After the Pose

This was the last frame of a two-hour session. She had been holding poses for me all afternoon and I had told her we were finished. She turned away to reach for her robe and paused, one hand still on the plinth, and the entire line from ear to lower back arranged itself into a single unbroken curve that I had been trying to direct all day without success.

The plinth gives the composition a geometric anchor. Its hard edges and flat planes create a dialogue with the organic curves of the body. The graduated background moves from near-black at the top to a slightly lighter tone at the base, which creates depth without distraction.

This image is the sculptural centrepiece of the Figure Study series. It treats the body as pure form, as something that could be carved in marble. It earns its debt to classical sculpture by finding the pose that no direction could have produced.