Nick Sullivan for Park and Bond

Nick Sullivan, Fashion Director of Esquire Magazine, at home in Brooklyn, Aug 2012

One of my favorite shots from my recent work for Park and Bond.  We were channeling a bit of Irving Penn here.  Not sure exactly how, but it's there.  I love Nick's incredible deep teal velvet jacket, his unbuttoned cuffs and that wonderful table!

The Real Ad Men

Richard Christiansen, founder of Chandelier Creative, NYC, March 2012

For menswear retailer Park & Bond I recently made portraits of some of the stylish real ad men of NYC to harken the return of the series Mad Men.  Take a look at the portraits of five of the top men in their field here.

Yes, the offices of Chandelier Creative have a ball pool, which is sometimes used for meetings.  Brilliant!  

Happy New Year!

Mr. Winston Chesterfield jumps for my camera when I visited him in London last Sept for my personal project The Dandy Portraits.  Inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson, of course.

In Paris...The Artist

Sorrel Mocchia di Coggiola at home in Paris, September 4, 2011

I met the lovely Sorrel while photographing her husband Massimiliano for my project The Dandy Portraits.  She lives a life filled with art and vintage elegance. You can see more about her art here.

Marcus Samuelsson for Park & Bond

I headed up to Harlem one morning last month to shoot celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson at his restaurant The Red Rooster for Park and Bond's "Man of Style" section.  See the full interview here.

I love his rumpled look!  He was a great fellow to photo - very kind and gracious.

Raphael Saadiq for Gilt MANual

Raphael Saadiq, NYC, May 2011

I teamed up with the folks at Gilt MANual again recently to make a portrait of musician Raphael Saadiq at Raines Law Room.  Saadiq's new album is pretty great - it has a old school motown/garage sound that I would totally play on set.

House Industries at home

Andy Cruz of House Industries at home with tiki collection, March 2011

These are a few outtakes from The Scout's feature on House Industries.   We all went down to Delaware to visit the home of founding partner, Andy Cruz.  It turned out that this was the first time Andy's home had been featured!  For the full scope of all the mid-century gems check out the article picture gallery for sure.

We then headed over to House Industries studio, where Rich Roat (another founder) joined us to show us the archives...and the big H...

Rich Roat and Andy Cruz of House Industries at their studio, March 2011

The Brothers Haslegrave

Oliver and Evan Haslegrave, Brooklyn, March 2011

A few weeks ago I visited the home of brothers Oliver and Evan Haslegrave of hOmE for The Scout magazine.  Check out the full article and rest of the images here.  The brothers were kind and down to earth, and left me with the impression of being very hard working and capable fellas.  They are makers, which I respect.  Extra points in my book because they wore quite nice blazers and button down shirts.  Charming.

ECNY Awards 2011 - ExtraExtra!

Reggie Watts

Kurt Braunohler

Kristen Schaal

Portraits of comedians Reggie Watts, Kurt Braunohler, and my fav, Kristen Schaal, are from the Excellence in Comedy NY Awards on March 14, 2011 at the 92Y Tribeca.  I snapped them as everyone was hanging out after the awards.  Thanks to Carol and Mindy!

Sean Avery for Gilt Man

I am excited to see the Sean Avery portraits I shot recently are live in conjunction withe the sale he is curating on Gilt Man.  A NHL player and a fashion maven - pretty cool in my book.   Great working with Sean and editor Tyler Thoreson!  

Out of the Past

Michael Arenella, Brooklyn, circa 2001

This quirky portrait of band leader Michael Arenella is from way back in the day...  We shot at the Dabora Gallery in Greenpoint, and it was the first time, I think, I ever met Michael.  At the time he was collaborating with Ami, and they had a regular gig at Black Betty playing vintage style moody jazz classics.  He has, of course, gone on to be very prolific as the leader of The Dreamland Orchestra, which performs "Hot and Sweet" vintage jazz.  Believe me, this man knows his stuff!

I find that I can get the best portraits when someone is either very comfortable and open, or conversely very uncomfortable or maybe even annoyed with me :)  But there has to be some emotion.  If there is indifference, a good portrait cannot happen.

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.

Blackcreek Mercantile & Trading Co. - Studio Visit

On a recent assignment for The Scout magazine I visited Josh Vogel and Kelly Zaneto of Blackcreek Mercantile and Trading Co. in their studio in Kingston, NY.  I got to do what I like best - shoot a mixture of portraits and reportage, letting moments happen naturally.

The sculptural, sensual wood pieces he creates from raw found wood are just stunning in person.  Definitely check them out in person if you get the chance.


Josh is the real deal - a fine artist without pretensions just making his work, using his hands everyday.  There is no separation between craft and art in my book.










A mushroom grew unexpectedly out of the crack in a large sculpture that sits in the corner of the studio!

Dandy Wellington

I just saw a nice write up about Fine and Dandy's pop up shop that happened this last weekend on The Moment.  Very cool!  Dandy Wellington and His Made to Measure band played to close out the festiviities on Sun.  These shots are from my day with Dandy last winter up in Harlem.

Waiting for Monet

Mr. Burton in his kitchen inspired by Claude Monet's, Queens, June 2010

Thinking of Thanksgiving, wishing you all a lovely day...

Dandy Moment

Jose Lemus at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, Oct. 2010

Mr. Burton Against the World

Mr. Burton, Lower Manhattan, June 13, 2010

He is not exactly a flower among the grey walls, but close to it.  Please click on it to view larger and see all the details.

A Beautiful Voice

Yeahwon Shin, NYC, May 2009

Check out her music - soft and lilting bossa nova jazz.  I shot her CD package and promo materials last spring.  This one is my fav, and I think it is the one that was selected for the cover.  I love it when that happens!

Mr. Burton Goes to Wall Street

Mr. Burton, NYC, June 13, 2010

Ad work for the NYC Mayor's Office

I recently made silhouette portraits of 19 people for an ad campaign, "Let's End Human Trafficking", for the NYC Mayor's Office. The campaign appears in bus shelters and online. I worked with the talented folks at Grey NY: Art Director, Natsuko Bosaka; Art Producer, Jayne Horowitz; Interactive Producer, Naomi White; and Account Executive, Lisa Montana. Thanks guys for a great shoot!

The last two are some favorite out takes. It was a very interesting practice for a portrait photog like me to hide most of the things I think make a connection to the viewer - eyes, mouth, features, tension. At first I set up a front light, dialed down, "just in case" I wanted to retrieve the details later, but I tossed that idea out once I saw how beautiful the silhouette can be. I was delighted to find that a lot of emotion and information can still be conveyed, even enhanced by what is hidden.