Walking around my old neighborhood; pre-dinner, before the ham hit the table, I found most of the inflatable winterland lawn decor couldn’t stand the unseasonable weather. Santa, Rudolph and polyester snowmen seemed to want to melt back into the earth as if they were made of ice.
After a not-so-well thought out plan to shoot superheroes in the public urinals proved more complex than anticipated, I decided to change my concept. So, after wandering the corridors I decided to focus my attention on the people who sported not the easy, effortless store-bought costumes (although a few managed to sneak through my lens for varying reasons) but mostly on the unironic, DIY heroes and characters; broken, spray painted pieces of foam and cut-up cardboard shaped into rhino armor and Batman emblems; shoddily grease-painted faces and hand-stiched costumes; (and a few zombies of course). Those sincere attempts to emulate an identity not their own and succeeding so much more in my opinion. So, whether it was an acne-scarred face only half-hidden by a mask or a lanky Superman with a paunch, I waited in the intersections of the crammed aisles, scanned faces like the Terminator and pulled the ones aside whose inner badassness shone brighter than the rest.
The fine peeps over at Hamburger Eyes just published their latest issue featuring my photograph of the Jet Star Coaster resting in the waves of the Atlantic; post-Hurricane Sandy, on the cover. I’m in great company with Dennis McGrath, Ed Templeton and many more amazing cats filling up the pages inside. Hit up the shop and get it while it’s hot! Edition of 200. And hit me up for an actual photo for your wall. Shot with my medium-format Mamiya 6 on Christmas morning 2012; it makes for a surreal, apocalyptic print. Contact me for sizes/prices.
My 7-train route usually led me into the city, but occasionally when I took it further out in Queens, I always enjoyed the view down into 5 Pointz and the building-blocked murals that have become, over the years, a graffiti-collaged time capsule. Unfortunately last week, that time capsule has been unearthed and sanitized. On November 19th, ironically taking a page out of Graffiti 101, the developer used the cover of night to whitewash over the 200,000 square-foot factory building-turned-canvas in preparation for demolition. Another New York landmark destroyed to make way for cookie-cutter condos. Here’s a few recent shots with a deep regret that I didn’t take more. Especially since I’ve acquired a new 4×5 set up last week and was planning on 5-Pointz being the first project to photograph with it.
RIP B.I.G. (again)
A short interview with me on a new photo site…(click on the image to reroute)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the boardwalk … Welcome to Seaside Blights and BMX’ers for Jesus.
While heading down to NJ with my buddy Jonathan Schipper to pick up a hot tub for his upcoming solo show, (oh yeaah, dust off yer Speedos) we took a drive to Seaside Heights to catch a glimpse of the town’s latest catastrophe. After a long hustle to get the boardwalk in presentable condition for the summer crowds in the wake of being devastated by Hurricane Sandy, a fire broke out late last week and incinerated 8 blocks of businesses, stands and what was left of Funtown Pier.
At the other end of the Boardwalk where business was booming and long lines were being formed to take monster truck rides on the beach, there was a Red Bull sponsored showcase featuring a BMX team of born-again Jesus-freaks known as DeathStar doing their best to pre-launch themselves into the Rapture.
and the fruits of our labor..
A few years ago I traveled to LA for a friend’s family reunion with Director/Editor Anthony Cerniello to work on his time-lapse aging project titled, “Danielle“, in which I photographed a series of family portraits of multigenerational women that were then passed onto animators who used the scanned film to morph the still images together and show the aging process in a thought-provoking, poignant way that has never been done quite like before. Since all of the effects work was to be realized digitally, we decided to shoot on film with a Hasselblad to retain as an organic quality to the piece as possible.
Cut to: 2013. After working on and off the project for many years, I was blown away when Anthony sent me the finished version early last week. I watched the video and finally heard it with the accompanying score by Mark Reveley which starts out like Also Sprach Zarathustra if reassembled by Walter (Wendy) Carlos. I love how it transitions into this hollow mechanized tone and droning rhythm of midlife then concluding with an echo of traditional eastern twang…like the last plucks of a shamisen as the eldest woman greys away. But there’s a beautiful, content smirk on her face, as if she’s done it all and dares you to have the courage to live half the life she did, love half has hard as she did. And still I watch it again and now see the slightest hint of sadness and fear in one of her swallows at the very end. Visually, it blurs the line between reality and illusion. I’m not sure if I see human or android. There’s a “replicant” quality to the woman-child, but regardless, she has a tender soul and reminds you of your own degeneration and how you think you’ll cope with fate.
The video has now reached its four-millionth+ view on Vimeo in less than a week. It has also received a great deal of press and is currently the topic of discussion amongst a variety of journalists, artists, university professors and even those in the medical field who are using it as a discourse and exploration of a condition known as “Change Blindness.”
But even at its most simplest … it’s fucking cool to watch.
It was a great project to be a part of and I thank my good friend Anthony for the opportunity to collaborate with him.
Enjoy: