Mr. Titus Kinimaka

By any chance......

On 9/22/09 11:59 AM, "Truman Adkins"

<trumanadkins@*^%&$$%^.com> wrote:

…..in the year 1991 did you live on Pine Street in San Francisco?

I was cleaning out a drawer the other night and found an envelope containing a number of exquisite photos in black and white, taken with a two and a quarter, made into post cards, a story on the back of each one. The return address said "note new address".

I believe this was related to a post card/photography group centered around a photo mag I subscribed to at the time. If this is you, I hope you will please accept my thanks for this wonderful gift that had completely left my mind, but now fills me with warmth and appreciation.

Have a nice day.

Truman Adkins
Fieldale, Virginia

Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:03:48 -0700
Subject: Re: By any chance......
From: stephen@stephenzeigler.com
To: trumanadkins@^&%$#!.com

Re: By any chance...... Hello Truman!

WOW! This is probably the coolest email I think I have ever received. Especially since it’s regarding images I made before email ever really existed.

To be honest I have no recollection of sending you any postcards although in 1991 I was crazy for mail art and making postcards and I have no idea how many or to where they were mailed to.
I know that if I had an address it got something mailed to it.

Was the mag “Shots” photoZine? I know I sent that guy a lot of cards as well as others from there I would correspond with.

Truman, thank you for getting in touch and sharing.

I would love to make a blog entry out of this.
http://it-aint-pretty.blogspot.com/
Would it be possible for you to scan a few of the cards for me?
May I have permission to reprint your email on my blog?

Would love to leave your name on it though if that’s cool?

I think you just made my year!
Best,
sz

On 9/22/09 6:35 PM, "Truman Adkins" <trumanadkins@.#$%*#.com> wrote:

Yes, it was Shorts, I still have copies of that on the shelf.

I am so happy that I was able to connect with you on the first try! Damn that is amazing. I will scan those photos tomorrow and send them to you. I think it is a testament to creation, the written word, the image. All those things.

Please feel free to blog about it, you can use me name and location, it is a small town but I'm real proud to be from here. Include whatever you want.

This makes today a good one.

On 9/22/09 6:35 PM, "Truman Adkins" <trumanadkins@.#$%*#.com> wrote:

I scanned all 12, front and back, and the envelope, will attach as many as I can and send them along.

I have them numbered so the first number is the photo and the second number is the side.

Enjoy.

Truman

1_1
1_2

2_1
2_2


3_1
3_2

4_1
4_2

5_1
5_2


6_1
6_2

7_1
7_2

8_1
8_2

9_1
9_2

10_1
10_2





Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:06AM
Subject: Re: By any chance......
From: stephen@stephenzeigler.com
To: trumanadkins@^&%$#!.com

Hey Truman,
Thanks for this walk down amnesia lane.

Wow what a trip. I only have vague recollections of making these.
I remember being really into native american symbols back then...still interested in symbols now...
Mostly south east asian and Tibetan buddhist symbols.
My hand writing and spelling haven’t changed a bit....sadly.

Again, thanks so much for this Truman.

I’ll let you know when the blog post is up.

The very best to you,
sz


Date: Thursday, 24 Sep 2009 3:53PM
Subject: Re: By any chance......
From: stephen@stephenzeigler.com
To: trumanadkins@^&%$#!.com


Hey Truman,

The blog post is up.

Thanks for this.

SZ

Laos

Honey...the Crips are here

I recently shot the cover for GNT's soon to be released new record.
G(angster) N(ation) T(rues) is made up of a who's who of mid and late 90's LA gangster rappers.
The main voices are Big Prodigee & Young Prod who were in the amazing South Central Cartel. SCC's 1997 hit jammy "All day everyday" was and still is the definitive ode to LA gangster fashion and not giving a fuk.

"All day every day I don't give a fuk
as long as i got on my khaki's, t-shirt, and chucks
Rollin through Compton what do I see
A gang a mo niggas dressed just like me"

Pictured here from L to R: JD, Young Prod (holding our 2 1/2 pound Yorkie, Mac Dogg), and Prodigee.

