How did you first get interested in photography?

I started taking pictures when I was in junior high school. That's when I fell in love with it. I made my own little pin-hole camera, took a picture and developed it, and from that point on I just loved taking pictures. I got my associate degree in photography at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. When I did my portfolio to graduate from school we were only allowed to do fashion, advertising or portraiture as a portfolio. I chose to do nude portraiture. I was the first one in the history of the school to turn in a nude portfolio. It was a little controversial but they allowed me to do it. Afterwards I interned for fashion and architectural photographers here in south Florida. Then I decided to go out on my own. I've been doing this professionally for about seven years.

What was it that drew you in the direction of erotic photography?

I know a lot of people in the Lifestyle and I knew there wasn't anyone else who did what I wanted to do. I had the whole idea that YOU should be the beautiful picture that's hanging in your living room or bedroom rather than buying a nude of someone else. In my eyes, why can't it be you, regardless of your shape, your figure? The human body is beautiful.

You say that to your models?

I say that to my clients. I don't necessarily just do models. Much of my work is commissioned work for people who want images of themselves to hang in their house. I'll produce an image where you can tell it's them or you can't tell it's them. They could be in a lot of shadow, where you don't see much of anything, or the image can be very revealing, depending on what they want. What I specialize in is doing this for people, not necessarily just selling images that I've made.

You're basically telling people to become their own work of art.

Exactly. That's my whole game plan. I do have my own images that I take and sell but often when someone is interested in buying one of my pieces I ask them, Are you sure you don't want a picture of your wife or your husband or both of you like this? Why have a total stranger on your wall? That's what I like doing. It's an experience all in itself having a figure portrait done. It makes people feel good about themselves when they can look back and see the picture and can say, That was me when I turned forty, or That was me when I turned fifty, and so on. It just makes people feel good about themselves, and that's why I do it.

"The beautiful picture hanging in your living room... why can't it be you? The human body is beautiful."

You're keying into is a very old tradition of the artist as portrait painter... but in your case it's an erotic portrait.

Right.

What are some photographs that you still want to do? Do you have any photographs in your mind that you haven't shot yet?

I would love to do stuff outside... urban settings on tops of buildings with skyscrapers in the background. And I'd like to shoot in the forest. That's something I haven't done much yet that I would love to do. And some photography in water. I've only done a handful of photographs underwater.

Do you have any fantasy subjects? Any celebrities you'd like to photograph?

You know... I prefer doing regular people, so there isn't anybody that really stands out in my mind. Angelina Jolie would be an amazing subject.... But someone like Oprah... to do something really artistic with someone that's not a typical Hollywood beauty, someone that's not model-skinny. I do regular-looking people all the time and I think everyone should feel comfortable with having their picture taken nude, and not feel that they're too fat or too thin or they don't have the right shape. It's all in the lighting, and as long as you have the right person that you're working with they can make a picture of you that looks great.

Describe some of the typical people you've photographed.

It's just like with people who are swingers... there are all different kinds. The last couple I shot, they'd been married for twenty years and were down here for the Miami Film Festival. They saw me online and decided, Hey what the hell, we don't usually do something like this, why don't we do it. It wasn't because of anything except that they thought it would be fun to do a nude picture together; something tasteful... they just wanted to do an image like that. I also had a client who was in a really serious accident and almost died. She had a huge scar along her back. She had also just turned forty. She wanted to take some pictures to emphasize the scar on her back and to say, You know what, I'm still in good shape, I'm still beautiful despite all that I went through. I have another client who just lost seventy pounds. She did it naturally, didn't have surgery or anything, just exercised and ate right. She was proud of her new body. Most of my subjects come to me because they want presents for their husbands or wives or something like that. But I get a lot of people who do it just because they want to do something for themselves, to make them feel better about themselves.

Do you get all your subjects through the Lifestyle?

I do get a lot from the Lifestyle, but it's a little strange... many people just find me online. It's a lot of word of mouth too. A majority of my clients aren't even from south Florida. We'll just make arrangements when they come into town, whether they're coming to go to Trapeze or one of the other clubs out here, or just coming in for the weekend... and they photograph with me.

Visit Janice Freeland on the Web at http://janicefreeland.com/