10/26/08
Did another shoot for NYMag's Vulture blog. This time of David Banner at the Nokia Theater. That man is a dynamo. Also performing were the Rhythm Roots Allstars, who backed all of the performers. Atlanta's B.O.B. was first up and brought on guest Playboy Tre'. Little Brother followed him--first rule of their set: this is a party. David Banner was next. Talib Kweli closed out the show. He brought on several guests: Idle Warship, Strong Arm Steady and Buckshot.
Fun show. A few pictures:
Atlanta's B.O.B.:
David Banner:
Talib Kweli:
For more, check out my Photoshelter gallery of the show.
10/24/08
Last minute news is always fun. Just got an e-mail a couple of days ago from Hisa at destination, HPGRP Gallery's project space. They'd like a few of my Velocity series for a show opening the 30th of October and can I drop them on Tuesday. Absolutely.
Just got some fresh prints in from Elco, cut them down today and made a folio to transport them. They're on Fuji Metallic paper, which is sort of like Cibachrome look, but better, I think. Especially for this series of work, they give a nice sparkle. We're going to tack them up unframed so that the prints' surface is apparent. They're like jewels. Or candy.
Keep an eye out for other announcements soon.
10/22/08
Photographed Wale's performance at SOB's last night. It was a great show. You can tell I'm not a music critic because a) I'm easily impressed and b) I use vague compliments. Though I was there to photograph Wale, I also photographed all of the opening acts: Doug Grayson (DJ), Rhymefest with guest Rahzel, The Rumble Strips, Daniel Merriweather backed by The Dap Kings with a guest appearance by Mark Ronson on guitar for one song and then Wale with several guests whose names I didn't write down.
For a real review, go to NYMag's Vulture blog.
First, let me say that Rahzel is a phenom. It was fucking amazing. I love beatboxing and never cease to be amazed at what people can do without instruments. One of the best beatboxers I've ever heard, take that for what it is worth, but he was incredible. Rhymefest's Obama rhyme was the best of his set.
I think the Rumblestrips were my favorite of the evening. The singer's beat to shit guitar and wide eyed and wide mouthed delivery of the lyrics all screamed rock and roll.
The Dap Kings were as good as they ever are. This is only my second time hearing them play, but they are full force from the word go. Merriweather was fine, but didn't really do it for me. He wasn't bad, he just didn't do it for me. One of those preference things.
Wale's set was good too. By that time I'd been there for three hours and was ready to take my pictures ad go home. Since I was there to photograph him, I pretty much focused on that and hardly listened to the music. The precussion solo about halfway through the set was intense. Someone give that guy a gold star.
Pictures:
And, Wale, who I was there to photograph:
This one is my favorite from the evening:
10/19/08
I photographed Lindsey Buckingham performing at the Nokia Theater last night for NYMag.com's Vulture entertainment blog. You can read the review and see a pic here. (Note: 10:37 right now and it isn't up yet; should be up at some point today.)
For those too lazy to click, here are a couple of pictures I liked:
More can be seen in this Photoshelter gallery.
10/16/08
I've been photographing restaurants for The Onions new entertainment and dining guide: The Decider. Right now the beta site is up for Chicago with the New York site gaining mass by the day. Launch is expected later this fall.
I bring this up because yesterday I photographed the Pearl Oyster Bar over on Cornelia St. They plated a lobster roll for me and I took my pictures. It looked very tasty. As I packed up my gear, the chef (I am blanking on his name, but I think it was Ray) asked if would like a lobster roll. Tempting! Yes. Can I get it to go?
I brough the roll over to a small park near my next shoot and chowed down. It was a huge pile of lobster meat in a wet mayo sauce. It was the best lobster roll I've had outside of Maine. (To be fair, I believe Rebecca, the owner, is from Maine.) The potato sticks were freshly fried, nicely crisped and wonderfully salty with the sweetness of the lobster. Yum.
The lobster roll sitting on the park bench:
10/15/08
Two posts in one day! Since I mentioned the new color Journeys, I figure I might as well put one of them up here. Enjoy.
10/15/08
It's been slow posting here because I've been busy trying to move my work here and there. My new black and white portfolio has been been making the rounds of the book designers at the big publishing houses. If any photo editors, book designers or art buyers are keeping tabs here, give me a ring and I'll send my book over.
I've also been sending out packets with my new color Journeys work around to some galleries. Look for a new gallery on the main page soon with this work and an update of the existing Journeys section with some new work as well.
