new site!

de León Photography has a new home . . .

When we first added my galleries to the same site as the journal Standards, I never expected my hand on a camera would ever amount to more than an incidental aside, leaving the journal as the prominent focus of the Dust Jacket site. In the last few years, my work has come to interfere with the goals and presence of the journal, so I'm moving to my own zone on the web *s

I've also come to recognize that I actually like working for free; the collaborations with models in Claiming Masculinity and the Art of Scars portfolios are my most rewarding photographs. Thus, I've taken the leap into not for profit photography (or just started admitting that's what I do, as some friends tease *s).

Going through the process of filing for 501(c)(3) status is arduous, and would make me a corporation. I'm not certain I'm up for all that. The only benefit would be so that your donations are tax deductible, and we're really only talking the Five Dollar Freedom Fund, or the cost of the prints.

You all will have to let me know what you think about this. I'm content working under the international guidelines for not for profits organizations (NFPO) with charitable intent.

Oh, wondering why the domain name "viewshock"? That's because the most frequent exclamation I hear from models, when I photograph them, is "That's me?!"

Mm hmm. That's you.

And I like the sound of "viewshock." No idea why.

Let me know what you think of the site. It's probably still a bit buggy.

You'll have to be patient with the load time of the larger flash movies . . . but hey: google analytics tells me my site has a 65% faster load time than the average website *s

Happy Holidays to everyone, if I don't post before then.

xo,

~Emmanuela

Geez . . . Okay . . .

I've no idea why it matters, but you all are (annoyingly) cute to keep pestering asking *s

Yes, I'm single.

Yes, I'm dating.

No, I'm not in a committed relationship.

Yes, I'm open to that.

Yes, I'm still queer. (WTF? Honey, I've been out, since 19 and 80. C'mon.)

Yes, I'm considering relocation. Aren't I always? *s

Yes, I still have a child at home. She just turned 5.

No, my child isn't going anywhere without me. Sacred oath and all that.

Really, does it matter?

Who has time to wonder about these things?

Big love to the pests,

~Emmanuela

still updating . . .

You'd think WYSIWYG editors would be easy. But noooo . . .

Well, not for me, cuz I've been doing the hand-coding for so long, I always wanna get my hands dirty. The "easier" an app makes something, the more frustrated I become at how limiting it is, for me *s

Okay, so, I'm working on the catalog of still images. I just haven't quite figured out a design for all that. It's a huge undertaking.

Meanwhile, I'm hearing from the Claiming Masculinity participants that they want their pages restored! Ooookay. At the moment, I've put up redirect pages, for those of you who have direct links to particular spots that no longer exist (Linus. Darling. What were you thinking? 134 links to a single page??), so everything redirects to the new pages.

Will someone please poke Joe Mario to get his cute little ass back over here, for his second set? I can't do anything, until he models for the rest of the shoot. Mm hmm.

I'd also like to catch up with the rest of you participants, during my downtime, if you get a chance. So call or email me. Big Daddy Dre: this means you xo

Don't be alarmed. Repeat: do. not. be alarmed.

I'm moving my site.

:: gulp ::

Listen: I have way too much work to keep hosting everything at Dust Jacket. I never expected this little photography thing to expand . . .

There will be links, and I'll leave basic pages at Dust Jacket, during the transition.

Because my work is not for profit (yes, I still shoot primarily for free, and put all the paid work back into the other projects), I'll still be affiliated with Dust Jacket, so it's just moving next door *s

Art of Scars is a project I'm just loving—that might seem an odd statement, about a trauma survivor project, but hell, I'm a survivor, too. These are my people *s

I have openings in December (horrible month for trauma survivors, ack) so, if there are those who would like to work with me, either privately or for my project, please see my bookings page, for information on how to work with me for free, and for rates. We'll muddle through the glitz and madness together, while ensuring you're seen the way you wish to be, mm hmm.

No travel plans, at the moment. There's a lovely little femme I'm hoping to shoot in Ontario, at my next opportunity. When/if I head out that way, I'll post a notice here.

Thanks to everyone for sticking with me,

~Emmanuela

On Stills

Several people have asked about still photos for my website.

The first time, I just said, "No."

I was thinking I didn't want to mess with all that . . .

Then someone asked, "How do I order prints, if you don't have a catalog and still photos for choices?"

Oh.

The next person asked basically the same thing.

'K.

Do you know how much work that's going to be? Well, okay, putting together a catalog and stills is not, in itself, a great deal of work; I suppose you all know that, if you saw that I had those things on the site, before I changed the design *s

What was driving me nuts, though, is the fact that all the thumbnails were of different sizes and shapes. No, seriously. So now I have to be completely anal about it, and . . . well, yanno.

Gimme a minute?

If you have something imperative in mind, you can email me. I'll help you figure out the title of the photo(s). If it's something no longer on my site (or on flickr) . . . um . . . stab me?

I'll get it all back together, soonish.

Who knew people wanted to buy this stuff . . .

And thank you *s

xo

~Emmanuela

New Claiming Masculinity Open Call!

