Friday, March 30, 2012

charles bello/people watching.nyt/outtakes

One more from Charles Bello's place to round out the week. This is the kitchen of his second house. Not a bad place to chop vegetables, huh? The "tree" to the left is a manzanita, that grows in abundance on his land.

On another note, I am writing this en route back to San Francisco after a pretty amazing trip to NY. Just a week away from continuing my work documenting design icons homes. This time in Europe! Seriously Cannot Wait!

Have a super great weekend you lovely people!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

charles bello/people watching.nyt/outtakes

One of my favorite shots from Charles Bello's. This was during my last visit in late February. While making breakfast, I ran down to the Parabolic Glass House to grab my camera and this was the light. I had to shoot, no? It was breaking through some "river fog". More on Charles at the T Style website here.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

charles bello/people watching.nyt/outtakes

Peeking through the dividing wall into Charles Bello's kitchen. Really pretty morning light in there. More on Charles here.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

charles bello/people watching.nyt/outtakes

This might seem like a weird one to start with for the outtakes of Charles Bello. As I mentioned yesterday, my new NYTimes blog "People Watching" on Charles Bello was picked up in an abbreviated form for the NYT Sunday Styles section. See the entire blog post here. Anyhow, they ran the image of Bello's art gallery and I just wanted to show you all the plans. There it is - that one little drawing on the left. Noooo...I'm not kidding. One drawing and he builds it! Look at the NYT post to see the finished Art gallery. It is rather glorious!

Monday, March 26, 2012

reeds/long island

This is what I opened my eyes to yesterday. Peaceful isn't it? I had a lovely, relaxing weekend of long walks and talks with a dear friend. A bit of much needed R&R.
A lot of my time I spent staring out at these reeds. I am fascinated by the verticality of them - and they just dance in the wind...It is mesmerizing.
PS - did you see my image of Charles Bello's place in the Style section of yesterday's NYTimes? Kinda exciting! Tomorrow I will start posting outtakes from the Bello images. There are LOTS!!!

Friday, March 23, 2012

pilgrim surf shop/williamsburg

A lovely little scene from Pilrim Surf Shop in Williamsburg. Happy to be in NY for a brief time...

Thursday, March 22, 2012

red eye/nyc

Just off a red eye and in NY until the end of next week! But a bit groggy and not verbose...so just a pretty picture today.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Dion Neutra House/Monocle Magazine

You all remember when I was talking about all the Neutra's I was seeing in LA last month? Well the story is finally out in the April issue of Monocle Magazine. I shot Richard Neutra's son, Dion's, house. Check it out to see more...the story looks so good!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

NYT/People Watching



Yesterday was a big day for me! My new People Watching blog for the NYTimes T Style website went up. I have been sitting on the news for awhile now and it feels so nice to be able to share it with everyone! Click over to check out the full story and the slideshow of Charles Bello here. I'll post some outtakes that didn't get run and tell some more stories next week some time.

Monday, March 19, 2012

self portrait/

The light in my bedroom was so incredibly beautiful after the storm on Saturday. Nevermind that is was freezing and windy outside. the sun felt so good on my back.

Friday, March 16, 2012

nostalgia/

A hazy lazy picture taken in a friend's garage awhile back. I guess some would consider this junk, but I am always rather happy after a good rummage when my hands are covered in dust. Clearly this racket has seen better days, but when I saw all this sitting there it just felt like I was in another time and there were people out on the lawn waiting for me to come and play some badminton. Maybe I have watched too many BBC dramas...
Happy weekend, friends.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

beach day/

My favorite days at the beach are like this...nice and rainy. Or foggy. That works too. Love this shot I took yesterday at Ocean Beach.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

kitchen/

I have been staring at this image tonight for a good long while marveling at how much is going on here. A kitchen like this would never be built now. Is it all original or were things added, like that decorative trim to the upper cabinets? What about the caning on the doors that go under the sink? It kind of stupefies me. That green line in the tile is perfect, though.
I am returning here to shoot today and really looking forward to it. Everyday this week has been  barrage of emails in relation to planning the new book in Europe. Tickets are booked, the first month is scheduled and I am in talks with about 6 or 7 more houses. but wow...endless emails...
The thought that I get to take some pictures is the best thought on the planet. Yay!!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

waffle house/


I've been thinking about the South a lot these past few days because I am following someone's road trip pics on Twitter. It is killing me...Memphis, Little Rock, Hot Springs. The Waffle House seemed like a fitting image in tribute to the South. One thought, though. Don't go there for dinner like I did...not so good...I think it wise to stick to the waffles...

