Perspective

I want to encourage all of you to watch the documentary "The War" on PBS about WWII. I will not write about it here, I wouldn't do it justice. Only to say that it is amazing and really tends to put our lives and problems in perspective. What is really important, as compared to what we "think" is important. Watch it. And if you find (like I did) that you want to discuss it with someone, I would gladly do so with you. (I'm not really sure if the second half of that last sentence is proper English, but I've been awake since 2 am and grammar is not on my list of priorities at the moment).

Who Am I? Let's Find Out.

This morning, my roommate Holly and I were discussing my favorite show, "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" while I was making coffee and preparing a dish of brownie bites from Whole Foods (horrible I know, but I ran out of coffee cake and those brownies are amazing). We came to the conclusion that you can really tell alot about a person from their DVR list. Probably more so than favorite music or movies, because these are things that you need to watch everyday or at least would like to if given the time. It also can say alot about your sense of humor, socio-political leanings, maturity level and even religion! So whether your interested or not (probably not) here are the shows I am currently recording on my DVR.

The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
Family Guy
Real Time With Bill Maher
Curb Your Enthusiasm
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

So as you can see, I am a white male, socially and politically liberal, with a maturity level of an 8 year old, who may or may not be Jewish. . . . . yep, that's about right.

A Quick Rant

Now, I try not to use this forum to rant and rave about all the things that are bothersome or annoying. You don't need, or want to hear any of that. I mean, I started watching the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and I already found too many similarities between myself and Larry David that I'm beginning to think I might be slightly neurotic. So I will leave all those to my private journal and who knows, maybe one day I'll have my own TV show. So here it is in a nutshell. I don't like that kid from the Verizon Fios commercial. He is so freakin' annoying it's driving me crazy! I have the TV on in the background while I edit and crop these Circleline images and that commercial, and that annoying little kid, are on constantly here in NY. Maybe some people think his sloooow speech is cute, those people should be forced to listen to it all day, then lets see how "cute" it is. There, I said it. You may say, "Why don't you change the channel?" Well, Verizon must have alot of my money because they bought space on like every channel. I'm just happy I made the switch to AT&T so I'm not funding them anymore. Tomorrow, it's "On Demand". All Day. . . . . . By the way, if anyone knows how to get the Curb Your Enthusiasm ringtone on an iPhone I would greatly appreciate if you could email me. I used to believe the world was divided into 2 groups, people with wacky ringtones and normal society. I guess I'm moving over to the darkside.

Oleg Dou

I've been a fan of Oleg's computerized portraits for some time so I thought I would share them with you. He is an amazing graphic designer who uses portraits as his medium. The ones depicted here are more straight forward, but if you visit his website be prepared to see some real freaks! I hope to check out his LA exhibition next month at the Duncan Miller Gallery (if it's still up).

As far as my own work is concerned, I am waiting until models arrive back from the European shows before I begin shooting again. Look for shoots featuring girls from One, Next, and Supreme in the coming weeks! Meanwhile I am editing the thousands of images from the Circleline shoot last week. It's making me nauseous. . . . . . Again.

Life In The Gutter

So last night was bowling night. It was a blast! The Gutter had everything from great beer, to a cool crowd, to music that at times appeared straight out of my playlist! Oh, and there was bowling too. When we arrived we put our names in and were told the wait would be 3 hours! Good thing the bar was so conveniently located. We did venture out to grab food at PFC, no, not KFC, were talkin' Palace Fried Chicken. No doubt I'll be regretting that decision later this afternoon. At about 1 am it was time to bowl. Things started off a little rocky when Jason got his thumb stuck in the ball, and as he threw it, wound up striking the light fixture above the lanes. The manager made him take a time out, it was pretty freakin' hilarious. Holly and Jason wound up tying the first game, I came in third with an 84 (I blamed it on not having my own ball) and Johnathan was right behind with an 80 (I'm not sure what his excuse was). The next game I came roaring back late with 4 strikes in a row and finished with a respectable 158. Even the group next to us was impressed with my mad skills and there were hi-fives all around. There is a good chance my roommate Holly and I will be collectively celebrating our birthdays this year at The Gutter, so I encourage all of you to get out there and bowl! You'll need the practice if you want to compete with the former captain of the Pinbusters! Did I mention I have mad skills? . . . . . . . . . . . Let me see. . . . . . . . . Yep, I did.

