The Red Sessions: Three Models - One Color

It's been a while since I last posted, but I have been very busy, . . . and besides, it was summer. OK, whatever. Anyway, the season is about to start and I have made a break with the past. I've been working with models, strobes, backdrops and, drumroll please, . . . in color. Yes, in color, but not just any color, in red, the brightest, most in-your-face color there is. The models are beautiful, the photos are great. The Red Sessions will be on exhibit at my new studio at the Bakehouse Art Complex, Studio 14, September 12 from 7-10PM.

Best of 2013

Drive Thru, POTY, 2013

This is my second Best-Of post, the first being from December, 2012.  This year's set contains 15 images, all but one shot in the first half of the year.  As with last year, the number could have been higher or lower, it just happened to be the number I truly liked.  Unlike last year, I won't post all of them, but will only comment on the POTY and the runner up.  The entire set is viewable in my Flickr feed by clicking here.

The POTY, Drive Thru, was shot in Wynwood on my return from my studio at the Bakehouse.  I was stopped at a light and just raised the camera and snapped off a shot.  Composition and tonality are the two things I like most in photography and the reason I shoot predominantly in black & white. This image has it all.  The sign on the extreme right third of the image tells you exactly where you are and acts as a counterpoint to the subjects on the left.  The left-side is lighted nearer the bottom whereas the right-side is lighted from where the left-side leave off all the way to the top.

The people in the image, though, complete the photo.  They are illuminated by the store and almost organically a part of the image.  Because of the tonality, the interplay between light and shadow and the presence of people engaged in ordinary tasks, this photo has always reminded me of an Edward Hopper painting, albeit in black & white.

15 Hoods, Redux

15 Hoods, ©2013

The premier of 15 Hoods went very well.  Despite the event coinciding with Yom Kippur, we seemed to have plenty of people in the studio and throughout the Bakehouse as well.  Both the photo and the installation drew favorable responses from visitors and three inquiries for possible future shows.  Not bad, I think.

The photo, shown above, is about 30x40 inches as currently displayed.  However, because each portrait is a distinct image ranging from 10 to 12 megapixels after cropping, the image should be indefinitely scalable.  Projection on the side of a building anyone?

The models in the photo range in age from toddler to middle age, male and female and yes, the guy second from the right in the lower row is me.  The idea of the piece was to render 15 nearly identical images in black & white, except the middle image which is clearly identifiable as a young African American male and is rendered in full color.  Essentially, each of us can look nefarious in a hoodie under the right conditions but society's attention is still drawn to the black male above all others.

Along with the piece, the installation also included out-takes and informal portraits of the models intended to show that they are really just people in hoods and that at heart we are all the same. Rounding out the installation is a series of images from the vigil for Trayvon Martin at the Torch of Friendship earlier this year.

The installation will remain on exhibit through October, 2013 in the Bakehouse Art Complex, Studio 3U and by private viewing by appointment.

15 Hoods

Background shot from the 15 Hoods photo shoot

Immediately after the story broke, I remember feeling a sense of surprise and indignation that the Sanford Police let George Zimmerman go without much thought based on Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law."  I felt that they, at least, ought to have asked the simple question, Which of these two actually stood his ground and confronted an attacker?  Was it the older man who acted against the direct instructions of a police dispatcher or the young man who was being stalked by a "creep" in an SUV?  At the very least, I thought the SPD should have referred the case to the State Attorney's Office, if for nothing else then just for CYA purposes.

That surprise, however, was nothing compared to the surprise I felt when the Special Prosecutor filed charges of second degree murder against Zimmerman in the absence of much supporting evidence and absolutely no witnesses or apparent motive.  Being legally trained, I felt the better charge, the sustainable and provable charge would have been manslaughter.  It also had the added benefit of comporting with the provable facts.

When the jury returned its verdict, I felt justice had not been served but that they had nonetheless rendered the legally correct decision.  In computing, there's an axiom: GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. You can't blame the computer if you ask it the wrong question or ask the right question but in the wrong manner. Similarly, you can't really blame the jury if you've asked it the wrong question and given it no option but to return a bad answer.

I wasn't surprised, but like many, I was disappointed.

I was, however, very surprised at the steps the right-wing corporate media took to legitimate the shooting by demonizing an article of clothing, the hoodie.  Most infamous in this regard is Geraldo Rivera who is quoted in The Huffington Post as saying that "hoodies reminded people of criminals like the Unabomber and thus put (the wearer) in danger".

I must confess, I have long since stopped watching or reading the right-wing corporate media.  While Faux News is the worst offender, in my opinion, the so-called mainstream media are little more than stenographers to power.  Still, using this article of clothing in order to legitimate the death of a young man who was doing little more than walking in a neighborhood that he had every right to be in was a new low, even by today's debased media standards.  It's as if none of the so-called reporters have children who wear hoodies.  Seriously, don't they know any seventeen-year-olds?

