BeautifulMag Cover Story | Fifty Shades of Red

EVER SINCE E.L. JAMES PUBLISHED HIS FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, THE BOOK HAS BEEN AT THE TOP OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER LISTS. IT IS NOT OUR INTENTION TO TELL YOU WHAT THE NOVEL IS ABOUT. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT, YOU SHOULD SIMPLY READ IT OR WAIT FOR THE MOVIE. BUT HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT THE TITLE REALLY MEANS?

The human eye can only distinguish 32 shades of grey. And so the title of the famous novel by E.L. James is simply a metaphor for complexity. In this case the complexity of a man. Fifty Shades of Grey implies that the main character of the book is inscrutable. Unable to figure out. Every color has a meaning or association. And so if grey stands for the unknown territories of mind and character, red stands for the most extreme emotional experiences. Rage and anger go hand in hand with passion, love, prosperity and joy. And with those qualities and that large range of meanings in mind, Nige Rorbach photographed James Cohen.

James Cohen is sexy and masculine, there is no doubt about it. With these photo’s Nige Rorbach really wanted to play on that, and to portray James in an environment that would allow him to really be sexy, and sensual. And for that he choose the Murder Mile Studios as playground. Maybe that specific location already indicated the main color theme of the shoot. “The Murder Mile Studios is a studio in London aimed at the alternative and fetish industry,” Nige comments. “Both of us loved that the sets they have are really luxurious and look like they belong in an Anne Rice novel, and the fact that they had a throne!”

In preparation of this shoot, Nige Rorbach put together some ideas and pitched them at James. The 29-yearts old singer/actor and model immediately loved the original concepts, which gave him enough material to play with. And for Nige, in a way, these added really nicely to his current book project. The main concept they went for was towards the old Hollywood heart throb images, where men looked masculine and had a sensual, sexy look that was timeless. There is also something very Christan Grey about the setting and James’ look, and that was really what Nige wanted to bring out.

The Fifty Shades of Red shoot was only the second collaboration for Nige and James and they didn’t loose any time once they arrived at the studio. “James threw himself into the ideas and his energy is fantastic. We talked a little about the type of shots we wanted to get out of the shoot, and even looking through them on the day we were both really happy that things were working like we had hoped they would.” Nige Rorbach is always looking for guys that will inspire him and make him want to pick up his camera. For Nige James Cohen is the epitome of a muse: “He has an incredible attitude, and has always been very supportive of my work before we met, so working with him is really easy, productive and so rewarding.” The results shows, once again, in this fantastic series of portraits, showing James in different shades of red, either dressed or surrounded by. –BM-

IMMORTAL IMAGES | BEAUTIFULMAG
JAMES COHEN | BEAUTIFULMAG

Comments

[Tom]

great theme BTW the author of 50 Shades of Grey is a woman

[Dieter Reimers, Toronto (Canada)]

This man is unbelievable.....!! My head is spinning just for looking at the fantastic photo's..... He has to be the most masculine, sensual and sexy model I have seen in years !!
Nige Rorbach did an absolute great job in inspiring and bringing out the very best in James.....congratulation to both of them...!!!