Give Me Liberty, Or . . . . . Just Liberty Will Be Fine Thanks.

I just completed a job for Circleline tours. It took me up and down the East and Hudson rivers for the past 2 days. I'm still a little nauseous but no mishaps I'm happy to report. I took this shot during a break in the action so I thought I would post it. Part of me thought it was a little too stereotypical, but then again it is the Statue of Liberty. So I waited until the sun was behind the torch and took a few shots. . . . . I have some very funny, non-politically correct stories to share, but you will have to ask me about them in person, they are not suitable for the blog-o-sphere. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go take a shower, I smell like fish. . . . . (insert joke here).

Pinbusters Re-unite!

The Gutter has opened up in Williamsburg. All the fixtures are from an old bowling alley in the midwest. I wonder how much it costs to Fed Ex my ball and shoes from Chicago? Yes, I was on a bowling league back in Chicago, and yes we were called the Pinbusters, but in my defense I was 10 and Ghostbusters was a very popular movie at the time. I think I still have the T-shirt. Might be a little tight though, partly because I have been working out so much, mostly because I was 10. High game you may ask? 279. Booyah!!! In your face hipsters!!!

Fashion Week Made Me Smarter

I spent yesterday going through many of my images from Fashion Week. Meanwhile, I had the TV tuned to the History Channel. I've always been a sucker for shows about physics ever since I was a kid and used to watch "Newtons Apple". Trying to understand the laws of Quantum Mechanics as a 10 yr old used to hurt my brain, in a good way. Anyway, they were airing shows about the origin of the universe and how the earth was formed. I absorbed all this info as I was cropping images of models in fancy clothes. Really makes the whole Fashion Week experience seem rather insignificant. Thanks Copernicus! So if you're feeling a little too self-involved and need something to bring you back down to reality try this little nugget on for size. Did you know there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches in the world? Suddenly getting upset because Starbucks ran out of skim milk for your non-fat, half-caffe, no whip caramel latte doesn't seem like such a big deal now does it.

Excuse Me, Pardon Me, Excuse Me

Backstage can get pretty crowded. But your not supposed to publish images when other photographers (no matter how cool they appear to be) get caught in the frame! I mean look at this guy, he's just minding his own business, probably listening to "Heat of the Moment" by Asia on his ipod, no doubt trying to go score a sandwich or something and winds up on the net! I'm just glad his eyes were focused on where he was walking instead of somewhere else. . . . . . that could have been embarrassing.

Karl And The City

My celebratory dinner at Prune the other night was amazing! It is now the home of my new favorite dessert, a flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream and caramel that is the true meaning of decadence. That dessert made my night, the girls on the other hand were more interested in the cast of Sex And The City that also happened to be dining at the restaurant. Now being a guy, they don't really do much for me. In fact celebrities in general I could care less about. But it got me thinking, what scenario would cause me to get that excited? Sadly it turns out, if Mike and Mike stumbled into a sports bar where I was watching the Bears game, that would probably be the equivalent. Now I must hit the gym, I went down a whole belt loop this past week, as my old friend Jay from AZ would say, "I'm ripped like Jesus!"

fin

I'm on my way out the door so I'm gonna make this quick. Fashion Week was a great success! I didn't overdo it and in the process got some great shots backstage and also photographed 30 some odd runway shows. I re-connected with some great people and made a ton of new friends and connections within the industry. I'm looking forward to collaborating with the make-up, hair stylists, wardrobe stylists and models that I met backstage. My fashion work should no doubt improve tremendously. I will post the backstage collection on my website once I have had the opportunity to go through all the images. It may take about a week or so. And yes I realize the above image is a little creepy, but in some way I think it's pretty cool.
Finally, thanks to everyone that made this week such a success and to all the people who have complimented my work. You're the best!!!

