A NEW BEGINNING featuring BRANDON PARKER

photographed by Tarrice Love

featuring Brandon Parker (unsigned)

styled by Tarrice Love

grooming by Tarrice Love

I first met Brandon Parker about five years ago in the Hickory Ridge Mall in Memphis, TN. My assistant, Aisha Edwards, spotted him and thought he would be great to shoot. We exchanged phone numbers and by the end of that day had set up his first shoot.

Standing at 6ft and weighing a whooping 200lbs, Brandon is a semi-pro football player for the Tennessee Hurricanes. He plays the position of wide receiver. He has dabbled in acting and modeling appearing a a few local tv commercials and traveling all over the country posing for many photographers.

The images you see posted are a set I recently shot when Brandon made the trip to the Big Apple to celebrate his birthday and visit friends. I am glad that he made time to grace my lens. We shot the fashion images in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. Thanks to photographer, Sidney Etienne, for letting us use his rooftop to shoot the nude shots. His rooftop overlooked the Halsey Street subway station and their were about 40 onlookers.

 

For this set of images I wanted to capture him in a way he hadn't seen himself. I mainly wanted to photograph him in a suit but his big ass could only fit one of my suits. Despite the fact that I was terrified that he was gonna rip thru my suit like the Incredible Hulk, I think the shots turned out amazing for him. The nudes - I wanted to have a very light and graceful feeling. Using the Brooklyn sky as his backdrop seem to be perfect for him.

One of the things I have always enjoyed about working with Brandon is his level of comfort in front of the camera. Finding a male model who was comfortable naked in the Bible-belt mecca of Memphis was very rare. His natural ability to convey grace, masculinity, and sex appeal has made him a longtime favorite to work with. He is a great guy and fun to photograph I look forward to working with him the next time he comes to NYC and will make sure to do a video with him.

(Brandon Parker was so tired after the shoot, he fell asleep on the train heading back to my place in Brooklyn, lol)