BLOG on the MOVE

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO KEEP UP WITH ME!

@ Lucy Vincent

I previously mentioned how I had shot a series of portraits on Lucy Vincent Beach. Here they are. It was fun stopping people and asking them to pose. I’ve been going to this beach for as long as I can remember though, so I pretty much already knew everyone!

See more here.

a childhood flashback

This boat brings me back to childhood. I stumbled upon it while visiting Governor’s Island the other day with my mother. It is the Islander, the same ferry that shuttled us between Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven off the coast of Cape Cod all throughout my childhood. Many memories upon this boat. It was bought by Governor’s Island in 2007 but failed to meet regulations and is now caught up in several legal battles.  (Read about the drama here)

Good to see an old friend!

Catalina Bartolome

Over at Colectiva, I stumbled upon Catalina Bartolome’s brilliant work. Wanted to share.

Francisco Costa

A few months ago I had the pleasure of photographing Calvin Klein creative director, Francisco Costa. (also, to my surprise a fellow Brazilian!)

This is what ran.

But I like this one a bit better.

To find out more about him, Interview Magazine has a great interview about him here.

Simon Roberts

Lots and lots of photo happenings these weeks. Need to share about one more-

On the rainy cold Friday of last week, Kara dragged me to hear an artist’s talk at the Klompching Gallery in Dumbo. I was reluctant to go, never having heard of the photographer, Simon Roberts, and it being rainy and me being tired, but it being her birthday, I willingly obliged. Honestly, it was one of the best events I have attended since being in New York. When we walked in, the talk had already begun and there were only about 20 people seated in the small gallery space; it was so intimate, as if we were meeting in his living room and he was showing slides from a recent vacation. He had just started describing how he got started with his project titled We English. Publisher Chris Boot explains, “Simon Roberts traveled throughout England in a motorhome between August 2007 and September 2008, for this portfolio of large-format tableaux photographs of the English at leisure. Photographing ordinary people engaged in a variety of pastimes, Roberts finds beauty in the mundane; the result is an elegiac exploration of identity, attachment to home and land, and the relationship between people and place. This is the most significant contribution to the photography of England in recent years.”  Typically, I am a portrait lover and not really one for landscapes, but Simon has changed me. He was incredibly eloquent in talking about his work, delving deeply into the how and why, clearly exposing his thought process and showing that there were no random occurrences, every decision was intentional. There are those photographers that have all the discourse, but fail to provide shattering work, and then there are those photographers that have beautifully stunning work, but fall short when it comes to the discourse. Simon is one of those photographers that seamlessly brings both to the table, and for that, this experience, was truly unforgettable.

We English will be at the Klompching Gallery through Oct 24th.

Kara has a sound recap of the event here as well.

out and about in chelsea

As I previously mentioned, I’m blogging for the São Paulo Photo festival. I wrote this post for them, but figure its worth sharing here as well.

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Last night was mayhem out in Chelsea, in a good way. Wine was free flowing, fall fashion outfits were out on display, and it was hard to walk two feet without bumping into someone you knew. Photo blogger Andrew Hetherington was all over the scene, as were curators Amani Olu, Melanie Flood and Leslie Martin, and photographers Will Steacy, Casey Kelbaugh, Amy Elkins , Justine Reyes, Robin Schwartz and Phil Toledano, among many others.

I started out the night at the Bruce Silverstein gallery to see a show by Todd Hido called “A Road Divided”

Looking from the vantage point of his car seat, and shooting outward through ever changing layered mixtures of condensation, grit, and reflecting glare upon the car’s windshield, Hido masterfully transforms the mundane terrain peripherally sandwiching the myriad of roads typically dotting the outskirts of American cities, into inexplicable poignant images, filled with cinematic gravitas and dream-like sublimity, often “crossing the double lines’ between painting and photography.

Kara, my roommate, and I now have this image from the promo card  prominently displayed on our mantle.

©Todd Hido

From there I moved on to the Yossi Milo gallery to see the work of Simen Johan titled  “Until the Kingdom Comes”  This was a great exhibit to see in person as the images were truly large scale, each taking up an entire wall.

Simen Johan depicts a natural world hovering between reality, fantasy and nightmare.  Merging traditional photographic techniques with digital methods, Johan’s images are crafted over time and may include a synthesis of landscapes from various geographical locations and animals photographed in captivity or in the wild.