My site is continuing to evolve . . .

Claiming Masculinity has a new Open Call, complete with a flash movie.

My galleries, too, are now presented as music videos. I like this style, because I'm epileptic, and the lightbox presentation requires too much popping of things at me *s

I do see one small technical problem with the current version of the movies: the user can stop the presentation, to view individual photos but restarting means going back to the very beginning of the show, rather than continuing from where the user was previously viewing. Okay, so I'll work on that . . . after I get some sleep . . . *s

Give me a shout out, to let me know what you like and don't like, about the current design of the site.

I'm already hearing a lot of feedback about the changed Claiming Masculinity galleries.

Here's the deal: I have so much work held in archive, I simply cannot continue to present everything on my site. I'm trying to find a viable way to show what I do, without overwhelming the new viewers. I know participants were attached to the Claiming Masculinity archives, but I have to keep producing and displaying new works.

Already, I've purchased a new domain, to allow the Standards journal to flourish, without my photography in the way. I never expected my little photos to take up this much space, honestly . . .

I'll keep my works on the dustjacketpress server, during the transition (no, not that kind of transition *s), so no one gets lost.

In the meantime, I'll be thinking of ways to show all of my works, while still handling the costs, and feeding the babe. Ay.

Hey, and check out the new Art of Scars works. Let me know what you think.

My gratitude to all of you. Thanks for keeping up with me—and especially for letting me know about things like broken links and special requests. I'm glad the site means something to our communities. De veras.

~Emmanuela

I am not a preexisting condition.

I love this . . .

Update on Claiming Masculinity & My Photography

Claiming Masculinity Project Manager PJ Whitt and I have discussed what makes most sense for the continuation of this work.

We've hit upon the following . . .

I will add the galleries of original photos to my redesigned site, in the next few weeks;

Claiming Masculinity will now be closed, except to any of the original participants who are available and interested in pursuing the Project, whom I will continue photograph in updates of their lives, free of charge;

The only exceptions to this policy will be for those new participants to whom I have promised sessions: you will be added to the Project Portfolio, as soon as I am able to meet with you.

I thank each of you for the tremendous amount of interest in this project. I regret my inability to travel more broadly, or to meet with each of you, when I have been on location.

And yes: enough demand will cause me to reopen the project . . . I'm soft that way *s

PJ and I would like to continue offering photography to all AGs, butches, studs, masculine-identified transpersons and intersexed individuals—anyone who was not born "male," but identifies as masculine.

We know some of you don't necessarily wish to be in the "spotlight" of a national project: here, we're branching out a bit, offering our services to the nontraditional masculine individuals who have been patiently waiting for a shoot.

Now is your time to be seen.

If you're new to our work, what PJ Whitt offers is not only assistance on the set: she's the type of butch who can help you redesign your entire wardrobe, in a few emails; help you understand everyday skin and hair care; prepare you for your next job interview or date; and generally advise you on how to always be seen in the "right light."

My job is to make you comfortable in front of the lens, and capture the sides of you never before photographed: your personal best.

So, yes: if you're a nontraditional masculine individual, in need of photos, for your interview; publicity shot; modeling portfolio; training portfolio; websites; or dating personals . . . I still do that.

Get with me about rates. And yes: I still offer a sliding scale.

This season, we're working in the greater NYC and Philadelphia areas. I'm able to do more distant destination photography, with advance notice.

I'm photographing everyone these days, so I'm mad busy . . .

Keep in touch,

~Emmanuela

Website Update!

Been a minute, because I've been doing the daily grind over there at flickr (where, if you're not a member, you can't see most of my works, cuz they're set to "moderate" or "restricted," mm hmm, but I've finally got my act together, and redesigned my website (where you can see everything). Ta da!

There's a new front page, too.

Okay, so the Claiming Masculinity galleries are down, for the moment. You all will have to let me know how you feel, about that. Over the last year, I've been talking with all of you, and there have been so many changes, I'm leaning toward a whole new set of everybody (not just you, Big Daddy Dre *s).

Meanwhile, I've been photographing femmes. Yup, you heard right. So y'all masculine types can rush over to my galleries, and let me know what you think of the new works.

And most of the recent models have been coming to me to heal trauma. This has evolved into a portfolio I'm calling The Art of Scars. Hey, we've all got scars, whether visible or not. Photographing the beauty of survival is part of the wonder of my work.

And . . . are you wondering . . . is the rumor true: did Emmanuela break ranks with the butch-femme dance? Let me put it this way: I've never been one for "ranks" and, if you've been paying any attention to me at all, over the last several years, you know that's right. What does it even mean, to pay allegiance to one form of loving over another? I was the girl who said butch on butch is hot, hot, hot . . . remember? *s

So, yeah . . . it's true: I fell for one of those women who don't quite identify as "butch." Neither does she identify as "femme." There are still some regions of the world where those markers just don't make any sense, for the citizenry. What're ya gonna do.

I'm happy, and I'm still me. Now, as to whether I'm still seeing that one, let the rumors fly . . . *s

xo