Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Quote

“You can capture life, but you can’t control it.”

- Robert Frank
via The Constant Siege

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Two people I'm feeling right now...

Check out the work of Greg Miller. From what I read briefly he just finished his Guggenheim Fellowship. Amazing body of work that I'm still making my way through. Also really feeling the "Cruel Story of Youth" project by Jennifer Loeber. Her other photographs aren't too bad, but this particular project is pretty nice.

Not sure if you've noticed but I've streamlined the blog a bit, thank you Nick Haggard for the help and tips. If you've never seen Nick's pictures before its definitely worth checking out. He's also started a blog.
Just purchased my own 150mm lens for my Toyo so I'm hoping to make some new photos over the holidays and working on the "People You May Know" (working title) project. Feels weird about titling it but I can't just keep calling it "the project".

UPDATE: I just received a super nice email from Greg Miller thanking me for mentioning him on my blog. He had some very nice things to say about my work and also mentioned that he's only halfway through his Guggenheim Fellowship (6 months more). So definitely keep an eye out for new work from him over the next year.
As well as being a great photographer Greg teaches large format photography at the ICP in NY.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

New 4x5

Here are some quick scans of two new pictures I made a week or so ago. Super psyched on the large format. Still need to get used to it a bit, want to be able to add some light so I can make my shooting times more flexible.






Lilla and her daughter Bliss waiting for grandma.
Plum Island, MA 2008








Aidan his wife Olivia near the end of her 3rd trimester
Rowely, MA 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008

Skateboard Decks

A little while ago my good friend and sometime collaborator Zach Johnsen called me and asked if it was cool if our first t-shirt collaboration (see them here, here, here, and here) could be used on some skateboard decks. "Of course", I said and that was it. I kind of forgot about it till recently. Check them out here. I haven't seen any in person but I think they look pretty cool. Also, I just did product shots of Zach's new belt buckle company, Death Metal Belt Buckles. Not sure what the url will be for them but I'm sure through Tank Theory or Tank Theory's blog you'll be able to see them in a week or two.

Here a peek of the two designs they went with:







In other news I just got my first sheets back with the new 4x5 camera, hope to scan them over the weekend!

Sunday, November 09, 2008

James Nachtwey

I had the honor of shooting James Nachtwey. Who is one of the most famous living war and conflict photographers. There is a great documentary on him called War Photographer. This isn't what ran in the mag, they ran a different version of the close-up. You can see it in the new Swindle Magazine Icons issue 3. I have a couple other portraits in there as well, should be on newsstands now.






James Nachtwey
NYC 2008

Richard Renaldi

Some nice large format portraiture here. I suggest looking at "figure and ground" first.

Nice, new online photo mag

From the guy who brought you the We Can't Paint blog is a new online photo magazine called Wassenaar. Check it out when you get a sec. I think it is something to pay attention to.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

More Hasselblad stuff...

Finished some quick scans of the rest of the film I had, here's a few more I'm feeling. A mix of strangers and friends I've photographed. I also added that picture of Michelle to my regular site. Check it out when you get a sec. I've edited my site down a bunch, love to get some feedback.



Clay Patrick McBride showing off his gold tooth and trusty Super 8 camera
EAW, Upstate, NY 2008








Revolutionary War Reenactors in front of home
Upstate, NY 2008








Teens with prizes
Topsfield Fair 2008








David Hartman finishing a cigarette
LES, NYC 2008

Friday, November 07, 2008

Film + Hasselblad = some new portraits

It's been a while since I've posted my own work. It's mostly because I am shooting film for my personal stuff and the whole process takes a lot longer for obvious reasons. Here are two that I scanned last night. I'm thinking of adding the one of Michelle to my site, I did a high res scan as well that I'll do a final retouch on tonight. But for the most part it will look like this. As for the other portrait of my brother, I really like what is going on there, I think its an idea to use for the future. I also have some stuff scanned from this summer shooting up at the beaches, I'm on the fence about posting them yet. It's not that I don't like them, I just think I want to hold off on them to be shown within a larger edit or when I have a more concise idea of what I plan to make them into. I have 3 more rolls to get through tonight. Maybe I'll do another post before the weekend is up.

I also got a 4x5 camera again. This time its not a frankencamera like the last one. This is a real deal Toyofield camera and has been really fun working with. I'm getting some sheets processed this week. I'm really enjoying shooting from a tripod again, which was something I was trying to avoid with that last nightmare of a 4x5 camera I had tested. In college I shot 99% of the time on a tripod and tried to break that habit and loosen up once I was shooting 35mm digi, but lately I am realizing it is a better way to work with how I make my photos these days. I swear its always a push in a new direction that in the end brings back some aspects of my past, especially right now with the 4x5 and tripod.






Michelle Clark on her birthday
Boston, MA 2008






This one of Derek almost takes to an extreme the environmental portrait style I've been doing the past year or so.

Derek Amengual with a glass of milk
Newbury, MA 2008
He's been showing some great landscapes on his blog lately.

Patriotism


St. Marks, NYC 2008 Election Night

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Great quote

“It is not from the sons of the millionaire or the noble that the world receives its teachers, its martyrs, its inventors, its statesmen, its poets, or even its men of affairs. It is from the cottage of the poor that all these spring.”

- Andrew Carnegie

via The Constant Siege

Yes!



In other good news Question 2 passed in MA, decriminalizing possession of under once ounce of weed, a.k.a..

In sad news Question 8 was passed in CA, banning gay marriage.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

War

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement.

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.

This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.

This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. These plain and cruel truths define the peril and point the hope that come with this spring of 1953.

This is one of those times in the affairs of nations when the gravest choices must be made, if there is to be a turning toward a just and lasting peace. It is a moment that calls upon the governments of the world to speak their intentions with simplicity and with honesty.

It calls upon them to answer the question that stirs the hearts of all sane men: is there no other way the world may live?”

Dwight Eisenhower 1961

I stole this quote and post idea from The Constant Siege. I've told many people about the movie Why We Fight and seeing up on Mr Cubitt's blog gave me a kick to repost it on mine. I think it is one of the best documentary films I have ever seen. You can catch it in clips here on YouTube. Even McCain makes an appearance. I was actually very blown away by him and remember thinking, "Wow, for a Republican he's not that bad." Its funny how the pursuit of power corrupts. You do actually see him turn into a bitch when he gets a phone call from Bush, so I guess that was just a hint of things to come. Please watch it. For the conservatives out there, I promise this isn't a "Michael Moore" type "documentary".
Also, I just found the full film on google video: