BLESSING

Life is sneaky sometimes. Blessings come in many different guises, often in ways you least expect. Sometimes a moment comes along that reminds you to appreciate every single day and opportunity or privilege we have and never to squander that to apathy. 

Special thanks to the really mega Bethany Rouslin from Time for sending me to Salt Lake City to take this picture. Being there was an experience that had both my friend Chris and I stopped in our tracks, overwhelmed with emotion. A moment of blessing we'll never forget.

BEIJING

I LOVE AWL DAWGS

. . . but this one most

HERO

It's not the kind of word I bandy about regularly. I tend to avoid superlatives of that nature, especially in regards to athletes and the cult of celebrity.

But this man, John Force, is definitely a hero to many, and someone I admire tremendously.

I've been fortunate to have met him twice and hope that continues.  He made every effort to accommodate me, having been the first to greet me at John Force Racing HQ in Yorba Linda as well as personally retrieving me a couple of sodas.  I've worked with many top pro athletes and none of them have done that, much less a 15 time world champion. Everything he does is with heart.

If you consider the extreme nature of what he does, his achievements are all the more remarkable. Not only is he a living legend at the top of his game, but part of him will always live on in perpetuity in the hearts and minds of many.  

Quentin Tarantino should have put John in his car instead of Kurt Russell.

Oh, and if you get a chance to see or download (iTunes etc) his TV series "Driving Force" on A&E, I highly recommend it. It's irrelevant whether you like cars or not, it's a great show. 

Above are a couple outtakes on the images that ran for publication. I'd tried to capture the feeling of a giant clamshell swallowing you whole, and experimenting with incident framing angles as well as +/- exposure settings in rather extreme ways to elicit different narrative moods.

Special thanks to Adam, Brenna, Zana, Jen & Carolyn for making this happen for me. 

 

MALAYSIA

About halfway up Mt Kinabalu

TODD HIDO AAU GUEST SPEAKER

I love Todd Hido's work. Its fair to say many of us love his work, as evidenced by his success and indelible cultural dialogue he has impressed upon us, like a mirror we perhaps were reluctant to gaze upon.  Todd's work masterfully and yet uncomfortably straddles the evocative intersection that is both timely in it's ability to visually evince the collective social pathos of recent times, and urgent in its forward reaching, yearning, didactic curiosity. It is a language that resonates within us all- the sense of being alone, and the complex character of finding warmth within that fraught structure.  It is perhaps ironic that the dialogue of isolation would recieve so much public and critical acceptance, but it's not hard to understand why; it is perhaps that Todd's work bravely speaks a language many of us are wont to keep buried or are afraid to confront, and yet resides within us all. 

It was a real privilege to have Todd take the time to give us a full presentation of his work, and given the number of like requests he navigates, it was really flattering that he'd accepted the invitation in support of the ethos of the class. 

In observation of his presentation, of particular note- Todd's conviction in describing the process of his work was always concluded, not with a full stop or sense of finality- but rather an open door- a portal that portends to continued humanistic exploration.

". . . and this is something I am very much interested in"

there is a great video on youtube in which you can a bit of insight into Todd's work from the man himself.  Thanks to the fantastic Amy Stein for the link here

NISSAN VS GREYHOUND

It never really is going to outpace a member of nature's finest predators, but will provide for abundant fits of howling laughter. Just tape some doggy chicken strips onto it and watch them give chase and . . get chased, much to their chagrin- alpha predators don't appreciate having the tables turned or their reliance on dominance revoked. To that end perhaps the car should always be a VW Rabbit. WABBIT WEVENGE!

Thanks to Bill Long for sending me the RC car.  My dog might not share the sentiment but that is the funniest thing ever.

MO 'YO

Tokyo, that is. I shouldn't even try to be cool with the slang, ha! I'll stick to ye olde tymes

A NEW VISION

In working on my website revision I rediscovered these images we'd shot for Nike Vision on the anniversary of 9/11, and was struck by the fraught intensity and seriousness of Lindsey's expression- then, a portico to the future. Now, a document to reflect upon. 

Looking back on the near decade of geopolitico-socioeconomic dissolution, fear-mongering, and the exsanguination of the creative process as a whole, makes me feel how worn those grooves are in the tired asphalt. 

Change.

It's a good word, one that acknowledges history and the right to put forth that knowledge in better ways; it's an idealogue we can get behind. 

I think it's a fair to surmise that the planet is looking forward to catching it's breath and taking a walk in the sand again. 