Buti Dharma

Buti making incense offering, Northern Thailand

Al after meditation

Kymm's gnar eye

It's not what you think. Girlfriend fell while jogging and hit her head on a curb.
She had an audition two days after this was taken for a role as a motorcycle riding, just off the streets, ex-hooker and the gnarly eye pretty much landed her the role.

It's Hot!

As from my window I sometimes glance.....

In 1957 W. Eugene Smith set up a studio in a 6th Avenue loft in New York City and begins the series "As From My Window I Sometimes Glance…" parts of which are published in Life (March 10, 1958).

A sunday drive in LA

Booty was in town from Thailand and Alisha was up from the deep OC so we decided to take a drive to East LA to eat some Birria. It was hot as hell out and the thought of a hearty warm goat stew didn't sound like the perfect summer dish but Jodi really had her heart set on it and Booty will and has eaten most everything that walks or crawls so per Jonathan Gold's advice we drove over to Flor Del Rio. It was really flavorful and authentic but i didn't take any pictures. click the link above for images of the food.

With our bellies full of goat Jodi led us on a surreal car tour of LA.

We began at a Mercadito where we ate fresh Mexican sorbet and window shopped for cowboy hats and leather vests.















Across the street from the Mercadito is a graveyard where we found the graves of some historical LA figures.





We drove around Elysian Park looking for a good view of the city and came across a dead end where there were a bunch of single latino guys sitting in their cars. We took a couple snaps of the skyline before realizing that it was a gay cruising area. We got in the car and drove down the hill which seemed to be covered with horny dudes looking for weird action.







As we came around a bend in the road we looked up to see this guy lurking under a tree on the fringes.

He was just kind of pacing back and forth under this tree looking completely horror show.

I really wanted to get out and talk to it/him but everyone was tripping and just wanted to get out of there fast. We named him "The Gay Reaper".





Our last stop was to see the amazing old Victorians of Angelino Heights.

Monk Monday at The Cave

Messenger Scorpion (Shibuya Subhuti Sensei) leads "Insect Meditation" at The Cave

The first show at the new space

We had our first gallery showing at the new space last week with paintings by local artists Greg Brisson, Susan Bolles, and Kymm Swank. Wife sold from her vintage clothes archives and Natalia from N.Om showed her beautiful handmade jewelry. We were a little concerned about our location (off of Main St and on the second floor) not being accessible enough for the ArtWalk crowd but we had a steady stream of brave and curious people coming through all night.

Palm Desert July 5th 09

Burning Graham

In 1973 at the age of 26 Graham Parsons died of a heroin overdose at the Joshua Tree Inn in southern California's high desert.
As his body lay in it's coffin at LAX airport waiting to be shipped home to Louisiana for burial, Graham's friend and road manager high jacked the casket with a stolen hearse and drove the body to Joshua Tree national park where they attempted to cremate the body by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a match on it.
The site of the cremation has now become a pilgrimage destination for Graham fans and freaks...I being one.

Welcome to the Boars Nest

The Boars Nest is a private facility on Oahu's legendary North Shore where local and visiting surfers and professional fighters go to train in MMA, Jui Jitsu, and Muay Thai. I had the opportunity to visit recently and see for myself why the locals have such a fearsome reputation. Most people view Hawaii as a laid back paradise and to some extent this can be true, but if you hang around long enough and look a little deeper you can see and feel the warrior culture that is so deeply rooted in it's history.

See you soon

Gone to Tahiti for a while to make some photos. Take care.

Behind my back

Photos by: Scott "beard fight!" Richards

The Limited Collection

I shot this catalog recently for Quiksilver's "Limited" line. It's their boutique line that, as the name states, sells in limited quantities. The designs are more sophisticated than their regular line and a bit more fashionable. Thanks to my art director I was allowed to shoot film which I hadn't shot in a loooooong time and it made me remember how much I love film, and the softness you get from it that you just can't get from digital. We also shot a lot of Polaroid which was a treat as well. I shot with my converted Polaroid 110A which gives everything a timeless quality and produces precious little prints.
We used skateboarder Alex Olson as a model. Alex is a quiet and direct guy with a jaded sarcasm about him that I really appreciate, not to mention he's just an incredible athlete.