© Simen Johan

Next up was Clamp Art gallery to see the much anticipated first New York solo show of the talented Amy Stein.  She describes her work as such:

My photographs serve as modern dioramas of our new natural history. Within these scenes I explore our paradoxical relationship with the “wild” and how our conflicting impulses continue to evolve and alter the behavior of both humans and animals. Within my work I examine the primal issues of comfort and fear, dependence and determination, submission and dominance that play out in the physical and psychological encounters between man and the natural world.

Many of the images I had come across before, but there were still a few unseen gems such as this one

© Amy Stein

This was the scene at the gallery

I moved on to do a quick stop at the Lehmann Maupin gallery (www.lehmannmaupin.com) to see new work by Juergen Teller, but was not really impressed. Last night also happened to be Fashion Night Out and all the fashionistas seemed to be at this exhibit. Bjork even made an appearance there!

Last stop was the Aperture Gallery, one of my favorite places in Chelsea. Aperture is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting photography, you should become familiar with it if you haven’t yet. There was a group exhibit featuring the new Dutch landscape.

In keeping with the golden age of Dutch landscape painting four hundred years ago, a new visual statement on the landscape has emerged from the Netherlands. Expressed through the modern mediums of photography and video art, this new imagining of the Dutch landscape is urbanized and altered, depicting the Netherlands as the most artificial country in the world.

Artists featured inluded: Hans Aarsman, Wout Berger, Henze Boekhout, Driessens & Verstappen, Marnix Goossens, Arnoud Holleman, Gert Jan Kocken, Jannes Linders, Cary Markerink & Theo Baart, Hans van der Meer, Gábor Ösz, Bas Princen, Xavier Ribas, Gerco de Ruijter, Frank van der Salm, Hans Werlemann, and Edwin Zwakman.

Aperture was a great spot to close the night. Even after the alcohol ran out (gasp!) people stayed around for a while mingling and discussing art.

Shout out to my amazing photo friends who circled the night with me: Manjari Sharma, Kara Brodgesell, Janessa Markgraf, Erika Hokanson, and Deidre Schoo.

Sao Paulo Photo Festival

Today is the official start day of the first ever São Paulo Photo Festival. (Unfortunately right now the site is only available in Portuguese). For a first festival, they have quite a line up of guests, lectures and workshops.  Invited international guests include  Amy Arbus, Antonin Kratochvil and Scout Tufankjian.

I’m honored to have been invited by one of the festival organizers, Jay Colton, to be the New York corespondent for the festival where I have been contributing to the official blog, writing about all the photo happenings in New York. 

© Scout Tufankjian

This is a huge step for São Paulo and Brazil in trying to get a foot on the world  photography map. I applaud their efforts and look forward to watching the festival grow.

In honor of this, I leave you with on old self portrait of mine shot from a roof top in the Pacaembu neighborhood of São Paulo.

Melanie Flood

I’ve just returned from a fabulous evening out at Melanie Flood Projects.

Melanie Flood Projects is an artists salon specializing in contemporary photography based in the Brooklyn home of Melanie Flood. The gallery brings artists and art lovers together in a space that juxtaposes the aesthetic dialogue of fine art with the haphazard and personal existence of the domestic setting, highlighting contrasts and commonalities in unexpected ways. The aim of Melanie Flood Projects is to create a fresh and informal meeting point for looking at, reflecting on, and talking about art.

© Grace Kim

I have been to several events here and they never seem to disappoint. The opening tonight was titled “Under the Glass Bell, A dream” with photographs by Grace Kim, but the events are usually about much more than the photographs on the wall. By opening up her home to the art community, Melanie allows for a relaxed environment that is very conducive to meeting people, which believe it or not, is actually hard to find in New York.

Highlight of the evening was meeting Phil Toledano, who after watching this interview of him and then meeting him in person made me fall in love with him a little bit.

Update:  Check out the New York Times Brooklyn blog for a recap and a photo by me!

a foggy day in chilmark

I went to the beach one day in August, and it looked like this

You could barely see two feet ahead of you. Outta the blue, or outta the fog should I say, these three children came into view. This is something new I’m trying; approaching random people and asking them to pose for me. They were a bit hesitant, but I managed to get this one shot which I quite like.  (click on image for larger view)

Then I went over to a nearby farm to try and spy on the house where Obama was staying (ya ya I know…), but this is all I could see

So I settled for taking a pretty picture of a boat instead.

at the farm stand

I was fortunate to be able to volunteer at a vegetable farm this August on the island of Martha’s Vineyard (click here to read about the farm). Participating in the entire process, from seed to sale, was extremely satisfying. Who knew that I would enjoy weeding so much!

I share with you some images.

To view more images,  click here.

