Follow Confucius, slow down on Sisyphus. I've always had mixed feelings on New Years. On the one hand it's a day or two to reflect on the past year, and it's events and accomplishments, (although, with this past year who knows if you'll really wish to reflect), followed by new year's resolutions and actions which I abhor. So much pressure on the New Year...
…And now there’s water on my floor. Four years later and my studio has never been the same. No one really prepares for a photoshoot. You have an idea, past experiences, but the day of the shoot in studio or on location can be generally… chaotic. And that’s kind of the theme for all art, organized chaos. So when your pregnant visionary emerges out of your studio bathroom with puzzled expression, and casually drops to the team… “So I just released a quarter cup of water in the bathroom?”, an apt response is to go speechless and or pale.
I was lucky enough to apprentice with the late great Chuck Bogana. Chuck being the last of a bygone era having done the final printing and retouching of legends Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and other masterful photographic Artists, was a master printer who taught me not only the finer points and the artistry that is fine art printing, but in his quiet zen like way, opened me up to what a photograph is and can truly be.
It's been a minute. July is here and city/country life, is opening up. Still running around, grinding it out, I've been thinking on this issue for weeks now and how to approach it. There's a place beyond the actual image, if you're willing to let yourself go and travel there. To lose one's sense of Self in the moment, to be completely removed.
Do you get it now? Are we all on the same page? The last few months have made it abundantly clear, you're in the Marketing run of your life. And I mean Run. I hate to say it, but this 24/7 frenzy of online media and social medication is going to slow down soon. Once cities are fully open, Summer rampages on and human contact is deemed OK, we're going to bask in life post digital detention.
If you’ve ever downloaded an app, looked at a billboard, clicked on a website banner, or have interacted at all with an
advertisement (chances are you have), then you’ve seen work come out of advertising agencies, digital publishers, publications, tech start-ups, or just about any institution that creates work on
behalf of a brand or product. Behind all of those experiences is a producer who enables teams, manages budgets, and ensuring the pipeline of creativity and delivery isn’t disturbed. Sometimes an underrated, or simply misunderstood role, most creatives team will tell you how invaluable their producers are and what they have helped them be able to do.
I'm seeing and hearing this phase more often these days...Just for the 'gram, Instagram that is. In the days of Fake News, we're even more aware of Fake Photos. Instagram "influencers" and even celebrities faking certain locations, vacations, scenes etc, just for the 'gram. We've forgotten what quality and authenticity really looks like.
It's Friday night and the grocery store is abuzz. Couples bickering with each other on what to eat, Grandma looking at the Heinz ketchup label trying to decide what's the best ounce option to price ratio, lonely bachelors wandering the isles wondering why they came down that particular isle in the first place, and me, deciding what cereal to pick up...
About three years ago I’m blasting 70’s classic rock in the studio, Chicago’s classic Saturday in the Park to be exact, and we're styling the last bits before shooting some fashion line, and my 30 some year old stylist says to me snidely, “You play all the music my Dad likes. It’s like I’m in his Volvo. You know, Dad Rock.” Ahem, Yacht Rock.
It's programmed into our DNA. The fight or flight mechanism. We hear a loud thunderous bang outdoors, the squeal of tire and break pressure, or a child's cry and we start running. Our minds tell us something is happening, something imminent in the moment is occurring. Drama.
