Rose Island Lighthouse

There is a little island in Newport Harbor called Rose Island.  It has a historic lighthouse that has been lovingly restored by some very dedicated group of local residents and supporters involved with the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation.  Can you imagine my delight when I found out you can stay in the lighthouse?!   Rumor has it that they can host small wedding receptions (!), so we set out to do a very serious investigation.

We approached the island in a shroud of fog, which made the experience of discovering this little gem even more special.  It felt like our island...even though two other couples were staying overnight also.  I guess that's better, because it might be a bit too scary to be all alone for this first night!


You can only get to Rose Island by boat.  This time of year - off season - the Starfish, a lobster boat reclaimed by the Foundation, brings overnight guests in the morning.


At every turn I was overwhelmed with what I was seeing, hearing, smelling...seeing sights that made me feel thoughtful and calm, hearing water lapping at the rocks, faint foghorn, a little bell on a nearby buoy, smelling foggy sea air, wet rocks and sand.  We stayed in the brick building on the left, called the Foghorn Room.  I highly recommend it - very secluded with stunning views right out to the rocks and water.  The main Light Keeper's Building (on the left) is restored to circa 1912, and looked amazing, but didn't seem as private.



The Foghorn Room on Rose Island Lighthouse was a dream.  Even though we had to keep our provisions in a cooler (no electricity) and get our water from a water cooler (no running water) , it didn't bother us because we were keen on getting away and unplugging from the city.  Sounds a little like camping, and it was a bit, but if you know what to expect and prepare, it's a unique experience. There were very nice "out houses" and an outdoor shower using collected rainwater.  It's a green, eco-friendly destination for sure!  

I fell in love with the island a little bit, and craved to go back when we left.  It would be a dynamite place to go with a few couples or group of friends and have a great weekend away.   And a wedding?  With a little imagination and a lot of planning - perhaps!

The Beauty of Things Left Behind

Over Memorial Day I spent some time in Southampton, and one morning we went out to this estate sale on Gin Lane by the ocean.  The house was modest by today's standards, but I imagine that back in the day it was quite elegant.  There was a beautiful hazy ocean sunlight streaming in everywhere.  Tattered antiques and lonely personal items made for some beautiful vignettes, this time captured with my iphone and instagram app.

The room above is just about the most perfect space I could imagine to make into a photo studio.  Those windows and perfect slanted skylight - I almost died when I walked in!

I loved the old labels on the bottles!  I bought a few to turn into vases or what not.  Here is the view as you approach front door - very Grey Gardens.

The Dream, Wardrobe Edition

Ok, The Dream, besides world peace & harmony of course, is to have a whole bespoke wardrobe - made by a designer that I could collaborate with closely.  My evening attire just might look something like these amazing Ralph Lauren "tuxedos" above (Ralph Lauren Fall 2011 as seen in NYT).  I'm not a pantsuit type of girl, but I think my designer could whip up a Rose version fairly easily!  The dream lives on... 

A Necessary, Ordinary Miracle

K & J, together 20yrs, at Cafe Colette during the blizzard, Dec 2010

I don't think you can love "too much", can you?  Sometimes it can feel like love could run out, because all around us we can see scarcity and need, but it doesn't.  I promise.

Ruby Rae

Singer Ruby Rae photographed at O'Connor's Bar, Brooklyn, Sept 2010.  Her sound is lonesome and twangy and swampy and far away.  Great gal to work with - thanks Agatha!

Techy:
I have been favoring very raw looking images these days, as opposed to more "perfected" images.  Of course I will always love the sublime lighting, because I enjoy doing that tremendously, but sometimes I need to go lo-fi.  Partly this comes from my love of documentary and reportage photography (Bruce Davidson, Robert Frank, Susan Meiselas, etc.), and partly because I like shooting the action as it reveals itself.  I also like the way these type of reportage portraits make the viewer feel like they are witnessing a special hidden moment.

When I worked at TV Guide I got to see much of their amazing archive files (actual manila folders!).  What I loved the most was the shoots from the 60-70s when they would send out the photog (usually Gene Trindl) to the home of the celelb and the photog would shoot 35mm kodachrome, available light, and seemingly just spend the day with them in a very casual way.  I know we cannot go back to this (especially with celeb culture today), but it became an inspiration - to create that feeling of intimacy which can apply to any subject.

Wit's End, Once Again

 Dreamy blury grainy jazz inspiration.  This is the bowler of Mike the Barber, who is indeed a barber, and a DJ.  

Dancing at Wit's End, NYC, Sept 2010

Studio Visit: Roman and Williams

I was thrilled to visit the studio/offices of Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors for The Scout magazine. I shot portraits and stills in conjunction with a short film that The Scout was producing. The film has just been posted - the second in a series of three about craftsmanship. The film is gorgeous, so please take a look!

I was quite (pleasantly) inspired by the designers behind Roman and Williams - Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch. They were at the same time elegant and down to earth. Their beautiful studio was filled with artifacts and textures and delightful things. I stayed on for the whole interview because I truly wanted to hear what they had to say. I felt a kinship with their sensibilities.

