I have been traveling around like crazy the past few days for work. I am currently sitting in Raleigh/Durham airport for a flight back to New York. I was asked to deliver a bunch of equipment for my boss to Chapel Hill for a job. I had just gotten back from Miami a few weeks back and I’m on the road again and it feels great.
While down south I met up with an old friend from high school and we went out drinking at UNC where she goes to school. It’s always fun to meet up with old friends and catch up with people I lose track of because of our busy lives.
Today on my way to the airport we stopped at a farm to drop of some chickens. Yes we were dropping off live chickens. The farm had Lamas, Emu’s, goats, guinea hens, chickens, and even a few foster care great danes. We were crammed in my bosses suv that I drove down. We laughed at how ironic the situation was. I never thought my job would lead to such an awesome time like that.
by Zoe Strauss
Hopefully I am going back to a slower week at the studio but I’m sure it will be just like normal. Next week I am hoping to take a drive to Philly to see Zoe Strauss at her I-95 show. There are still three seats in the car if anyone would like to join us. It’s an awesome alternative art exhibit under Route 95.
I went to the Ryan McGinley show and the Gregory Crewdson show to see what all the fuss was about. I thought Ryan’s show was a great representation of what he was looking to personify. I understand how saying you shot 4000 rolls of film is a bit pompous but I guess its a fact you don’t really need to know. I have always liked his work and it really makes me want to go on a road trip with all my friends (not get naked). Maybe he wouldn’t have taken so much flak if he hadn’t only shown pictures when his subjects were in the nude. From what I understand there is a long of time without clothing though.
Gregory Crewdson’s new work is a lot like previous work. Static images of suburban “eerie” landscapes with a person or two scattered with the same facial expression. I did get a totally different feeling from these photographs than previous work. It might have just been my mood but I felt these images were less creepy and more everyday scenes. I don’t especially like this body of work and I agree with other critics, I wish he would make a new and different body of work. A couple years ago I discovered the Fire Flies work I was very impressed with that work. It showed me that he liked to photograph something other than elaborate sets with huge crews. I see this body much more attainable as a fellow photographer. I am not going to be able to hire an entire crew to make a series of photographs. I can however use my own resources to photograph something as beautiful and simple as fireflies.
The Handsome Furs show on Sunday was definitely the best performance I have ever seen Dan and Alexei put on in New York. Dan kept reiterating how he is always nervous when he plays in new york. He had nothing to be nervous about, the crowd loved them. The Violins opened the night, I had never heard them before but they were pretty decent. The next “act” the comedians was the absolute worst act I have ever seen. The Handsome Furs played a nice full set with what I believe were three new songs. At the end of the show Dan invited Hadgi Bakara from Wolf Parade onto the stage to play the drums. After the final song with Hadgi still on stage he brought his laptop and plugged it in to the sound system. Hadgi threw picked up Alexei’s keyboard and pronounced he would playing the “Lil Wayne leak”. It was pretty funny ending of a great show.
Last night Lynne and I went to the Gen Art Film Festival. I had no idea what it was or what happens, I just knew that I was going to see Surfwise and the short film called The Ladies by Christina Voros. Both were amazing films! I can’t find a whole lot of information about The Ladies but it was a very witty film about two sisters in their 80’s making a living as dressmakers in new york city.
Surfwise was made by filmmaker Doug Fray. This is a film about family and how a family can be shaped by one mans views on life. This film is one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz raised a family of 9 surfers. He has 8 boys and one girl that all grew up in their 24 foot motor home. This film really shows how your family life can shape your views on life. This man is definitely an extremist but everyone probably wishes they had lived a childhood of surfing and truancy.
“Like many American outsider-adventurers, Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz set out to realize a manifest destiny dream. Abandoning a successful medical practice, he sought self-fulfillment by taking up the nomadic life of a surfer. But unlike other American searchers like Thoreau or Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride. Together, they lived a life that would be unfathomable to most, but enviable to anyone who ever relinquished their dreams to a straight job.
For better or worse, the Paskowitz Family proved that America may be running out of frontier, but it hasn’t run out of frontiersmen.”
Also remember tonight is Handsome Furs at Bowery Ballroom. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures and maybe even a video if I remember and don’t get thrown out. I was looking for some new videos on the forums and I found one from Friday night in Philly. Terrible quality and not so great sound but its youtube. I appreciate hearing new tracks even if the quality is bad
It’s been a long and awesome week. I have been on location since Sunday, hence the lack of posting.
The weather has been outstanding, 85 degrees and sunny all week. One day it absolutely down poured for five minutes and then we had bright blue sky five minutes later. Working on South Beach seems like a much better way to go than vacation. Just a few snap shots from my point shoot. Busy weekend of Handsomefurs and Gen Art film festival ahead. Definitely shots from Handsomefurs on Monday.
and for all of you who are wondering what the hell is up with the last image “domicile”. Yeah that’s right Western Art and Architecture attendees it says DOMICILE. that rules. It’s the little things in life that make it worth while. And swimming in the ocean everyday and getting paid for it.
A couple years ago I discovered the Fire Flies work I was very impressed with that work. It showed me that he liked to photograph something other than elaborate sets with huge crews. I see this body much more attainable as a fellow photographer. I am not going to be able to hire an entire crew to make a series of photographs. I can however use my own resources to photograph something as beautiful and simple as fireflies.
Posted by isthatafireparade 
Posted by isthatafireparade 
Posted by isthatafireparade 