And so was born my idea of 15 Hoods.

15 Hoods is both an image and an installation.  The image, consisting of 15 portraits of people wearing hoods, will be shown for the first time on September 13, 2013 at the Bakehouse Art Complex, in my Studio, 3U on the second floor.  As an installation, it will also feature background images, outtakes and a separate set on the Vigil for Trayvon held at the Torch of Friendship in Miami.

If you find yourself in Miami that evening and do not have to attend Yom Kippur services, I hope you will consider attending.

Running With the Swift

It's been nearly a year since I got that call telling me I had been juried into the Bakehouse.  Just the day before, I had thought that I hadn't been accepted.  After all, it had been over a month since I had applied and I'd heard nothing at all.  I was feeling pretty down, actually, when the phone went off.  “You've been accepted”, the voice said.  That was it, I had passed the jury.  I was vetted.  People who know what they're doing said my work was good, that my photos were art.  I was in.  Wow.

It's been a great year, one with many lessons learned that will probably be the subject of other blog entries.  Still, the most important thing I've learned from this year is that I need to constantly strive to improve my work.  This doesn't mean buying new equipment or obsessing about sharpness like people do on the photography forums.  No, it means I must actually improve the work, strive to push the envelope, explore new subjects and techniques and do all that while remaining true to my style and to myself. I've learned this by looking at the work of other artists at the Bakehouse, but especially my incoming class.  These are some excellent artists that includes painters, sculptors, mixed media and several who also incorporate photography in their work.  I look at their work, especially the other new photographer, and am just wowed by the quality and the creativity.

All my life I've tried to surround myself with good people, to be inspired by them and to be motivated by them to excel.  Well, these people are excellent and I'm glad of it.  To strive for excellence you must run with the swift.

The photo in this blog entry is of the year's entering class at the Bakehouse.  It's the promo for our end-of-the-year show called Recently Acquired IV, curated by Ananda Demello.  The opening will be held on March 8, 2013 at 7PM in the Audrey Love Gallery in the Bakehouse.  I'll have three pieces in the show.

Paris, Je T'Aime

When I was asked to do a solo show, I spent a good deal of time culling over my best work looking for some theme that I could turn into a show appropriate for the venue, The Stage Miami.  It was really a great exercise as it reacquainted me with some photos I had not seen in a while.  I had several themes lined up including shots of Wynwood, Coney Island, and, my personal favorite, New York.  Given my impending trip to London and Paris, I also thought of doing a selection from Barcelona, New York, Chicago, London and Paris and calling it "Great Cities".  I may still do that someday.

I then set everything aside, shut down my computer and boarded the Iberia flight to London.  Three days there, then the Chunnel to Paris for four days.  I'd heard London was exciting and Paris was magical.  Well, there's truth in the former, but as to the latter, that's a certainty.  Paris is truly magical.

London is a young lover, one who is exciting and to a great extent unpredictable, but Paris, well, that's on a whole other level.  Paris is the mature lover, the one who has seen life, who has seen the world, who might be a bit jaded for it, but you can chalk that up to character and experience.  The young lover may appeal for a while, but the mature lover gets under your skin and pulls you back time and again.  This is Paris.  London is the city you visit, but Paris is the one you love.

After four days in Paris, I had my theme: Paris, Je T'Aime.
 
My very first day back in Miami, still blurry-eyed and jet-lagged, I reviewed the photos of Paris and fell in love all over again.  There was the Seine, the Métropolitain, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, and the residents of this marvelous city.

The opening reception is November 10, 2012 at 8PM at The Stage Miami, coinciding with the Second Saturday Wynwood Art Walk.  Click here for directions.

Grand Opening

My studio "grand opening" is this Friday, September 14, 2012 at 7PM in Studio 10-U in the Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 NW 32nd Street  Miami, Florida 33127.  I'll be premiering the above-three pieces as well as four other new works and a few encore exhibitions from my "soft-opening" in May.  Hope to see you there.

The Bakehouse Art Complex

In late April I was accepted as a resident artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex, a non-profit residency of studios, galleries and work areas for emerging and mid-career artists. This is a huge honor as the acceptance process is very selective. I know many of the current and former BAC artists and feel truly humbled to be included in their number.

I was accepted just in time for the last event of the season so was able only to host a small, impromptu reception. I've posted photos of the reception on my Flickr feed. Given the short time frame, I featured selected photos from Mermaids!, Alone in a Sea of People, and Soapbox. I also featured selected photos from The Dispossessed. None of these has ever before been exhibited.

Each of these will be the subject of its own show, after the season begins anew in September with a grand opening. The September show, however, will feature Caution Tape, a series examining fear and feminine identity. Please keep an eye out for emails from me announcing new exhibits. I hope to see each of you there.