Thanks to all my friends, family, and hot toddies that have really put me in the Christmas spirit this year, which is a rare thing indeed. The foot of snow in NYC helped also.
Portraits, always.
There were many stunners at the National Portrait Gallery in London, but I was drawn especially to this very emotional portrait from 1905.Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm
by Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson
oil on canvas, 1905
NPG 3850
The Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball, Part 1
On Dec 5 I attended The Chap Magazine's 10th Anniversary Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball at Conway Hall in London. Oh what fun!
This is just a little preview of the many photos I made (along with my man) last weekend on our first trip to London. A preview is all I can muster as I overcome jet lag and jump right back into work.
Watch out for many more Dandies, Tweed Revolutionaries, Chaps, Cads, and Lovely Ladies!
Studio Visit: Billykirk
Here are more selects from the recent studio visit to Billykirk leathermakers for The Scout magazine's series on craftsmanship.
Chris and Kirk Bray are Billykirk.
These are the boots that the brothers wore as children! Unbelievably cute.
Their studio was filled with so many lusciously worn textures of wood and iron and steel.
I think they had fun, too. Thanks guys!
Billykirk
I have started working with a great little gem of an online magazine, The Scout, and they just posted this beautiful short video of artisan-leather-making-craftsmen-brother-team of Billykirk. I shot portraits and stills of Chris and Kirk Bray's Jersey City studio to accompany the video. Once you see it, you hardly want to call it a video because it is so beautifully shot by DP Ed David, it really is a "film".
This is the first in a series of shorts about craftsmanship that is the brainchild of Tom Ran. I can't wait for the next ones! They are beautiful and inspiring, and I love meeting these talented folks. When I first started taking pictures, I never even thought it would require me to deal so closely with strangers. It really effects you - to see how people live. But I truly enjoy this for better or worse. It is the most fascinating thing.
Chris Bray was nice enough to give me a lead on my next Dandy portrait - Cator Sparks. Going up to Harlem tomorrow to meet the Dandy in Distress!
Dances Of Vice
These shots are from a The Dances Of Vice night in NYC. These elegant folks are getting me in the mood for Halloween!
I have been happily revisiting BW lately. Maybe it is because the Robert Frank's "The Americans" exhibit is in the air. Maybe because it reminds me of film. Right now I am searching for iconic moments and BW does service to this.
More inspirational BW: Bruce Davidson, and One in Eight Million by Todd Heisler for NYT
The Real Deal
My good friend Tim Stookey, Mixologist Extraordinaire, San Francisco, May 2009
Yes, that is his home bar.
Bourbon & Branch
Setting: The Tenderloin, San Francisco
"Excuse me, where can a thirsty bunch get a drink around here?"
Knock Knock KNOCK
The Negotiation
Absinthe, a Sazerac, and Rose's Manhattan, finally.
A fun night in San Francisco at Bourbon & Branch, a former (and one could say current) speakeasy housed under the imposing "The Anti-Saloon League" sign. Friend and genius mixologist Tim Stookey was our guide.
Good-bye Summer
I know summer does not officially end until Sept 22, but it sure felt like it on Labor Day in Prospect Park. The air chilled up and I kind of needed a sweater. Almost. We had a small picnic and Croquet game, and it felt like a perfect way to mark the passage of the short but sweet Summer of '09.
Rules are made to be broken!
Dapper chaps, Croquet style
Care Bears On Fire
Izzy and Sophie of Care Bears On Fire, being total rock stars.
Tonight they are going to be on The David Letterman Show! They are still just barely teenagers, but have big talent. I am utterly thrilled for them!
This was their original lineup with Lucio on bass. Photoed at Lucio's dad's brownstone (where they practiced) in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Babyfaces! 
Senko Funeral Home
I have seen this place so many times, day after day. It is such a landmark in Williamsburg, and a relic of the old neighborhood that I always loved. The way the afternoon light hit the cement bricks did this great thing when people walked by - casting their long shadow way before they got there. I could watch it for hours.
My friend Carlos had his funeral there today. Across the street is where I met him at the cafe 9 or 10 years ago. He saw Senko everyday, too - passing by saying hi to friends, with his girl, at dawn after Rubulad, whatever. It's really a shame, he was 29. The whole old school crowd came out to pay their respects and it was good to see all the familiar faces. RIP Carlos.
Xtine, Cinnamon Toast, & Star Trek
Xtine Baczewska at home, NYC, July 2009
I first met Xtine a few years back, when she hosted a sweet little Easter soiree in her East Village studio apartment. We all had tea and cake and I was in awe of all the little nook and crannies, and, of course, HER. What style! How could I not want to photograph her?
So last week I came by and became re-acquainted with Xtine (musician and art director) and her apt, and met her strangely elegant kitties - Cinnamon Toast and Star Trek. I asked a million questions, and photoed nearly every inch, and Xtine was gracious enough to let me do so. She has made her environment amazingly cozy and full of inspiring little vignettes in the 20 yrs she has been there. She even has hidden spaces for recording music and watching TV, but I betcha can't find em! Xtine is a true original and I am glad to know her.
Pin Up Finishing School
Wildcat Momma
Wildcat Momma & Brooklyn Babydoll at the Giglio Festival, Brooklyn
Classic Jack Terricloth
I recently got a request for photos of my good friend and sometimes muse Jack Terricloth, author and musical mastermind behind World Inferno Friendship Society. I was happy to revisit this portrait shoot I did a few years ago, as it has never been published outside of the author portrait used on Jack's book cover. These were some of the last portraits I shot on film, alas. We were in my small makeshift studio with hotlights, a smoke machine, and some wine. That is all secondary trivia; the real reason I am posting this is because this reminds me of why I love photographing Jack Terricloth so much - he is a great subject. Which brings me to my next point...
The Subject
Recently I have come to realize the following: The Subject is EVERYTHING. It is not to diminish my craft, but who I am photoing is more important than how I photo them. I mean, as a portrait photographer I really believe this. I have come to understand that it is far more of a collaboration and a relationship - however brief - than I ever realized before. This is the true artistic experience for me.
Doran, Part 2
Doran The Dandy, San Francisco, May 2009
These were taken around Doran's neighborhood, the Tenderloin, which is is not tender at all. In fact it is much more like a piece of gristle that got chewed up and spit out, or those chicken bones you find tossed out on the street. Doran floats thru it like a ghost, and no one knows what to make of him. Not the crackheads or tranny hookers or fresh off the boat immigrants. He says even hipsters don't know what to think.
Ah, dandies...I am starting to understand. They are like a rare species that has evolved far away from the rest of the world...each breed with it's own strange feathers and peculiar habits not found elsewhere on earth. My curiosity is overwhelming me these days. What differentiates a dandy from just an incredibly stylish man? Do they sleep? Where do they get their goat hoof walking canes and taxidermy? And where can I find more? Thoroughly fascinating.
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