its always been all about available light

self portrait at mimi's, originally uploaded by AvailableLight2008.

it doesn't matter to me if the light is crappy; if it is the kind of light that most people wouldn't shoot in without a flash or without bringing in extra lights. that's the light i like....

i like mirrors too. they are a great source of light

it will all come to bear in my 2008/2009 show and tell.... starting in september....

highway 304

last week, i took a day trip to northern mississippi... drove around taking pictures, ended up at tunica to have a cheap all you can eat buffet lunch at a casino.

PIG FOR SALE proclaims this sign on highway 304 in desoto county.
its like another time

thanks bobby for the day trip and the outrageously fattening lunch.

exploring the visual treats of mississippi is a project that could take months. i can't wait to take time off to do it...

the magic light of the photobooth

because i am a photographer - and behind the camera nearly all the time, i am not a good subject in front of the camera. i make a pretty stupid face most of the time and try to open my eyes wide and as a result, i look pretty lame most of the time. i do a lame rachael ray thing with my mouth... which is big, so its a big crooked smirk-instead-of-smile that i do. big. stupid.

however.... that doesn't negate anything from the PHOTO BOOTH ITSELF. what a fantastic contraption that thing is. the lights just blow all the ugly details out of your face (that means wrinkles, blemishes, etc). you are BLASTED with bright light... and you never have red eye because the bright lights begin to flash before the shutter does. ingenious. i wish i had one in my house.

but i have embarked on a brand new project - one in which i've already gathered 100's of images... all of which i find stunning

taking a photo of a subject who is seated in and illuminated by the photo booth.

i received the most amazing compliment from this handsome gentlemen, who let me focus on his recently broken nose in this shot:



that is bruce bennett, know for both his work as a musician, a filmmaker, and a writer.

as a writer, he is gifted with a particularly witty turn of phrase whether he is writing criticism or creative... a confirmed cineaste with encylopaedic knowledge of the geeky thing that is my craft: cinematography... well, bruce knows his cameras, angles, exposures and lenses... you can't get anything past this guy... and while i went out of my way to focus on the singular physical fault upon that most handsome face (and one which i find makes him just that much more handsome), bruce was man enough to look beyond my elevation of the evidence of his injury to invoke the name of one of my favorite cinematographers (shooting elvis and bill holden in one career! i strive for that kind of thing) when commenting on this technique.

therefore, i know i have latched on to a winner.

i photographed bruce in one of our favorite bars, magnetic field. its photo booth emanates this crazy chartreuse light. at once it reminds me of carnies and of vermeer. crazy.

in a photo booth across the river, at lakeside lounge, an even darker bar.... i photographed kae who is a percussionist in the local whimsical band, mr badger.

the photo booth at lakeside lounge has a colder light and dark blue curtains that keep the cold. it would be all wrong to call this photo "hot asian chick in the cold blue light," even though in the most vulgar of worlds, that's what it is...



instead... i call this ECSTASY.

ECSTASY not unlike that of st teresa of avila (the one who spells her name wrong but who had the magical visions), ECSTASY yes... like in adult movies. ECSTASY, that as a photographer instead of a painter, i am able to capture in a fraction of a second, rather than remembering that fraction as i paint, or asking the model to hold her pose for an interminable period of time.

i am ECSTATIC about the light...

meanwhile, kae's bandmate jim donned his pirate gear for this fun portrait



the difference between the two photo booths is clear.



this is lee, one of the owners of magnetic field, in a photo booth portrait that for me channels vermeer... one of my favorite painters. i long to someday take a photograph that channels his "girl with a pearl earring" and i believe lee's photo booth can help me achieve that.

does this look like a storm to you?

it shouldn't because it isn't but it does have OMINOUS borders... its been raining for about 15 hours non stop. normally, i like that sort of thing but its just caused so much havoc. i wonder if i will be able to get out of town and to the airport and on the plane and make to to ny for my show.

going lo-fi

this photo of billy idol is actually one of the few of my punk rock images that i would call a fine art photo. there are so many fine art photography elements in it... the various reflections, the composition, the unguarded moment in which the subject was captured... and my favorite of all juxtapositional elements...a beautiful subject in gritty surroundings... the print itself is gorgeous... such beautiful tones, etc...

but when between susan arosteguy (the genius graphic designer who created the look of my tour materials) got a hold of the pix i would be using for posters, postcards and handbills, she took the pictures to even grittier levels... and when i sent this already deconstructed image to rosa guerrero, who organized the exhibit at sound exchange, she added to the vintage punk rock of it all by handwriting the show info on it....

and yet... i think the image of billy retains all its fine art qualities and i love seeing it juxtaposed with the hand written gig info and presented in a most high contrast, over-xeroxed way...

yes... punk rock imagery changed our visual palette for sure...