many images. I’ll catch up with everything as soon as I’m finished, but wanted to share just a couple and some news! News first…

Feierabend ~ Nudes Index II

The book I’m in is now available to purchase! I still have no idea what images they chose. Normally I’m sent a PDF for approval, but I know it took quite a long time for the book to be released so I assume they went through some hoops at some point so I’m not too worried. It’s out and I’m anxiously awaiting my copy. I’m sure it looks great.

I was also spotted in the Cairns Post on October 10 with one of my great friends Candace Nirvana! A lot of things were spoken about fine art nudes, and I realized it was just going to be a little fluff piece, but it still put a great smile on my face! I said A LOT more about timelessness and the appropriateness of what we do, but they wanted something fun to say about Mission Beach. You give and take in these situations. The kicker was when Stephanie Anne and I went to Paranella Park and a park employee recognized me after being curious about why we were staying in certain locations longer than the average park attendee. They have a nice little restaurant at the park – the chicken and vegetable pie is highly recommended. We sat down to coffee and chicken pie and the park employee walked up to us and asked if this was me. I giggled and said yes, then he asked for my autograph. What a riot! The park has pictures and autographs on the walls as you go in… so if you ever go to the park let me know if I’m hanging there! Cameron Attree graced the article with his photographs. If only we/he could have shown what we wanted to… in a perfect world. The Australians are amazing! I’ve cried each time I’ve had to leave this beautiful country, and this time was no exception. Maybe I need a winter home there. Or maybe it was just as great as it was because I was surrounded with some really good friends… You really don’t think that an online world could ever amount to anything lasting, but after doing these for 8 years and seeing those you communicate with online on a daily basis brought together over a common love, everyone is happy, helpful, and they all end up being extended family after a time.  And that’s just how I feel about all these beautiful people… Sisters, brothers. Good stuff. I love them all. Especially Michael Marlborough who has been a friend since 3 days after I launched my very first website in 1997. He helped me so much this year. I don’t know what I could ever do to say Thank You… except to say, Thank You. Australia may have help put that over-the-top Aussie juice all over it so that it messed up my emotional reasoning even more. It was definitely a combination of both. I’ll be back!

Michael Marlborough and Me

You can read more about our Australia trip here: www.figuremodels.org/australia

Publicity in the Cairns Post

I also loved this snap of myself and three of my incredible friends that Cameron took with my camera… Thank you Cam!

Lovely Women!

And Cameron ALSO was gracious enough to take a group shot of us all with all of our flags that became a tradition last year.

Group Image

And last but definitely not least! Some final images I created while in OzLand.

Madame Bink

Dream Time - Madame Bink

Madame Bink

Madame Bink