Mark Velasquez Photography's gallery

The first Sunday in January I was sitting around bored and had a model who was just as bored as I come over to hang out. With a lack of any real inspiration for a photo session, we got to talking about types of photos, eventually getting of course to the…

The new Mark Velasquez 2009 Calendar is at the printers and should be here by December 1st. Whew, what a load off. This will be my third for myself but fourth calendar overall. Sometimes the amount of work and uncertainty seems daunting, but in a masochis…

Stephanie is a longtime dancer friend of my regular models Laura and Kari. She is a bit shy when you talk to her, but is definitely not shy about her body. I finally got ahold of her for my Censored Project several months ago, and before I could direct he…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #1 LUST: Prostitution Prostitution is the worlds "oldest profession", but I think it might come in handy for, say, the socially awkward. In this case, an escort who makes house calls. In other news: There are sti…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #2 GLUTTONY: Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Individu…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #3 PRIDE: Sexual Dysfunction Sexual dysfunction is "difficulty during any stage of the sexual act that prevents the individual or couple from enjoying sexual activity". In this case, he can't "get it up";. Or, as I wa…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #4 SLOTH: Agoraphobia Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder which primarily consists of the fear of experiencing a difficult or embarrassing situation from which the sufferer cannot escape. In severe cases, an agoraphobi…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #5 ENVY: Body Dysmorphic Disorder Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a mental disorder, which involves a disturbed body image, which isn't helped by our culture telling both sexes that they need to look like super models.…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #6 WRATH: Domestic Abuse Domestic Abuse occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate or harm the other. It occurs in all cultures; people of all races, ethnicit…

Seven Deadly Sins of Modern America #7 GREED: Kleptomania Kleptomania is an inability or great difficultly in resisting impulses of stealing. The most interesting thing about kleptomaniacs is that they often steal things they would never want or have a…

When I am uninspired, as I've been most of the last year, I try to think of technically challenging projects to keep me on my toes. Invariably I find myself looking at meaningless though visually lovely images out of fashion magazines for ideas. The wom…

Steven is a good guy. I met him through Laura, one of my most favorite models, as her boyfriend of two years. He is very responsible, a highly skilled and talented ballet dancer, a bit of a geek, and not afraid to be silly. Most importantly, he treats La…

C'mon, we all are more than aware of what Christmas has become. Whether you believe in a virgin birth, celebrate Hannukkah, or participate in one of the other myriad winter solstice holidays, we all must admit that the real celebration has become devoted…

Ah, Laura. Such a doll. She came over to help me shoot my Christmas Card this year. After the first part of the shoot I needed to shave and clean up a bit for the second part. As I was getting ready she sat on my couch watching "America's Next Top Model"…

Far be it for me to complain about a system that I willingly chose to be a part of censor my work. I could leave Flickr.com at any time, so could everyone who complains about it. We choose to be a part of this system because it works. Its not perfect, but…

During the Censored Project I met many different kinds of women, a lot of whom surprisingly keep in contact with me. One of them is Ashleigh, who I recently found out has Cervical Cancer at the age of 24. I shot some nice portraits of her with her long d…

This as raw and immediate as it gets, out of the camera with little touch up, moments after the shoot ended. A lot has been on my mind lately. Medical problems and falling short of goals in terms of age progression have just been the tip of the iceberg.…

Looking into the mythology, I was intrigued to find that the story of "Little Red Riding Hood", dating back to its earliest written incarnation by Charles Perrault in 1697, is basically about sexual awakening. Doesn't take much Freudian study to figure…