Will be updating my gallery at Saatchi Online soon with this color Journeys work. Saatchi Online: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
10/2/08
My friend Will Steacy is having a print sale to help cover a $600 rent hike. Will is a fantastic photographer and well worth supporting. I particularly like these two photographs, and would buy them if my budget allows.
10/1/08
Celebrate Banned Book Week: read a banned book. I'm a couple of days behind on this, but we're in the midst of banned book week. Random House has a list of banned books and other resources.
Will's blog has the info: http://willsteacy.blogspot.com/
9/28/08
Thanks to everyone who came out to show support last night. The show looked great; the curators did a wonderful job putting the show together.
Thank you to all those who helped make the show happen:
Peter Gregorio: Project Space Director
Tanisha Christie, Natasha Chuk, Cat Mallone: Curators
Anna Grazia Ballerini: catering
Leslie Gravel: Flyer Design
dj g_mateus
Silly photographer that I am, I forgot to bring a camera. So, no pictures from last night. Ah, well.
9/26/08
Two photographs from my Direct Forms series will be featured at a one night art event in Carroll Gardens. Info:
Info as text:
Impermanence
@ La Lutta Project Space
9/27/08 6pm
204 Sackett Street
9/13/08
As I watch the campaigns unfold, I am struck by the incredible gall of the McCain campaign in its stating of so many falsehoods. I can't believe that so few citizens are outraged at the fabrications, distortions and outright lies promulgated by his running mate, staffers and McCain himself. I don't understand how the facts could be of so little consequence for so many people. If McCain as candidate is so willing to lie and obfuscate, how will he govern? If we can't trust him to speak truthfully, how can we trust him in anything? I, for one, don't.
With that in mind, this photography taken several months ago in Singapore* brings to my mind the necessary requirements of citizenship that are required if a democracy is to remain viable and valid:
If a democracy's citizenry is not able to analyze the condition and state of the nation, how are they to make informed and rational decisions? If campaigns wallow in untruthfulness or pander to emotional responses, they exacerbate this degredation of the democratic process.
I'll end my rant there, for the moment.
*I do realize the irony of using a photograph from Singapore in talking about the strength of our democracy.
8/31/08
I want to note that the lobster roll, clam chowder and lemonade in the picture two posts down is from Barnacle Billy's in Ogunquit Maine. Both the chowder and lobster roll are more than worth a side trip off the turnpike. The french vanilla chocolate chip ice cream made especially for them is an added bonus. In fact, the view is about as good as the food. And Billy and his son Tim, the manager, are both super nice. There's every reason to stop in. If you're not yet convinced, here's one more reason to stop in soon: 82 year old Billy still makes the lobster stew himself--4000 bowls each summer.
Here's Billy (another outake from last week):
8/31/08
Went shooting with Dad and Graham this morning at a sand pit in New Gloucester. I hit the target a few times. Most of the holes are from Dad or Graham.
A few pictures:
The patched targets after one go round:
And, the cardboard backing after an hour's worth of shooting:
And the second sheet of cardboard we went through:
8/29/08
I came up to Maine last week on a job shooting some portraits. It kept me busy Thursday and Friday--and we've added a day this coming Tuesday so I get to spend Labor Day up as well.
A couple of outtakes from two days of shooting:
8/21/08
My friend Jess Moon has launched a new website. She's got some incredible work up, go check it out.
8/18/08
I'd mentioned a month or so ago a Blurb book I'd made for the Photography Book Now contest. If you want to check it out, it is here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/296422. (You can toss the dust jacket, though.)
If you are interested in acquiring on of my artists books, they are available through both Dashwood Books in NYC and Vamp and Tramp in Alabama.
8/17/08
Back from the reunion. Had a wonderful time. A few pictures from the town, the hotel, the battlefield, and the family.
8/15/08
I am in Gettysburg, PA for a family reunion. We're staying at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center. This place is stuck in 1986, give or take. They're only just getting around to taking out the payphones, but the booths are still there with holes where phones used to be.
At the corner of Route 16 and 116, which is in PA just over the border from MD, is Frontier BBQ. This place has some good meat. Most of us ate pulled pork sanwiches, which were good if a bit dry. The beans were amazing. I took Ji back a half rack of baby back ribs; the ribs were fantastic.
I'm not sure I'd travel all the way there just for the BBQ, but if you're passing nearby it is worth the short jaunt from 15, especially if they've got the ribs ready.