What Day Is It? Oh Yeah, Day 7

Got a bit of a late start today, but overall it was quite productive. There are just 3 shows tomorrow, then my friends and I are going to do a little celebration at Prune in the east village. The food is supposed to be amazing!

You gotta love Cintia's vintage Stones t-shirt, it went well with the vintage Poison t-shirt that I wore today. As far as the bottom photo is concerned, unfortunately I wasn't able to wear my one piece swimsuit to the show, it's still at the cleaners. I must say, I'm about spent. Life returns to normal again on Thursday.

Day 6

Lets call this the home stretch. A few days ago I couldn't wait for fashion week to be over. I was tired, hungry and sweaty (wow! sounds attractive). But now, I'm kinda wishin' it would go on a few more days. I'm just getting into a groove and I'm liking my results. The above images are from the VPL show. I would have liked to have stayed backstage and capture more of these types of images, but it's such a cool show I didn't want to miss the runway.

Day 5

Today was mainly a runway day, but I was able to shoot the backstage of Sans. The clothes have quite the architectural feel to them. I also found out about some good Croatian restaurants in Astoria and also one here in the city! I'm very excited! I'm gonna have to pack on all those pounds I lost this past week, and nothing does it like good ol' fashion meat and potatoes.

Day 4 cont.

I am having trouble sleeping, so I decided to go through some of my images and it occurred to me, am I the only person that finds these blurred rehearsal runway images interesting? I think they're frame-able, but then what the hell do I know, I'm going on like no sleep.

Day 4

I survived another day. I'm not sure how though, I looked back at what I had consumed yesterday, and by all accounts I should not be able to type this entry. Lets see, 8am: coffee. 4pm: half a subway sandwich and water. 7pm: some type of apple martini. 9pm: vodka cranberry. Thats it. All day. Today I treated myself much better and had lunch AND dinner. . . . . well, I take that back, I had dinner. Yogurt doesn't really count as lunch does it.

Here is a shot I took inside and elevator on my way up from the backstage area to where the Camilla Staerk show was being presented. There were 4 other people in this elevator at the time, and two of the guys had some type of large board they were bringing up to add to the stage. Getting a shot with a cool background sometimes places you inside elevators with models and construction workers.

Day 3

12:30 am, just came home, 2 more hours of computer work then up at 6:30 am. I'm tired.

Day 2

Finding interesting backgrounds backstage was a challenge today. Hotels should not be locations for fashion shows. Staging hair and make-up in a glorified conference room makes everything look lame. I did my best to avoid the carpeting and the bad wallpaper but to no avail. (I mean if it was really bad wallpaper it could be cool, like at some dive hotel, but not at the Soho Grand and the W, there it is just blah). Here are a couple quick portraits from today (the only backstage I shot at that wasn't in a hotel conference room).

Day 1

Too tired to post anything too interesting. I did participate in the taxi strike today, its fun walking from 11th ave to 5th ave with all my gear. Good times. Above are a couple blurred rehearsal shots.

Day 0

Technically, Fashion Week doesn't begin until tomorrow. However, I managed to shoot 2 shows today to get the cobwebs out. These were taken backstage at Josh Goot, an Australian designer who was featured in my issue of Oyster, (which is still on the shelves if you haven't yet picked up your copy). The staging area was outside which presented a cool opportunity to utilize some more interesting light. I wanted to shoot the show so I bolted after about 15 min backstage. Once I came home, and reviewed the images on a large screen, I realized I should have shot backstage the whole time. NEWMAN!