Los Difuntos

I shot these of LA psychobilly stars Los Difuntos last week. It was a good time and they were a really respectful group of kids. Their new record "Born and Raised in East LA" is great energetic psychobilly straight from the hotbed that is LA's MexiPsycho scene.

An image of sheer terror

A while back Jodi and I decided to go to Magic Mountain to ride some roller coasters.
Jodi refused to go on this thing simply called "X" so I was left to ride this terrifying machine next to a laughing stranger. When I got off the ride people were gathered around the picture viewing area pointing and laughing at this image.

The Wild Ones

I came to the studio the other morning to find this new piece across the front of the building.
Then today it was gone thanks to the city's graffiti eradication program. It was the first piece I was disappointed to see go.

Destiny Train

The other day my brother found these song lyrics written on a scrap of paper on the floor of my 8 year old nephews room. I'm thinking/hoping he has a big future in black metal.


(admire the serious "rock tension" in his brow)

Destiny Train – Henry Zeigler

E B D A (chords)

I thought it was a whistle in the distance
I thought it was a crow in the tree
But when I came closer, it went away
But then it came closer to me

E D Em

Chorus
But then I saw the destiny train
Going in the distance
When it stopped, I was picked up by it
On the ride it was like a storm
We stopped in Heaven and Hell was next door
Finally I was at my stop – a door with a deadlock

D-Am

But then I knocked on Heaven’s door
And it wouldn’t let me in
So I guess my best shot is Hell
So let the ripping begin

Chorus
But then I saw the destiny train
Going in the distance
When it stopped, I was picked up by it
On the ride it was like a storm
We stopped in Heaven and Hell was next door
Finally I was at my stop – a door with a deadlock

D -Am

Knocked on Hell’s door
And they wouldn’t let me in either
So I guess I’ll be a wanderer
So let the ripping begin!

HTC ad from Europe

I shot this image a while ago of a kid I met at the beach. My good friends at Hollywood Trading Co. liked it so much they decided to use it for their ad's in Europe.

Quik Women's

I shot these images for Quiksilver's new women's line look book a while ago and just found this slide show they created for their blog.

At Arjan Noo Kanphai's

To call Arjan Noo Kanphai a famous Thai tattoo artist is an understatement. Tattooing mystic Buddhist warlock rock star is more like it. He is respected and venerated by masters, monks, movie stars, gangsters, police, high and low society alike for his beautiful and powerful protective tattoos that are traditionally called Sak Yant. When Jodi and I were tattooed at his place about 45 minutes outside Bangkok I was told that the next day they would be having a special ceremony to celebrate the release of a new amulet that Arjan Noo had created. The next day, not really knowing what to expect, I took a cab and found a complete mob scene. The police had shut down traffic in a two block radius only letting through special cars that carried old monks, Thai TV crews, Thai movie stars, and for some reason the bald honky with the camera. I guess since I was the only farang in attendance they figured I was special...a little weird but special none the less.
I stood just inside the gates to Arjan Noo's compound/temple/tattoo studio/house with a couple hundred Thai devotees. We watched as a slew of Mercedes and BMW's pulled up one after the other each letting out an elderly barefoot monk. The monks were escorted from their cars as a guy on a microphone announced who they were and what Wat they were from. The crowd would go silent in awe and drop to their knees with hands in prayer position as the monks made their way through the mob.
We all sat in white plastic chairs with white strings tied around our heads while a long ceremony with lots of chanting took place in a room somewhere out of sight upstairs. From the little English my driver spoke I was able to put together that this new amulet was intended to bring about good fortune for artists, actors, musicians, and creatives and that the monks were consecrating or "activating" the amulets with this ceremony. "Stoked" I thought "I could use one of those" and went to buy a few at the makeshift counter. Just as I was deciding between the big Oreo cookie lookin one and the little nilla wafer one I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find a Thai news reporter and camera man with big smiles about two inches from my face pushing a microphone into my hands.
Sawadee Krap! You talk amulet you like at camera!
Sawadee Krap. Oh..I don't speak Thai.
No problem. You talk English at camera here speak amulet you like now Krap!
Oh...ummm....
GO!
Ummm...This Arjan Noo amulet. It very good. I like. Make lots of good luck. I like!
Then I gave a weak little thumbs up. They just stared at me mildly stunned as I handed them back the microphone.
Ok....Kop khun krap.
After my weird and embarrassing Thai TV debut I nudged my way through the crowd to where the ceremony had taken place upstairs. The room was packed full of sweaty people vying for the cheaper more mass produced clay amulets that Arjan Noo was giving out by the handful. It was an amazing scene. There were heavily tattooed monks, famous Thai people I'd never heard of, screeching girls, and guys with unsettling eyes and strange smiles wearing ropes of amulets. Arjan Noo wore all white and moved around the room smiling but reserved as he gave out the small tsa tsa's to his fawning fans and disciples.
The sun had long since set and the crowd had begun to thin when I found my ever smiling cab driver. As we drove along the dark highways my driver said "Happy! Happy! Happy!" then looked at me with a big rotting toothed smile and asked "Happy?"
"Oh yeah. I Happy."
This exact same conversation then took place every 3 minutes of the 45 minute drive back to Bangkok.