8/11/08
Another couple of quick scan from my recent trip to Maine. The first is a store front on Lewiston's Lisbon Street downtown area. The handwritten note in the window reads: "Closed temporarily due to economy... Thank you for supporting us! We hope to be back."
This last photo is Robert Dunn, a painting contractor from Lewiston.
8/10/08
My former student the Educational Alliance, Elle Perez has a newish blog. She's a student now at MICA and will be one to watch in the coming years. +++++++++
8/10/08
The NYC Coalition for a Smoke Free City hired me to shoot the right hand photograph from this ad:
8/7/08
Was up in Maine last week shooting in the Lewiston / Auburn area. Spent several days wandering around the two cities shooting landscapes and one day shooting portraits. Only scanned a few negs so far; here is one I liked:
7/21/08
Ji's cousin Jin married Gideon last weekend. A few pictures from the wedding:
7/15/08
Realized I hadn't actually uploaded the last month's worth of entries. Here they are, en masse.
7/14/08
I was in Maine this past week. Though I was there to visit a friend in town from Paris for her father's 60th birthday, I managed to take a walk around Lewiston/Auburn to shoot. A few scans from the contacts:
7/14/08
I've entered a Blurb book into the Photography Book Now competition. Titled "Trajectory," I'll make it available soon. Keep a watch on this space.
6/29/08
A quick portrait of Ji's uncle, Mr. Lee taken in the front yard of his Yardley, PA home.
6/26/08
The students I worked with as freshman in 2003 at the School for Law and Justice graduated tonight. This was SLJ's first class to graduate and they blew away NYC's graduation rate with over 90% of the class graduating. It was a very special night and everyone was buzzing with excitement.
A few pictures:
6/7/08
Shot some pictures for Groove With Me at its end of the year dance recital. Check out the organization and my photographs here.
6/3/08
Verbs on Asphalt, created by Clare Ultimo, had its launch party last night at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe. Years in the making, Verbs on Asphalt is an archive of slam poetry in New York City. My photographs from the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe taken in the late nineties and early naughts are included in the archive. Clare kindly called me slam poetry's Fred McDarrah. That is probably too kind. A few pictures taken at the launch:
Bob Holman reading again, finally, on the Nuyorican stage:
Philadelphia based Kevin O'Neil reading.
5/28/08
My students from Downtown After 3, part of the Educational Alliance, are nearing the end of their school year. We've put up a selection of the work they've been making this year up on the web. Check it out!
5/22/08
A couple of old polaroids I came across. Checked Adorama yesterday and the Type 52 I always liked is now out of stock. B&H is out too.
5/16/08
I have been volunteering a few hours to the NYPF. Today I was staffed to "The singled person" exhibit in the basement of 66 Water Street. The exhibit consisted of six slide projectors, each one looping through one photographer's work. It was a great exhibit to be staffed to. Kai, Thorsten and Anreas were all super nice and the work was interesting. I enjoyed having the time to really take it in. Kai's "Tron", Andreas' "Wading" and Thorsten's "Alibi" were all strong pieces. Kai's in particular throbbed with energy. As a whole, the kachunking slide projetors and the constantly changing realtions between the projects' individual photographs really worked. I'd like to see books from these guys in the near future.
Links:
Kai Bornhöft
Andreas Pein
Thorsten Kirchhoff
(Morten Andersen, Peer Kugler and André Lützen were the other three photographers in the exhibit.)
Also, thank you to the Water Street Restaurant for the coffee to keep me awake.
5/15/08
A few portraits playing with a loaned 1Ds from Canon at the NYPF08. Both are at SLJ. Kelly is one of the students in the advisory group I work with at the school. The teacher's name is escaping me as I type this.
5/11/08
A few frames from the last couple of weeks. Magazines are in Morrisville, PA's 7-11. The baby belongs to Bo and Seth and was in NYC. The mirror is from the lobby of One Penn Station.
5/1/08
Stop by www.alphabetproject.co.uk. I'm one of the responding photographers.
4/30/08
This picture is not from Viginia. This picture is mud in Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetland Preserve.
4/25/08
Jammin' Joe's makes a mean BBQ sandwich. Stop by on your way south on 29 through Warrenton.
Update: Joe of Jammin' Joe's wrote me to say that the ribs are good too. I'll try them on my next way through. 8/11/08
4/19/08
Visiting family in Virginia before a shoot this coming week.
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