May 1st, 2010
A few weeks ago I decided to finally put a new (bigger) hard drive in my computer. My computer had been running strangely and so it was decided that the best thing would be to reinstall everything from scratch. This was no big deal since all my files are kept on external hard drives. The only thing I was dreading was re-importing everything into Lightroom – luckily it went much smoother than I hoped for. Not only that, but as I was going through all the folders to make sure my ratings etc had made it through the import, I got to re-visit old shoots. In particular, a shoot from December 6th, 2007 caught my eye. I decided to look at the images with fresh eyes and re-edit to see if my aesthetics had changed much. I actually ended up choosing the same poses I chose the first time around (with an additional portrait thrown into the mix). Then the fun part became retouching the old images with my current retouching aesthetic. While the original retouched images from 2007 are still among my favourites, the newly retouched image has a completely different feel. I’m really not sure if I even prefer one over the other. What do you think?
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April 19th, 2010
Here’s a photo from last month – shot for my last workshop assignment, the “wet portrait”
We hiked up to Malibu Creek Canyon and walked along the creek until we found what I figured was a pretty secluded place – that is, until we were waist deep in water as a group of about 20 children walked by – according to their comments, our shoot was “rated M for mature”. Props to Linda for braving the cold water and maintaining her composure.
April 1st, 2010
I absolutely LOVE bridges – I love crossing them (in car or on foot) and I really love photographing them. The Brooklyn Bridge is probably the most beautifully built bridge I’ve ever seen and every time I go to New York, I gravitate towards it.
(Brooklyn Bridge – January 2010)
March 22nd, 2010
Back in January I photographed an editorial for the premier issue (which was just released yesterday) of The Collective Magazine. The subject was a non-profit organization called Falling Whistles. Listening to Sean Carasso (the founder) speak about his cause was not only eye-opening, but heart-wrenching, as I had no idea what was happening to children in the Congo.
“Captured by Nkunda’s rebel army, the boys not big enough to hold a gun are given merely a whistle and put on the front lines of battle. Their sole duty is to make enough noise to scare the enemy and then to receive – with their bodies – the first round of bullets. Lines of boys fall as nothing more than a temporary barricade. Those who try to flee are shot at from behind. The soldiers call it “encouragement” to be brave. Without a gun to protect themselves, the smallest boys are placed between the crossfire of two armies – forces fighting for reasons far beyond their ability to understand.” (an excerpt from Sean’s original journal entry, read the full entry here)
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March 18th, 2010
This Saturday (March 20th), I’ve been invited to show work at the monthly Santa Ana art walk. It will be the first time I’ve shown work in California in over a year, so if you’re in southern California, come check it out!
Migration: Portraits of Human Abandonment
Saturday March 20th, 2010
7-10 pm
Tight Space gallery at the Santiago Street lofts
729 North Poinsettia Street
Santa Ana CA 92701
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca (Roman philosopher)
I have always been drawn to vacated buildings, anywhere people once worked, lived, or spent any significant amount of time. These places, which may once have been hubs – of cities, towns, neighborhoods, or maybe just families – are now forgotten. Things that once marked a new life – like a new home, or a new car, or the possessions collected over the years – were ultimately discarded in favor of a fresh start somewhere else; a new beginning. But to me, it’s the things left behind that tell the story….an old car left in the garage, a teapot left on the stove, or a rocking chair slowly moving back and forth in the breeze, all in an arrested state – all waiting for the owners who once cherished them to return.
By focusing on interiors and specific objects left behind, I am attempting to capture the essence of the former inhabitants, almost as if I were taking their portrait. I have always loved that, shown only a person’s belongings, each viewer will perceive that person in a different manner. The “portraits” in this body of work allow the viewer to do just that – make up their own minds about the people to whom these objects once belonged.
March 15th, 2010
I have to say that for me, photographing two people is probably the most daunting thing to do. Now, I’m not saying that shooting one person is a walk in the park, because there are always challenges with every shoot but think about it…shooting a single person, you only have to worry about the light falling on one person, the emotion coming from one person, and the placement in the frame of one person – your focus is solely on that one person. The greatest challenge (and this is with any portrait) is creating an image that draws the viewer in.
Shooting a group of people (3 or more) is fun in that you can play around with breaking the group up into smaller sub-groups (my preference is to always have odd-numbered groups of people). Groups can be more challenging in terms of lighting, but by your arrangement of people, you can always create a dynamic, visually compelling image. Now we get into shooting the double portrait…the reason this is the most challenging for me is two-fold. First, you can’t really break up your subjects into smaller groups of odd numbers because (and here is reason number two) shooting a double portrait is about shooting the relationship between two people. In shooting a double portrait you have to create a visually compelling image that draws the viewer in and makes them understand the relationship.
When shooting a portrait, no matter how many people are involved, I feel it’s important to not only make the portrait informational, but emotional as well. As Paul Strand once said, “it is one thing to photograph people. It is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their human-ness.”
March 9th, 2010
This is Milo.
Among other things, he works as a contortionist at the Venice sideshow. We got together one day so I could take some photos of him – let me tell you, this kid is no joke.
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February 25th, 2010
Here are some recent portraits I shot for my workshop – the assignments were to shoot a portrait incorporating an element of nature and to shoot a portrait incorporating hands…
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February 15th, 2010
It’s been said that children and animals are the hardest subjects to photograph – but I think it’s more accurate to say that children and animals are the hardest subjects to work with. That being said, one of my favourite clients is Go Gently Baby – an eco-friendly clothing company for kids. I’ve been working with them for the past couple years and every time we shoot a look book, it’s always an adventure. Not only do I love working with the kids each season, but I love everything about the line. In addition to being constructed locally, all the garments are made with organic and sustainable fabrics and are coloured with water based inks and low impact dyes. They strive to share their vision of teaching kids to be kind to the Earth and to go gently on their journey through life.
Here are some outtakes from the most recent shoot…
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February 8th, 2010
I recently had a workshop assignment to take a portrait while shooting through something. I was inspired by an image by one of my favorite photographers, Platon…which depicts a model standing amidst vibrant red and purple leaves. The leaves are casting amazing shadows on her face and because there is foliage in the foreground, mid-ground, and background, it’s an extremely layered image.
So I set out to Griffith Park (which is basically the only nature in this city) to find something suitable. It quickly became apparent that lush colours and foliage were not part of the landscape. It was at this point that I had a creative block. I had something so specific that I wanted to do in my mind that I became locked into that idea and it didn’t seem like I’d be able to get past it. In addition to this, I had planned on using natural light and as the sun was going behind a hill, clouds also started rolling in – which meant I was losing my light very quickly. But, as a photographer, it’s my job to make things work. So I picked up Linda (who was going to model for me) and I just had to improvise – and this is what I came up with:
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