Monday, March 12, 2012

casablanca/


For some reason this image has always reminded me of the film Casablanca. "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." haha...you have to admit, a great line.
This was actually shot in a restaurant on the lower east side. Gone long ago and shot even longer ago, but it popped up in my image foraging lately and I keep looking at it. Haven't figured out why yet. nostalgia maybe.

Friday, March 9, 2012

waiting/

When you see an old abandoned house collapsing in on itself, don't you wonder about the lives lived in there? How does a house just get left until it falls apart? I swear, when I drive by houses in this condition I almost drive off the road. I just cannot look away. Why were they left? Where did the owners go? And even though they have been abandoned, there is a dignity in the house's insistence on standing. Waiting for a return that will never come.


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

grandma's graduation dress/

I have never posted any of my diptychs because it bugs me how small they post, but I had to share this one today. This was my Grandmother's high school graduation dress. She sewed it herself. Can you believe I misplaced this dress? I was silently freaking out for awhile! But it is found (phew!!! I knew it was somewhere...)! Wish you could see the details on it. It has a hand stitched, scalloped edge in a pale green thread - so delicate and pretty.
The day I shot this image I was at a resevoir and the dress was hanging in a tree. I was just playing around shooting...and then the smallest gust of wind blew and the dress fell off its hanger into the water...nightmare! After a brief moment of panic I realized I better keep shooting because it was already wet. Not much else to do, right? Thankfully the dress was unscathed from its little swim. I'm rather thankful for that gust of wind, though. I cherish this dress so much I would never have purposely dropped it in the water. But it made for a ghostly image. And btw, this eventually became a book cover, so that's a bonus.

daily life/first thing I see

Yesterday, this is the first thing I saw in the morning. I am not one to grab my camera when things like this occur. I usually lie there and watch the light move, but for some reason I did shoot it yesterday. Add to this the sound of howling wind in the trees around my house.  It was a lovely way to wake up.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

early work/

I received some questions for a Q&A yesterday and it got me to thinking about how I take pictures.  The questions were very thoughtful and really gave me pause. I do consider my work and my process but I've come to find that there is a danger in overanalyzing for me. I need to be completely present in the moment of shooting for everything to work . The voice in my head that analyzes things has to be bound and gagged - silenced unequivocably. Taking photographs is like dancing for me. It is about feeling and listening to what and who draws me to it. It is like falling in love a thousand little times a day.
This image is from a shoot I did early in my career for Surface magazine. It was for their first Avant Guardian issue. But it wasn't a contest then because as I recall they asked me to participate. This shoot was a day for the history books for me. The perfect synthesis of model, location (oh god...the location...I still dream about it), clothes and crew. It just came together seamlessly and I created pictures that were completely in line with who I was at the time. They were all self portraits really. I still love these.

Monday, March 5, 2012

hay hohos/ sharon, georgia



Am I the only person that calls these hay Hohos? I have been looking through all my images of the South lately and ran across this one which I shot right outside of Sharon, GA. I have always called these hay Hohos because they are like Hostess Hoho's but (obviouously) out of hay. I was never allowed to eat Hostess anything when I was growing up and all the other kids were, so maybe that is where the fascination comes from. Who knows. But now that Hostess is bankrupt it makes me yearn for a Hostess factory tour of the US. I guess I already started with the Memphis factory. See it in this 
post on Wonder (Bread).

Friday, March 2, 2012

remembrance of things past/

Places that used be the height of luxury but have descended into some kind of sad, dilapidated state make me wistful. I shot this years ago in and old hotel in downtown LA. Back in the day (and by that I mean at the beginning of moviemaking and into the 1930's), it used to be where all the stars stayed for movie premiers. By the time I shot there it was a pretty seedy residential hotel. The kind where you go up and talk to a guy through glass and can get a room for an hour. They had kept a few of the rooms as they once were and film crews would shoot here often - I think lots of music videos were shot here in the 90's. But I got a room and stayed the night. I was (and still am) fascinated with early Hollywood so I guess that is why - I can't remember my thinking at the time.
The geographic carpet mixed with odd modernizations made the room even more melancholy. A feeble attempt to step into the modern era when it clearly didn't want to and shouldn't. The night I stayed there was slightly harrowing (big understatement) but in the morning, when the light shone in, I saw a glimpse of her past beauty. Certainly an amazing place in it's glory days.
Have a lovely weekend friends.




Thursday, March 1, 2012

location scouting/

The bathrooms at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Best public bathroom ever...