Scummy & Scummier : )

A few years ago Jodi and I were in Thap Sakae, Thailand where we were adopted by a pair of mangy beach dogs that we named Scummy and Scummier. They followed us everywhere and slept on our porch every night we were there until the day we went on a really long walk up the beach and ran into a big pack of local dogs who kicked the crap out of them all the way home. We loved those dogs.

The Cockroach and The Dragonfly

Me and Sensei Shibuya Subhuti outside ATSBMS 2-11-09
photo by Barry and his Iphone

Muay Thai Boxer from East LA

The writings on the wall

Shot at 5th and San Julian

A while back

Hmong village, Laos

3 Years Ago Today......

....Jodi and I were married in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The other day I went outside

The New News

Was


Was


Was


Is


Is


Was


Is

Our new president \!!!/

This picture gives me so much hope and just makes me smile.



I took it off Matt's blog...which rips.

The Eddie

Every December for the last 23 years a ceremony takes place at Waimea Bay on Oahu's North Shore commencing The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau surf contest. An elite group of the worlds best big wave surfers are invited to participate in the contest, which takes place only when the waves at Waimea reach a minimum of 25 ft (Hawaiian standard, the wave is measured from the back, that's roughly a 50 ft face). The ceremony is a beautiful event, which includes a blessing by a local Hawaiian priest and a paddle out where all the contestants form a circle in the water and prayers are made for everyone's safety. I was lucky enough to attend the most recent ceremony on Dec. 1, 2008, where I took these pictures.


Kahu (priest) Billy Mitchell

Rusty Keaulana

Chava Greenlee

Kala Alexander

security!

Suburban vernacular photography at it's finest

I love found photography and what the snap shot has to say about us and what people found important enough to document and immortalize. The wife and I are always visiting flea markets and thrifts stores where she finds vintage Gucci bags and mid-century furniture and I find old Polaroids of recent parolees smiling outside prison gates and families gathered around their 1970's Christmas tree that's been decorated like a cupcake.

I heard a quote the other day that went something like:

"We have a birth certificate to show that we were born and a death certificate to show that we died. Photographs show that we lived."

I would add to that "they also show that we wore rad shorts and idolized Eddie Van Halen."



This is my good friend Craig, who in 1985 smoked a lot of pot, grew a baby teenage mustache, and learned to play Eruption as if he were Eddie's bastard child.

Mark Healey...a different kind of yogi

Mark Healy is a big wave charger born and raised on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. He is known for his fearlessness in conditions that would make the bravest of men piss their pants like scared children. He is a waterman in the truest sense of the word. He is a champion spear fisherman who hunts shark...alone...at night. He is also a champion free diver and can hold his breath for 4 minutes. We caught up on my recent trip to the North Shore where he demonstrated for me a breathing exercise he does before diving that prevents his lungs from bleeding. Look up "crazy as a shit house rat" in any dictionary and you'll find an image of Heals.

