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A couple of years ago, Canadian artist Billy Ma and I worked together on a personal photography project with our Brazilian model friend Paula.

Conceptually, our creative idea was to use Paula as a canvas for herself.  To achieve this, I photographed Paula in the nude in a variety of poses and Billy printed a selection of these images onto plastic transparencies.  Then, using a decades-old analog overhead projector, Billy projected these pictures of Paula back onto her bare skin while I photographed her again. Collectively, we wanted this series of images to show sensuality, yet vulnerability; we desired the photographs to be honest and uninhibited, like only someone very close to the subject could have made them. The result was a series we called "Raw".

Once our project was complete, my original photographs of Paula were archived and forgotten about.  At least until last year, when I stumbled upon this collection of nudes on a hard drive at work.  I perused the series of photographs and was struck by their simplicity and beauty.  I felt inspired to "do something" with these images, but at the time I didn't know exactly what that should be.

I then recalled having been introduced to British artist Nikki Farquharson's fantastic "Mixed Media Girls" series on The Cool Hunter a couple of years earlier.  I remembered how

beautiful and inspired I found Nikki's art, so I decided to visit her website and blog.

It was here that I read that she is "always interested in new work and collaborations, especially with photographers". This gave me the courage to send Nikki a message.

I wrote to her immediately, introducing myself and my photography.  I asked if she would be interested in a creative collaboration with me, merging some of my photographs of Paula together with her original ink pop art illustrations.

I was extremely excited to receive a reply from Nikki -- the very next day -- expressing her interest in working together on this project with me.  And so our online friendship and intercontinental partnership was born...

For the next couple of weeks, we got to know one another a little better via email, sharing our ideas and our individual visions for this endeavour.

Over the course of these conversations, the theme of Gaia (or Mother Earth) came to dominate our collective consciousness.  And from there, the concept of wrapping Paula in the classical Greek elements of earth, air, fire and water began to take shape.

One of the most interesting things about this creative collaboration with Nikki is that she and I have never once spoken on the telephone.  All of our communication, ideation and sharing has taken place using only modern technology and social media: email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  This wasn't a conscious decision that we made together, but over the months it seems to have become an unspoken agreement between us.  When this project is complete, it will certainly be a partnership for a brave new world.

The photographs here show some of Nikki's work-in-progress on each of the pieces.  To me, this is a wonderful document of -- and glimpse inside -- her vision, dedication and commitment to her craft.

One of my great pleasures as a photographer is the privilege of being able to collaborate with other artists across diverse disciplines.  This project with Nikki has only further demonstrated to me how much joy and reward can be found in sharing your ideas and your work with others.  I can't wait to share our finished product with the world soon.