Who on earth is this UFO in the erotic photography. Ambre kindly received me at her home, actually in her sauna. I always prefer to interview people where they are the most comfortable so I went for my first interview in a sauna and it went great!

Ambre Singh: the whore, the saint and the mother

Catherine Palen /  July 24, 2017 / Blog 

I have been introduced to Ambre by friends and I have been immediately interested by her creativity. Ambre is not a porn photographer, she definitely falls into the erotic category. Still I wanted to present her work, this exhibition of creativity is worth to see and I hope, like me, you will fall in love with her work.

Before we go with the interview, let me show you a few pictures I took while visiting her gallery, a few days before the actual interview occured:

Image 3

Image 2 1

Image 2

So now you are probably in the same spirit than I was before I started the interview. Who on earth is this UFO in the erotic photography. Ambre kindly received me at her home, actually in her sauna. I always prefer to interview people where they are the most comfortable so I went for my first interview in a sauna and it went great!

The interview

“OK Ambre, let’s start. So my first question usually is about SecondLife in general. How did you discover it? Why did you create an account the first time? What were you looking for?”

OK. It’s about 11 years ago, I had a client managing a language school, and he asked me to find new innovative ideas. So I explored e-learning possibilities, and thought about immersive learning. And I remembered this weird community I heard about: Second Life. So I created an account to see how this could be possible to create an immersive language school in SL. There were many interesting possibilities, it was becoming possible to interact, and it looked really full of potential. But my client freaked out. So I lost a client and gained a second life ;-). So it begun really for business purposes, and then I started to really love it. I learned to build, to become sexy, to make friends, events… That’s my beginnings.

Image 1

“Very interesting beginning. So nowadays what are your activities in SecondLife? Are you surprised you are still on the grid after so many years? What do you think made you to stay that long?”

Well… before I talk about my present activities… let me just give you a quick idea of how it developped…I fell in love ;-).Through this I discovered the magical and sometimes overwhelming facets of SL. I discovered that telepathy works very well in SL, that it’s a world charged with synchronisms. I also discovered that when really in love, the brain doesn’t really notice the difference between RL (Real Life) sex and SL (Second Life) sex. The thrill is the same, and the effects too, lol. So in the love story, we did not make a baby, but created a sim that welcomed events, concerts, art galleries and shops, and stayed alive for 2 years. And.. since weeks in SL correspond to years in RL, the big love story ended, the sim closed, I was just devastated and did not log in for more than 2 years. But… Ambre is a facet of my multidimensional self, so I cannot ignore her. It’s a real part of the big me that is vaster. And so after a bit more than 2 years, Ambre came out of sleep, this time mainly for creative reasons.

Image 10

“And here you are!”

Before, I had art galleries, I did several exhibitions: SL is such an amazing place to create, so I started again to create lands, to build, to make photography and art, etc. That’s what brought me back. Then other RL stories kept me out for 2 more years until early this year. And now I’m back again, with a beautiful Bento head and mesh body.

 So to close with this question, I am in SL these days to create, meet and to sew seeds of love.

“How would you describe your art Ambre? If you had to give a description to someone who do not know it, what would you say?”

Owww. An adventure into meaning, absurdity, erotism, humor, spiced with spirituality. I think that sums it up. I’m looking for beauty in all things.

Image 9

“Apart from Flickr and your gallery … do you publish your art somewhere else?”

No, not for the moment. I had a website once, and maybe will activate it again, but for now only Flickr and my Gallery. And I have also some artistic endeavors in RL, but both worlds stay firmly distinct.

“And the gallery is accessible to everybody?”

Oh yes!!! It’s meant for that!

“Excellent! Ok, so could you choose in your stream, a few pictures you’re the most proud of? Let’s say 4 to 5 and you explain us why?”

Yes I could… sure. Difficult choice. First is this:

Image 8
How long will it stay?

It expresses quite well my erotic facets: there is beauty, softness, sort of communion, and its also unbearably exciting because it tickles more and more and this god sent butterfly stays and plays with my nerves. I mean, just feel how it feels! This image is evocative, and beautiful, it sends shivers. And… it’s delicate. Vulgarity is banned from my realities.

OK, let’s find another one:

Image 7
Shuuuussh….

