max lamb/nyt.people watching/outtakes

Lots of outtakes from my NYT People Watching post on Max Lamb. This first one is one of my favorites, and Max's too as I recall. I love his collection of Richard Batterham jugs just standing there like little soldiers.
See more on Max here.

wallace neff house/

Love this detail.

heath ceramics/la studio

Shot this image awhile back at Heath Ceramics in LA. I dream of owning one of these lamps by Adam Silverman. They remind me of lava rocks...or maybe the surface of the moon. There is something primal about them.

henry varnum poor/

Two details from HV Poor's studio today. Notice the cobwebs on this first one. Many of the places I shoot have not been tended to or touched for awhile so I am very well acquainted with cobwebs. Sometimes I kind of hate them...mainly when I am covered in them...but most of the time seeing the cobwebs in a house just makes me more excited to shoot it. I guess it tells me that time stopped in this place some time ago. No one has touched that beautiful little teapot in Poor's studio. Maybe he set it there himself...who knows. Seeing cobwebs just makes the narrative in my head run wild, and I love that.

henry varnum poor/

Another from HV Poor's studio. He clearly played a lot of darts....

henry varnum poor/

This is honestly one of my favorite pictures that I have ever taken. It is in HV Poor's studio looking out to a little chalet-like outbuilding on the property. The summer day I was there it had rained and although it was rather nice outside, the inside of the house and studio was a bit of a sauna. But I love the condensation that formed on the inside of this big window. I think it really adds to the feeling of this image.

henry varnum poor/

More from Henry Varnum Poor's Crow House this week. As I have said, this is a magical place. I think this image expresses that perfectly.

I ended up here on the suggestion of Wharton Esherick's daughter, Ruth. She remembered going to visit when she was a little girl (she made a special mention of the "crazy bathroom" as she put it). Wharton and Henry were friends and would spend a week or two at each other's place in the summer months. So Ruth gave Henry's son, Peter, a call to see if I could stop by and check it. Of course this was not on my shooting schedule and I was catching a plane later that day, but I ended up photographing the house that day for about two hours. At the time, it was about to be sold. I felt a sense of urgency about needing to document this house before it was gone. Happily it has now been saved, but those two hours that first day of shooting are really special in my memory. An unexpected gift....

henry varnum poor/

Another from Henry Varnum Poor's studio.

henry varnum poor/

What is it about a potter's studio? This is one of the shots I took of Henry Varnum Poor's home and studio in NY state. A magical place, even in its chaos.