TOKYO-SAN, I DO MISS THEE

AGENT RIBBONS FOR LULA MAG

Outtakes of fun and vaguely Victor Hugo-esque shoot with Lauren and Natalie of Agent Ribbons for Lula magazine in London.

I love this song and video of them

'PLAY' BECKETT/MINGHELLA

Samuel Beckett's 'Play' as realized by Anthony Minghella

Text here

YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE JOHAN

Johannes Luley of Moth Vellum, whom I had introduced to his future wife, actor Robin Hathaway (formerly known as retired soccer icon 'Mia Hamm' masquerading as Rufflina the Clown.) 

For their union I was duly renumerated with a freezer full of Johannes' favorite Darmstadt Wuerstel, a fair trade clearly in my favor. 

Congrats guys ;)

A NEW ID

As some of you have been noticing, I've finally gotten a refresh of my logo and identity system.

After some 12 odd years of being a stridently insistent DIY'er (á la OCD'er) I had grown increasingly frustrated with my rather limited command of typography despite being a lifelong student / slog / hack designer wannabe, and wished I could just improve my identity treatment. Not disimilar, but just better, as evidenced by a professional hand. As most of us maker folks are rather compulsive control freaks, this was an exigent crisis, got over my apathetic self and reached out for professional help and. . . I am elated by the resultant effort. 

I'd entrusted David Nakamoto to the task, since he and I had been trading salvos of inspired ideas over the years and I was always mightily impressed with his ability to function as a facile, cerebral, and emotional fulcrum for a disparate, tangental, and symbiotic design lexicon of human taxonomy. That's a big foofy easter basket of fluffy words, but being able to bring an ordered universe with nary a wasted stroke or impartial flourish, amongst and endless fountain of synaptic and informational resources, is what David does so well.  (I'm not sure that was a simplified description. Someone edit me, please.)

The identity system alludes and gives a nod towards my (and our shared histories) with the following-

-guitar / metal weenie as a child; with the inward slanted A's reminiscent of Metallica's logo

-The flat milk paint off-primary iteration recalls the best of early formalist PBS, BBC, and educational design, old wooden toys, etc. It is also an homage to euro-centric civic and transportation design color palette- seen often in motorsport branding, a shared love, as well as a wink towards the emotional recollection of site-specific art installations and their supporting collateral at places like  Centre Pompidou, Mumok, Tate, Secession, etc.  The privilege of experiencing art in those types of grand citadels is truly life affirming.

-The textured background, as well as the letter forms themselves, were hand scanned by David, as an homage to our appreciation of things that are formal in nature and ideation but bear evidence of history and thusly in our opinion are achingly beautiful in their imperfection and scars- more complex, nuanced than a false veneer of perfect polish that seeks to erase. . life. The letterforms were scanned from a working reference book inherited from his father, a former typesetter.

Check out David's tactile work at Multifresh, his record label Audraglint, and new studio, Wilderness (forthcoming link as of this post, will append accordingly)

ORATORIO OR BIRDCAGE-IO ?

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) here and here

Unrelated, the image above is from an older Nike Bags campaign, the glass really did look like that- no photoshop necessary.

PABLO GILBERTO HAS THREE HANDS

One of the really great privileges of being a photographer is the opportunity to work with some folks in unique situations that would otherwise be difficult to access. I've been doing some work with my friend Paul Gilbert over the years, and even as peers now I've not forgotten that I had plastered his posters on my wall as a young suburban bowl-cut chinese bmx aspiring shredder back in my youth. My first 'real' electric guitar was an iridescent salmon pink ibanez PL2550 that Paul endorsed in his Racer X days before they released his PGM Pro Model. I got it mowing about a hundred lawns and doing that dreaded morning paper route (yeah I know, waaaaaa. But Boston winters. . . you try it.)

Part of me is still that kid, and in disbelief that the poster guy calls me up nowadays to ask what I think about a t-shirt design or layout.

Recently Paul asked me to provide some backdrop images for his forthcoming instructional DVD; they are always hugely popular not only for his incredible and earnest wealth of great licks and natural teaching ability, but also feature his truly offbeat sense of humor and for being a unbelievably kind and sincere guy.

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Oh, and Paul just sent me that one-of-a-kind triplebucker PGM he's holding in the pic above that we did for his last album. 

