In real life, we typically have a brief amount of time to see things, then we move on. But photographs aren’t reality, they’re an illusion. So I get closer, and explore, and make up my own story. To really understand something, we need to sit still and get close. Really close.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Lucy & Nathalia
"I have discovered photography. Now I can kill myself. I have nothing
else to learn." ~ Pablo Picasso
else to learn." ~ Pablo Picasso
Friday, April 5, 2019
Miera
Joel: Wednesday, do you think someday you might want to get married and have kids?
Wednesday Addams: No.
Joel: But what if you met just the right man, who worshiped and adored you, who'd do anything you say, who'd be your devoted slave? Then what would you do?
Wednesday Addams: I'd pity him.
Wednesday Addams: No.
Joel: But what if you met just the right man, who worshiped and adored you, who'd do anything you say, who'd be your devoted slave? Then what would you do?
Wednesday Addams: I'd pity him.
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Lee
Yeah, full disclosure: I (like many photographers) have a fetish for cameras. When the B&H photo supply catalog comes in the mail, my wife lets me know that my camera porn has arrived. I have a pretty large camera collection— film cameras greatly outnumber the digital ones. I love just looking at them, picking them up and giving them a feel... often. If I didn't actually shoot as often as I do, I would definitely consider it pathetic. Ironically, when it comes to what I actually shoot with, though, I treasure pragmatism over aesthetics. I value the ergonomics over anything else since I'm actually holding the damn thing for hours at a time, not to mention that I like to have quick control over all options. It seems silly, but there are a lot of cameras that I like to look at, and then there are the few that I actually use...
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Tanya Dakin
This is an old one, from back when it was so easy to shoot at Eastern State Penitentiary. You could just wander around and shoot anywhere you wanted, and no one bothered you. Now it's impossible to do nudes there, and they confine you to one place. Thinking about it is like a golden period that you wish you could revisit...
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Ash
There are so many reasons why a photographer would use, or a viewer would appreciate the use of, B&W in photography. I myself could go on & on listing and expounding on the reasons that I personally employ it... but there are definitely a few concise reasons that I use it here: It tends to add drama, it tends to add mystery, and it tends to remove time. These are all mostly self-explanatory— although I've always really appreciated the aspect of trying to make an image timeless rather than being instantly dated.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Natalie
I never get bored of playing with mirrors. I don't mind that it is typically just a variation on the same shot. Yeah, this is one of my go-to's...
Friday, March 8, 2019
Claire
Looking down is symbolic of dominance, so I tend to us that point of view for images like this. I'll even get on a ladder to hype that up a bit. Conversely, when I want to make my models look fierce (like my window shots), I tend to lay down on the floor and look way up. I'm always fascinated by the potential to employ psychology in my photography. Commercial photographers and the advertising industry, of course, figured this out a long time ago...
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Lady Lazarus
I made this gag out of a Nylabone years ago- it's finally found it's home. The brilliant red of the Nylabone gets a little lost in the B&W translation, but I still really like that it's readable.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Sienna Luna
"Look up from what you're doing and look around for a minute. See what a beautiful world you're in. " ~Ralph Marston
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Ramonita
"Black and white is abstract; color is not. Looking at a black and white photograph, you are already looking at a strange world." ~Joel Sternfeld
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Ash
Perhaps the most difficult task of photography is finding and holding a balance between the technical and creative. Allowing the technical aspect of the process to dominate is a mistake, as the final result will ultimately lack genuine inspiration. Letting the purely creative take over can also be unfortunate, as there needs to be some technical control involved in any artistic undertaking— otherwise, it's just crap. All photographers worth their salt have complete technical control over the medium, but after learning their craft, they tend to move forward into the uncharted areas of instinct. This is a step that requires confidence in one’s inner (and often sub-conscious) resources. After studying the technical aspects of the medium, this leap of faith revolves around a photographer's willingness to put that learning behind themselves and, in essence, forgetting it. Of course, a technique cannot be truly forgotten but must be forced into the recesses of the mind. A process that I have developed involves relying on visual intuition during the compositional phase and then adding technique during exposure and post-production. Pre-visualization, or coming up ahead of time with pretentious ideas, is odious to me— and I find that it tends to completely block intuition. The balance between instinct and pragmatism is so important to my work.
Monday, February 4, 2019
Meira & Heff
I'm sorry, but all I see in these are triangles. Actually, that is a big theme in my work— triangles are everywhere. Just take a brief scroll down the screen, and you'll probably be annoyingly distracted by how many triangles you come across...
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Lee Loo La & Heff
The tar rooftop is really dirty and sticky. Seriously nasty. Not only years of dirt on top of sticky tar from the hot sun, but a Chinatown restaurant exhaust fan constantly blowing even more sticky stuff all over. Pretty disgusting to walk on— shoes are definitely necessary at the very least if doing nudes. The grimy aesthetic is to die for, though! I've never had a problem getting a model to shoot up there, though— it not only looks great, but it's also very private.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Adrian Louise
Jean-Paul Sartre's famous quote, "L'enfer C'est Les Autres" or "hell is other people," has often been quoted, but often out of context. This quote, which appears as the dialogue of a character in his play, No Exit, refers to a human being's loss of subjectivity when seeking the approval of other people. In the play, three characters arrive in Hell. They’re expecting flames and pitchforks, but instead, they’re shown into a plain ordinary room – and then gradually discover that this is where they’ll be spending eternity. Alone, together. It's about the difficult coexistence of people. This quote is very open to interpretation so there can be infinite takes on it— which is precisely why it's such a great fucking quote. Personally, though, I see it as how we are unable to escape the watchful and judgmental gaze of everyone around us.
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