I present to you a New England Clambake

The New England Clam Bake is a traditional method of cooking foods, especially seafood such as lobster, mussels, crabs, steamers, and quahogs. The seafood is often supplemented by sausages, potatoes, onions, carrots, corn on the cob, etc. Clam bakes are usually held on festive occasions along the coast of New England.

Sara & Elyse

Jackson, Will, & Coleman

I’m back.

Yes, I have been MIA, but that’s only because I’ve been shooting and shooting and shooting and have so much in store for the blog, so keep watch.

In the meantime, I’ve been featured recently on a few sites and blogs and thought I’d share the links:

The Bronx Times

Coletiva

Beautiful Decay

Lost at E Minor

And, here I am (thanks, David)

I actually used this space as an outdoor studio for a beach portrait shoot. Will post images soon.

Proud Flesh

I’m ecstatic for Sally Mann’s new series ‘Proud Flesh’ and for the possibility that I may even get to meet her at the opening at the Gagosian Gallery on Sept 15th!

Jorg Colberg at Conscientious has an excellent post about the series with reflections from Sally Mann herself. Go here to read.

New work by Annie

In light of Ms. Leibovitz’s troubled financial affairs, (thanks to the NY Times article, and countless bloggers), I’m sharing some images she shot for this month’s Vanity Fair.

Oh John Hamm how I love you so. I  cannot wait for Mad Men to start up its third season this Sunday.

late night garage party

i love it when a late night party in the garage turns into an impromptu photo session. being away from the city, i tend to have my camera on me at all times and find myself constantly shooting  i’ve discussed this with other people, how its often easier to shoot when you’re away from home. why is that?

more summer vibes

why cant it be like this all year long?

Tim Carpenter

Thanks to Craigs List in part, I’m thrilled to say I came out of this weekend with a new friend, neighbor and talented photographer, not to mention man of all trades, Tim Carpenter. This was taken on our drive back to Brooklyn on Sunday.

Northampton and Manjari Sharma

Manjari Sharma and I (as well as Tim Carpenter) led a parallel weekend getaway in a cozy home on the Connecticut river in Northampton, MA while attending the photo workshop. Mornings were spent walking down dirt roads and stripping in the cornfields while evenings were spent expoloring along the river and dissecting the days happenings with a glass of wine on the deck. Cameras were shared, images were collaborations, models were each other.

go to manj’s blog for more on the weekend

heartbreak

I’m really drawn to Robert Lyons portraits of his ex-wife, Mariam, a series that I was introduced to this past weekend.

© Robert Lyons

In each image there is an over looming sorrow in her expression. Clearly, these were shot at a difficult time in both their lives. It reminded me of some photos I took a few years back, and by photos, I mean photobooth shots, when I was experiencing a similar state of sorrow.

whirlwind of a weekend

I just returned from a weekend photo workshop in Northampton, MA hosted by robert lyons and jorg colberg. We were extremely fortunate to be in such great company with such a small group- there were only five of us. The workshop focused on personal vision and portraiture, but clealry, went far beyond just that. I’m still trying to process it all and am not really one with words. I’ll leave it to say that it was extremely refreshing and challenging and has made me on a whole rethink my own photography. Below, some images from the workshop.

summer color

its fun to be in a community where you know everyone by their cars. summertime definitely brings out the cool ones.

self portraits?

Perhaps taking portraits of my sister is the closest thing I can come to taking self portraits, without actually being in the photo.

a typical day in brooklyn, as seen through my iphone

the boys at larsens

i would venture to say that larsens is a must-stop fish market for anyone visiting the town of chilmark, ma during the summer. besides picking up the freshest fish and the guaranteed run-in with friends, you get to be treated by these handsome boys, many of whom i’ve known since they were four years of age.

this is a first attempt. i would like to re-shoot them again, in their work get-up, boots and all, but on this day i arrived too late…

dad and the deer

There’s something about this diptych that excites me. My father has never been an outdoorsy-nature-loving type. Lately though, every time I see him it seems that he’s embracing something new. This spring he began going to the gym for first time in his life and is definitely a changed man. Who knows, maybe camping will be next!

click on image for larger viewing

brazilian jumpers

I went to see Ed Kashi speak last night at Powerhouse and launch his new book, Three.

Upon closer inspection of the third image, which coincidentally, he shot in Brazil in 2002, I was reminded of one of my own images shot in Salvador, in the northeast of Brazil in 2002 as well.

© Ed Kashi

© Gabriela Herman

Nirrimi Joy Hakanson

Came across this girls work today and sorta fell in love. She is 16 by the way!

MIA

yes yes, me and my blog posts have been mia. im working on some new stuff and some updates. for the mean time, enjoy this picture of  lucas.

