Happy New Year with Aja Jane (Patreon)

I think I got this idea when I saw an image of Marisa Papen with a handful of sparklers sticking out from her butt Tiny.cc/mpapen  - and I decided to make a New Years card with a twist. I'm inspired by all sorts of things but I don't try to redo something other people have done chapter and verse. Inspiration in my mind is seeing something interesting and altering, modifying or building upon it. The image of Marissa's butt is meaningless in my opinion, but there is an audacity to placing a sparkler in someones ass.

First I thought about who the model could be. Shooting something like this that can cause a bit of outcry needs a ballsy model and Aja is that. Former ballerina, performed naked firedance at Berlin nightclubs and very strong views on feminisms and the male gaze.

I explained what I wanted and she thought it sounded like a fun idea and was onboard. I wanted to make something that was within the Instagram guidelines, but nudging at the borders to outline their stupid policies.

I thought a lot about how to attach the sparkler.  I knew I needed some heat insulation as the handles conduct heat very well and I did not want to burn the model. I mentioned that I'd probably come up with something before we shoot as I have been doing a lot of rigging things for advertising. Aja just said cool, and if we can't figure anything else out We'll just stick it in a cork and attach that.

In the end I figured out if I bent a clothes hanger (from a dry cleaner) I could make a shape that couldn't be seen but where I could easily wind the end of a sparkler around the handle.

After testing a bit shooting with and without underwear I decided on the one you see in the attached image.

For the text I opened the camera on B - or Bulp mode (click the shutter for open and click again for close) using a remote and just photographing on a black background. Then I wrote the text with a sparkler in 3-4 parts, and did each segment 4-5 times until I felt I had what I needed. And obviously just reversed the image so its not mirrored.

And in the end I composited the parts together (sparklers on black set to screen blending mode.

Check out my course on editing for more info on blending modes https://shop.commandoart.com/collections/online-training/products/learn-model-retouch-with-thomas-holm-online-course

And the image created an outcry. Mostly because feminists believed I was objectifying women and they found it completely outrageous that I placed a sparkler in Aja's ass. People see what they want to see ...