It shows the magic of SL. I sat and the dog came. I took two shots quickly, and one was just perfect. The finger, the dog, the nipple just showing, … That’s a good pic thanks to sheer luck. And also… I love dogs:) Next image, hum. I have 3 in mind…

“Haha, let’s see that”

Looking…. it’s coming:

Image 6
OMG Shadow self

I like to make thematic series of images. This the is called OMG, or the problems a nun have with a very active libido. This image expresses well my feelings, because it looks good, and because we all have these contradictory impulses toward lust and purity. So playing around this theme is also asking the question: can I be wise enough to be naughty and pure simultaneously? Can I be the whore, the saint and the mother without conflicts inside..?? I love to explore these questions. So the OMG series expresses this facet of me.

Then….:

Image 5

This one is a pastiche of the famous “The dream of the fisherman’s wife» by famous Japanese painter Hokusai. There are a few things of interest in this…: First I love to pastiche classical art, and did a lot of these, putting myself in the arms of Zeus, and in many other impossible situations. It’s fun. The other thing I love about this image is the erotic underlying intensity. If these two elements can match, beauty and an eroticism, I’m all happy and excited.

And still in the classical art part, this:

Image 4
Ledambre and the Swan

Leda and the swan, who is in fact the good old Zeus disguised. I was always turned on by this picture, because first it just make me horny… And also because it has this archetypal component, the gods taking human women, etc. There ‘s someting deep that is triggered in me, and doing this image took long time, and made me considerably wet, lol.

And then…:

Image 3
Rumi Illustrated 11

This is another aspect of images I love to create; an image is worth a 1000 words, so a few words and a good image have an interesting impact. There is this tenderness in the face, and it speaks of deep truths without making a discourse or a preach. Cool image, :))

And finally…:

Image 2 1
Ambre and the whale

This image expresses well why I love SL so much. I went several time to see whales in RL, it was a really profound experience, and I always wanted to swimm with them. SL allowed me to do it and make beautiful images of this moment. My heart was beating hard while swimming. It’s another facet of my artistic trip in SL:)

Image 2

“Ok my next question … your toolset … What do you use in-world? How do you then post process your pics?”

Very easy. I just use the phototools built in Firestorm, with high graphic definition in general, and shoot at high def and save to disk. Then I always post process with photoshop, if only to reframe and put a signature. I also use Lumipro for avatar shootings, and use anypose when I absolutely need a specific pose, yes. So there is say, 60% is shootings in outside, and 40% is studiowork. But in this case the biggest part is in photoshop.

“40%? That much?”

Maybe 30% studio would be closer

Image 5

“What are the projects you have in mind? Anything interesting mentioning?”

I have a few ideas to make some collective artworks. One you could publish to recruit participants..: A big big naked Gulliver, cock dressed and tied on the beach with ropes, and plenty plenty of tiny women climbing on him in all possible ways. I look for an egoless male for gulliver and for plenty of girls wanting to climb and send me images then I would compose the final image and we could exhibit it somewhere. So, the idea was to ask women to make images of them – if possible on green back ground, and then I would arrange them all on the poor big boy yes. II like this idea of collaborative silliness.

Other ideas are growing too, in connection with this new land. We will have events, where we could set up special decorum, stages. For exemple in my sim in 2010, we did a concert that was simultaneous SL and RL and happened in a devastated field where a UFO had crashed. These kind of settings can be lots of fun to create and then to make images or movies. And again it’s a collective adventure.

“You have plans to create movies?”

I would love to. I have the knowledge, but… not the time. That’s why still images are easier to work with.

“Ok my last question … tell me something surprising, amusing or a secret about you”

Owwww. Secrets, here I dont have much. Surprising.. I really don’t know, what I find amusing is that I am a paradox on two legs. I have an extremely high sense of values like respect, kind of deep moral values, and I see them mix and swirl beautifully with an unbridded lust and naughtiness. It’s possible that my naughtiness is a form of blessing, of offering to the people I love. Isn’t that weird?

Image 4

“Yes this is your paradox. So Ambre I think we are done with the questions.”

Thank you for your time and interest Cathy, I really enjoyed.

“Thank you for answering them with patience”

You are really welcome!

The shooting

Ambre then invited me to the studio where she told me I was going to be part of her “chocolate” project. 

Here is how went my first chocolate bath:

Image

****

Have a look at Ambre’s stream, she regularly posts on this particular theme or others. I am sure you will get addicted.

Reminder: Ambre is working on her new project “Gulliver”. If you feel you want to be the tied-up Gulliver, or one of the women climbing his giant body, please let Ambre or myself know, I will be happy to make the introductions.

Kiss, Cathy 

Read the interview on Cathy’s blog.