MJ, never to be forgotten

I’m Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It’s Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

me + abandoned motel =

Brigette

What do to on a cloudy morning?

Here I am, dancing away as usual. I literally can’t stop myself sometimes from jumping in front of the lens. I feel that my self portraits are shifting. I’m not exactly sure the new direction, but I’ve definitely been speeding up the shutter.

When in town…

My friend John, who I met while living in Sao Paulo in college, was in New York recently and I managed to lure him to Brooklyn for a shoot. Valeu!

Party in Philly

On this beautiful Sunday in May, we gathered for a Greenberg family celebration.

cover art

This weeks New Yorker magazine features a cover by Jorge Colombo done with his finger on an iphone! Watch a video here of how he made the image step by step. Pretty cool.

our time

Pics from Cali.

Went out to the Newport Beach Film Festival last month for my friend Matt’s premiere of his movie Our Time. Him and three buddies took a road trip across the country stopping in all 50 states interviewing the youth of our generation. Check out the trailer here.

Suzanne and Aicha

A little color for this rainy day

H.O.T.

Latest Vogue feature shot by Steven Meisel

Nicola Vassell

Had the pleasure of photographing the lovely Nicola Vassell, a director at Deitch Projects a few weeks ago:

Influence

Just watched  Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project. Go see it. (You can get it on Netflix)  Again, blown away by someone whose work I wasn’t all to familiar with going in. Film follows photographer Tierney Gearon working on a series documenting her schizophrenic and manic depressive mother and in turn deals with mother-daughter issues,  Tierney’s own relationship with her children and the balance between family and art. Below, some images from the final project:

She makes me want to shoot film!

And make pictures with my own mother.

Super excited that I’ll be in LA this coming weekend and will  be able to see the very last day of her new exhibit entitled “Explosure”  at the  ACE Gallery.

Some recent me

in brooklyn:

in the hamptons:

Ah, New York

Don’t you just love it when out of the blue (well, through your google reader) you find out about a photo lecture, have never heard of the photographers, attend, and are simply blown away and are introduced to a whole new world and philosophy on photography? Well that happened last night. South African photographers, Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg presented their work at the Visual Arts Theate and Susan Bright (who wrote Art Photography Now, a must read) was there to follow the talk with a candid discussion. I am extremely fortunate to be living in New York and have free access to events like these. Highly urge you to go to their site and read what they have to say about their work and study each image. I found them to be quite brilliant last night. Images by  Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg

them @ work (image from arts-co.com)

Playback

Thanks to my awesome friends Jon, Raissa, Kara and Lucas for letting me shoot them for the new clothing company Playback!

Nadav Kander talks about his “Obama’s People” Portraits

The photo blog Lens Culture has just posted a fabulous audio interview here, with photographer Nadav Kander. Kander discusses his intentions behind the hotly debated portfolio he shot at the end of 2008 of Obama’s People for the New York Times magazine. You can view the whole essay here. Some of my favorites below:

Rahm Emanuel: Chief of Staff

Euguene Kang: Special Assistant to the President

Joseph Biden: Vice President

Samantha Power: Advisor

Dennis McDonough: Senior Foreign Policy Aid

Ken Salazar: Interior Secretary

Gui the cover superstar

I met the Brazilian photographer Gui Mohallem last year in New York during the maddness of the first New York Photo Festival. I was introduced to him through a friend and we immediately clicked. It was the kind of connection that only happens every once in a blue moon where even though you’ve known this person lets say for just a day, you feel like you were meant to know them your whole life. Even rarer, the fact that I’m not talking romance here, (Gui is gay, as you’ll see below), but a pure connection on some deeper human level.

Gui was in town for a solo gallery show in Dumbo that he miraculously arranged while visiting New York on vacation. It featured an on-going series of his called “Rehearsal to Madness” all made using a digital pinhole technique. When I went to Brazil the following month, I was fortunate to be included as part of the series.

We were spinning around and around, hands clasped together and camera strung around his neck, atop a hillside looking over the city of São Paulo, when this shot was taken.

On another note- I was delighted to receive an email from him this week with a link to the cover of UK’s MC Mag featuring none other than Gui himself!

Click here to see the entire gorgeous photo spread shot by Manuel Nogueira.

Miriam

In the cab on the way back from seeing God of Carnage.

two photographers venture to the island of marth’s vineyard for a weekend in march

It’s fascinating to revisit a place that is so familiar to you with someone who is seeing it for the first time.

Lucas took Polaroids of what he saw:

while I took pictures of him and all his cameras:

and a few others…