He knew I had coveted it and one day fedex rang me up and . . .there it was in my hallway! WHAT THE FUDGE!

as for the 3 handed thing, check it out

PARIS & JEAN NOUVEL

Some images of Aimée in Saint-Germain and Jean Nouvel's incredible L'Institut du Monde Arabe

ORIGAMI HYDRAMAC

My friends Mary Zeeble, Producer, and Creative Director Anthony Laurino are pleased with their newest product design collaboration. Just in case one isn't enough.  

Hello? Oh hi Steve. 

JIN MAO WILL SKIN YOU BUT THE FOOD IS EXCELLENT

Xiao Long Baos? Yes, Please. 

Base Jump? Ouch.

Sentient beings and phosphorescent chemiluminent light ciphers and all the frontier/armageddon jazz that Shanghai represents is embodied in this SOM building. Oh, and Mordor.

Incidentally, there's a great buffet on the veranda with free WI-FI.

Doom has evolved with the times too you know.

I just got an email from Doom telling me to pay my bills on time, then laughing.

Sideways here, but hey.

KIRK JAMES AAU GUEST SPEAKER

It was a real thrill and privilege to have noted design guru Kirk James of Cinco Design Office in Portland join us as a guest speaker in my MFA photo class (Ideation & Inspiration) that I teach at the Academy of Art University.  Kirk is busier than anyone I know and it meant alot that he took a precious saturday away from the family and work to make the trip down to SF for the day and teach a 4 hour class with me. It's reflective on his character that Kirk even prepared a bespoke presentation, engaged considerable & thorough email followup; even directed a socially relevant and tailored assignment given to the students in advance of his arrival at the class, to be critiqued and engaged in the relevant discourse. 

We were both pretty zonked afterwards but what a fantastic day.

Incidentally it is Cinco's 10th anniversary this friday. I am dismayed to not be able to attend (!) Therefore I send my best, well, metaphysically.  I've been collaborating with those guys since the early days- almost ten years in fact- they've played a huge part in shaping my visual lexicon and critical ideation/dialogue to this day. It's not uncommon for folks to reference the Gravis campaign work we'd done about 8 years ago as an inspiration for how new clients might approach projects happening today. 

Cinco recently launched a new website, and I was proud to see our collaborations over the years represented, about 20 pages worth(!)

Thanks guys. Congrats on your unyielding integrity and success. Happy 1oth.

HEY MOM, I'M IN A BAND!

Does one practice constitute an official band made?

For as busy as Joe & Ian of Nice Collective and David Pierce of Ohio Design are, I'd say once is a lot. Being in the city, it was great to have a place that we could turn it up to 11 (in our minds mostly.)

We call ourselves Vals, for lack of a better euphemistic or optimistic working name.  Great fun, really. . .

'ELLO CAP'N

Just did these portraits for my new website (soon!) of my friend and colleague Paul Trapani. Paul is a fellow director / photo / educator guy and hands down the best hockey player I have ever had the opportunity to play with. He's not the most gifted player out there, but he's that coast to coast break through the defenders and score while falling through the air, Bobby Orr style.  All heart. When I was captain of the team, we were in last place, but I had Paul take over and we've now won 3 championships in 7 years (and not because of me.)

Paul is one of my favorite photo subjects, I just love the expressive faces he makes, as well as the ones he doesn't

The Deardorff 8x10 view camera belonged to Paul's father.

check out his photo work here. 

OLD STAGE ROAD

I do love researching, and especially driving- old stagecoach roads, but find them precarious to navigate and rather haunting at dusk. This is an outtake from a TIME shoot.

 

A good occasion to put on that Loren Mazzacane or ECM compilation, especially this one

LARKIN, OR THE WHALE

That is the question.

A couple images from a recent shoot with Larkin Smith and Matt Sartain from Or, the Whale

Stay tuned.

04:19 FIRST. POST. EVER.

Is this mic on? Test. I hereby declare this endeavor officially kicked off, to little fanfare (just my dog Noi and I.)  But hey. It's 4am. My friend Mark Ford once wisely intimated that for anything important you just have to jump right in and step back later to take stock. I've definitely been keeping that in mind.

Here are a couple random images on my desktop to test this out. 

Yes, I really did paint everything white. It's a good behavioral template to evacuate some OCD-ness. You can even paint the paintbrushes white, as I have. Oh, and the paint tubes.

The homemade EVH-ish pedalboard used to be my photography portfolio case (!) which proved to be too unwieldy to ever be usable, and thankfully never saw the front end of a client's desk.