Particleboard...it's not just for sub-floors anymore

Separation Anxiety

Wow! We are sooo close. So close I can almost taste it. The finish line is in sight. The bummer is I have to leave in the morning for 8 days and that kind'a freaks me out. I never thought that I'd be bummed to have to go to Hawaii but I am a bit. Emilio and Jodi will be running the show while I'm gone and I'm sure that all will be bitchin as they've pretty much been running the show all along. I won't be posting until I return. Until then here are some random pieces from the chaos that is soon to be my castle. Aloha.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Dorian

Emilio

Chong

Susan

Fridger

Henry and Mitch

Brie

Kymm

Will

Shawn, Emilio, Josh

Beer

Thanks but no thanks

Thomas is a local guy who lives on the streets and does odd jobs for people in the neighborhood. At one time he was the doorman for the Comme Des Garcons guerrilla shop on 4th street. Decked out in Comme and the latest Nike's he was the chicest looking homeless man you've ever seen. Sounds weird, I know. A few nights ago Thomas came by the new space saying that he had a friend near by who was selling a great new mini-frig and microwave for $20 and did we wanna go take a look. We needed a break and were a bit curious so we decided to take a walk to see what's what. Emilio, Stephen Hill, Thomas, and I walked over to a big parking lot on Los Angeles St and 2nd St. Thomas began leading us toward the back of the lot where we could see a make shift tent surrounded by various junk in the far corner. As we got closer Thomas began yelling "Ronnie! Hey Ronnie!" and very soon a disheveled man in spectacles came crawling out of the tent. Thomas introduced us and Ronnie crawled back into the tent then pushed the refrigerator out. He told us that he had cleaned it up and plugged it in and that it worked just fine. We looked at it and were seriously considering buying it until we opened it and a funky aroma poured out. He said we could just put a box of baking soda in it and it would be great. We ended up declining but I have to say we really liked Ronnie. Even living in his adverse conditions he was friendly, smart, funny, and honest. As we walked back through the parking lot Emilio announced excitedly "I'm gonna take my shirt off!" Just as I lifted my camera to take a picture Stephen reached back and punched Emilio in the balls. I love my neighborhood!

Happiness is......a new pooper!

Some Random

Home depot parking lot. The douche mobile or the asshole wagon?

They always have "Skin" stickers don't they?

The wife

Shawn is one of our bad ass painters. He's a really rad dude and has played drums for some legendary LA punk bands like The Controllers, The Skulls, The Gears, and The U.S. Bombs.

Ballad of an unwanted commode

In it's original home

Uprooted and sitting in the studio

Out on the sidewalk where I figured someone would pick it up but instead within 20 minutes someone took the tank lid and the seat and someone actually peed in it. I love my neighborhood!

Scenes from the mess

Robert the plumber brought the whole crew homemade tamales

Emilio my foreman extraordinaire/friend in the old shower/new kitchenette

Richard the sort of handyman who replaced all the glass in the windows used the old flooring tiles from the bathroom as his safety anchor.

Abdul-Malick is Will the electrician's best friend and has come in to help finish the job. No matter what is happening, 5 times a day he unrolls this prayer rug and faces east.

I am a monk magnet

On our gajillionth Home Depot run I spotted these two Japanese Zen monks.
Random?
Kind'a!
I was so excited that I forgot to sneak a peak into their cart to see what they were buying.

Sorry bro but....

It always sucks to have to fire someone. To be honest I'm not very good at it and always feel bad, even if they deserve it. Thank god I've got Emilio as he doesn't stand for slacking or crappy work.





Jodi and Emilio enjoying street eats


my favorite graf on the front of the building

Gnarly suprise

At some point someone covered two sets of windows with wooden flats. We theory that it was a film crew as the flats were the typical kind you see on sets. We knew that there were broken windows behind them but weren't really prepared for what else we found. Enjoy.

Day 3, Good luck sign

As we were walking downstairs on our millionth Home Depot run a group of Sri Lanken monks from Santa Clarita were walking into the building to buy sunglasses at the sunglass retailer on the first floor. I took this as a very good sign.
The wood for the floors arrived this morning and we hired Cedric to carry it upstairs. He's the most ripped homeless guy I've ever seen.
The cast and crew and characters that are showing up on this endeavor have been straight comedy. I've been trying to keep all the hires local which seems to mean your missing your front teeth.

Day 2, wall demo and the dirt brotherhood

We decided to get rid of the closet in order to expand the store room. When we tore the plaster and dry wall we got to see how walls were built in the 1890's.