Our Honeymoon

Another obsession of mine (besides monks) is old photo albums I find at garage sales and flea markets. My wife will be searching out vintage Gucci and Hermes and I'll be knee deep in some cardboard box fishing through the discarded memories of people I never knew looking for pieces of accidental photographic genius. We went to the Long Beach flea market on Sunday where I found this honeymoon album and she found a Gucci pen. It was a win win sort of trip.

Shaka \!!!/ Newps

Just returned home from a 5 day shoot last week and boy, are my arms tired. Went really well and had a great time. My crew (who are fantastic) and I stayed in a plush house on the beach in Newport. I was fortunate enough to get the master suite with a jacuzzi tub that overlooked the ocean. I always feel a bit weird being treated like a pimp (doesn't happen too often, as it stands in contrast to my "doesn't mind sleeping in a chicken coop" personality). However, this time I really enjoyed it. I felt so fried at the end of each 15 hour day that it was great to lay down in that big, comfy bed and watch The National Geographic Channel (my favorite, after Ovation's "Genius of Photography" series) on the mega-huge flat screen.

The last couple jobs I've been shooting with the Canon Mark 3 and am feelin' it. Love the bigger viewing screen and larger files, as does my client. Also, my first time using Adobe's LightRoom, which I think pretty much rules over Capture One as far as navigation and processing speed.

Today, I begin the portfolio making process, which is what I am devoting July to. That, and developing my blogging skills, so I'm sure both subjects will be showing up here a lot this coming month. Stay tuned.

See ya

Gonna be out of town this week shooting so no new posts till next week. See ya then.

Photo hero

This guy reminds me of a fat Terry Richardson......only creepier.

That fat editorial money

I opened the mail yesterday and found a check for an editorial shoot I did in January.......2007. I had given up on it long ago after several unreturned emails and phone calls to the photo ed. Silly me for just giving up and not understanding their 17 month payment policy.
It's so lame that it's rad.

DIY art zine

I love how easy it is these days to have your own photo/art book made. Before Blurb and all the other online book publishers, there were zines....handmade, DIY, little book/magazines created in bedrooms, garages, and at local copy centers. They were sold super cheap and in small circulation at indie record stores and book shops. In 1989, I bought three of these xeroxed jobs by (then) little known artist Raymond Pettibon, at a record store in Hermosa Beach for a $1.50 each. I was in Venice Beach recently, where I saw the same copies for sale at Equator Books for $300 a piece.


Needless to say, I was quite pleased when Scott Richards, (art director, artist, friend, and all around good guy) put together a limited edition, photocopied & hand stitched art-zine and included a few of my photos. Here's a sample of some of my favorites:


in order from L to R:
Randy Noboribawa, Brian Craighill, Scott Massey, Justin "biscuit" Bauer, SZ, Scott Richards, Alex "krusty" Brastev, Jason Danhoff
Cover by Scott Richards

Cats, Dogs, and Monks

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm mildly obsessed with Buddhist monks. The discipline and intention for enlightenment inspires and motivates me, especially the extreme cave dwelling types. My interest/obsession is born out of the fact that growing up in the west I was led to believe that material possessions and status would lead to contentment and inner happiness. What I have come to believe is that those things lead to an unending craving for more and the desperate need to hold onto that status. I have met many young monks on my travels who own nothing but their sandals and robes, sleep on straw mats, and rely on the communities generosity for their one meal a day. It's such a hard life yet they are incredibly happy and good humored. Much happier than many wealthy people i have met in the western world. I found these images recently that make me smile every time I look at them.

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Gangs of Kabukicho

I bought Japanese photographer and man about town Watanabe Katsumi's "Gangs of Kabukicho" at OK recently. Katsumi worked the red light districts of Shinjuku Province in 1968 Japan. Shooting with an on camera flash, which was rare at the time, made his portrait services popular with the drag queens, gangsters, hookers, and night club patrons that worked and partied there at night. It also gives his work the feel of all the other masters of on camera flash like WeeGee, Arbus, Larry Fink, and Araki. And like those greats, he must have been amazing with people, as his subjects all seem really relaxed and for the most part happy....... or at least happily drunk.

Gangs of Kabukicho is published by PPP Editions and Andrew Roth in an edition of 3000.

The heaviest 10 year old

Just got a few line guides back from Quiksilver.
When we do these shoots there are a few staple props that keep showing up. One was this acoustic guitar that bugged me, so I was looking for a way to make it disappear. I was photographing Quiks am skate team star Parick Ryan, who is the most radical 10 year old hellion anarchist you'll ever meet. He was more than happy to smash the thing to bits, but the guitar was almost as big as he was and proved tougher to destroy than he thought. When it didn't shatter, he threw it to the ground and began jumping up and down on it and growling like a feral child. I just love this kid!

scouting

I went scouting yesterday at a house on Lido Island owned by an amazing 88 year old woman who drives around in a convertible white Bentley. She said I couldn't do a portrait of her then as 'she wasn't properly dressed' but when we come back to shoot she'll be ready. Can't wait to see what she comes up with since she was wearing an all pink pants suits with matching hair band. The house was filled with great photos and paintings of her Newport Beach family from the last 60 years. I find it interesting what images people choose to use in their homes as memories of or tributes to their loved ones. I really dig the 80's ski bunnies. They feel like something you would see in a Richard Prince piece.

Welcome to IAP

So it looks like today is the day that I put finger to keyboard and begin the experiment of adding my voice to the world of photography related blogs. I say experiment as i have never done this and am completely accepting of the fact that failure is a possibility. Or that it could turn into something totally different from my original intention. Or that i could find the whole thing a giant bore. Or that I could be a giant bore. Whatever happens happens, but let's hope for the best.