Techy:

I had to work around the filming, which was tricky, but I got to make use of the HMI lighting that the film crew was using (yay!) For the portraits I actually used mostly available daylight and some fill flash bounced, as I had about 15min to make all portraits while the crew was setting up.

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

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 Embrace

Two of my favorite people, Jack and Sandra, on one especially beautiful candlelit night of wine drinking around the table with other favorite people.

A Book of My Own

Well, not really MY book - but I photographed all the fashion in Knitting On Top Of The World - a gorgeous 220 page coffee table book for history lovers and talented crafty folks.  

The author and designer is Nicky Epstein, who is a legend in the world of knitting, crochet, and the like.  She was an absolute doll to work with, and so appreciative of the work I did on our week long shoot at the glorious Metropolitan Building.   It was a great collaboration with her and the fantastic creative director Joe Vior, whom I have worked with closely for the last 4years.

Seeing the work again, in it's final printed form is a wonderful, satisfying feeling.  It also reminds me how much I love natural light.  It ads instant drama, luxury, and intimacy.  Beautiful diffused window light is preferred, but I have become a fan of using available evening and night light when it works with the subject.  Let the light fall where it may, and I will follow!

Yes We Did...with beans!

This beautiful display of pure affection - a portrait in beans - truly sums up my happiness about the election. 

It was a magical night that really, honestly felt like we would be ok - that the inevitable changes to come will be hopeful. This strangely enough reminded me conversely of the sinking feeling I had on Sept 11, 2001, that the world was turning a negative corner - inevitably into war and despair. I thought, on Nov 4, 2008, this is a life changing moment of the positive variety. Yay!

Thanks crafty lady blogger and creative extraordinaire Brett at Manhattan Craft Room for the inspirational post!  And of course the original artist monkeycat62 flickr page

The Artist's Muse

Today my good friend and amazing Showgirl Of The Universe, Ami Goodheart, called me about using some of my images to promote an upcoming event that her unique event production company SOTU is working on. This gave me a chance to revisit these images I made of two of Ami's dancers - delicate blonde Stine and pouty-lipped Merry. They are modeling Ami's stunning handcrafted costumes - works of art to be put on a pedestal.

A little history...

I first saw Ami performing on stage at Galapagos in Williamsburg circa 2000. She was dressed ala Carmen Miranda and did a funny sexy dance surrounded by goofy sailors. I was in awe and fell in love with her right then and there. I met her that night, and the rest is a long history of friendship and professional collaboration. She is a natural muse, and I have of course photoed her many times thru the years - always trying to make the "perfect" portrait.

The muses that come along - both people and places - always seem to bring out these same feelings; I strive to capture their gestalt, and with each photo I reach closer, but rarely am satisfied.  But I try and have fun doing it.  Now I have grown to recognize this "divine dissatisfaction", as Martha Graham puts it, as a sign that I am truly inspired.

Proenza Schouler

Recently I had the pleasure of photoing fashion darlings Proenza Schouler on assignment for The Wall Street Journal.  They were just too adorable!  Very poised, yet informal and welcoming.

We started out with the idea to show them working in their studio on their upcoming collection, which of course turned out to be totally top secret and off limits.  Luckily my subjects were very accommodating, and willing to give my ideas a try.

Cause for philosophizing...

One of the best and worst things about photo shoots is that there are ALWAYS limitations.  The worst part is all the frustration and stress that comes when your initial "fabulous" idea is left for dead.  But the best part is that limitations can greatly inspire creativity.   So how life is!

Why Coney Island Will Never Die

So it looks like Astroland is closing for good.  Sniffle.  I was there yesterday for THE last day and the usual crowd was there - EVERYONE.  I had an overwhelming sense when I was walking through the crowd that this will not destroy Coney Island.  Just a feeling. Hope I'm right.   Could be wrong but  I don't think so.  We are tougher than that.

The photo above is a happy moment for me and for the couple making out.  I was happy because I saw the photo and was able to take it without disturbing them.  My friend Natalie said, "That is a got-to-get-home-before-curfew-kiss".  I say it's a goodbye to summer kiss. Hopefully not a goodbye to Coney kiss.

Please indulge me for a moment...

Coney Island is just about the most American place I have ever experienced.  When I am there I have that lovely feeling of falling in love - with humanity, with chaos, with colors, with light, with photographs waiting to be taken.  The wonderful, brilliant thing about Coney is that there is more than enough of all of this to go around - flesh for lovers, freaks for photographers, ice cream for the screaming kids, trash piles for the sea gulls.  And this is the America I love.

Luddite, Inc.

Lud·dite - noun :

1. Any of a group of British workers who between 1811 and 1816 rioted and destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that such machinery would diminish employment.

2. One who opposes technical or technological change

3. Store, disguised as a museum, of amazing curiosities and well worn artifacts located at 27 Broadway, in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge.

I fall in love a little bit with any place (or person) that gives me the feeling of being transported to another world or era, and lets me believe in it, wholly.   Walking into Luddite feels like finding a hidden attic of that long lost, very interesting relative - you know the one that was a pioneer and survived the war and was a jazz musician and raised 12 children and made due with basically nothing.  That makes me happy and inspires photos.