sap'n.

God these two are gorgeous.

knits.

Yesterday we did a shoot for Christina's knits. We were attempting to emulate fashion blogs like the Satorialist. I think we did a pretty good job. I am very happy with how they came out. Thanks to our lovely models Lauren, Lauren, Nick, Christine, Mitch, Faith, Christina and Regina.

seafair.

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Seafair 2K9 was a complete success. We even had a few virgins with us...Alexa, Regina, Kyle, Chris, Chris and Jake. Thanks to our Captain.

seattle.

There she is.

claes oldenburg.

I went to the Claes Oldenburg show at the Whitney and then a few days later I got to go to Pepsico's sculpture garden and was able to see Oldenburg's Trowel II. The show at the Whitney exhibited mostly his soft sculptures, music series, drawings and videos from 'the happenings'. It was a good show, but seeing the trowel in person, on site was much more impressive.

frying pan.

One of my most favorite bars in new york is actually a ship called the Frying Pan (26th street and the Hudson). The boat had been shipwrecked, but they resurrected it and turned it into a bar/restaurant on the river. The ship is attached to a barge and a tug boat. The vessel is always empty and completely open for exploring. It is beautiful and perfect for a photo shoot. Chris and I shot there a month or so ago, but we really need a model...hopefully Kyle will pose for us. (ps the image of the room is a really shitty photo but you get the point.)

central park.

I finally went on the row boats in central park. Although I did not do any of the rowing, that was Michael's job...I enjoyed the view. And there were turtles.

francis bacon.

The Francis Bacon exhibit at the Met is possibly one of the best exhibit's I have ever seen. Not only do I love the work, but the way the show was composed made the work that much better. The work was arranged in such a way that it told his story. Each room and each work had a blurb describing what was going on in his life at the time and how his work reflected his state of mind. Bacon used photographs as his inspiration, often using prints as stencils for his paintings. One of my favorite parts of the show was the room exhibiting a collection of the prints his used over and over again. Silver prints covered in paint, cut up, torn, destroyed...they were works of art in themselves. The show ends on August 16th.

my apartment.

My apartment is literally a closet. But I have made it my own.

coney island.

Zoe, Amanda, Austin and I ventured out to Coney Island a few weeks ago. It was exactly what I imagined it to be. Busy boardwalk, dirty beach, old school carnival rides and hot dogs, obviously. But the one thing that really surprised me was the sideshow. When we walked in, I expected some cheesy, amateur show but I was impressed. It was a for real freak show. So...if you ever find your self at Coney Island, spend $7.50 to see the freak show.

sabrina.

I went to one of Sabrina Ward Harrison's workshops in Brooklyn a few months ago. We had such a lovely time writing under a tree in the park and then painting on her roof. I ended up staying after the workshop finished and we played on the roof, throwing balloons and confetti to the little boys playing in the street below. It was magical - running around, laughing and making art.

fourth of july.

I spent the 4th of July on the top of Gaby's roof, on Riverside, over looking the Hudson River. The fireworks display was incredible. Not only were the barges right in front of us, there were 6 of them. It was a lovely evening.

barbara nitke.

Last weekend I did my first official nyc photo assisting job with Barbara Nitke. She does provocative fine art, fashion, editorial and stills for movie and tv. She was wonderful to work with and I hope she asks me to work for her again. She did a test shoot in this great bed and breakfast in Harlem. She shot this couple in a few different scenarios, they are both performers so it was like watching live theater. It was as if they were acting out scenes from Closer or Eyes Wide Shut, these really intimate moments between a couple - dealing with trust and jealousy.

admirals row.

A few weekends ago, while exploring Brooklyn, we found this row of abandoned mansions. After speaking with a security guard near the Navy yard, we found out that they used to be the residences of the Navy Admiral's years and years ago. I believe there are 8 of these unbelievably beautiful homes that are decayed and overgrown. We are working on gaining access to the houses, although this process may prove to be much more difficult than we had anticipated. It may come down to us breaking in and photographing until we get caught. The top photo is by Alexis Robie and Corie Trancho-Robie and the bottom image is by Nathan Kensinger.

ace hotel.

The Ace Hotel is New York finally open! www.acehotel.com They originally started in Seattle and they also have a location in Portland - it's where Gus Van Sant filmed 'Drugstore Cowboy'. The ambiance of the place is lovely. Huge chaise lounges with fur blankets - endless bookshelves filled with art books, taxidermy animals everywhere and long library tables with vintage lights. It is on 29th and Broadway, not the best location...but it is worth the walk.

new jersey.

A few weekends ago, I traveled to New Jersey to oversee one of our Advanced Workshops with fashion photographer Frank Veronsky www.frankveronsky.com. He owns a great little house right in the middle of a sprawling 10 acre forest. These are a few of my images from the day.

barcelona.

This is Lauren Fennel's brother Brian's band. They re-released their debut album 'Absolutes' and were in the top 15 rock albums on iTunes. My favorite songs are; 'It's About Time', 'Lesser Things', 'Response', and 'The Takers'. But the whole album is wonderful, these guys are very talented.

in c.

I saw a performance of minimalist composer Terry Riley's 'In C' at carnegie hall. I have never heard anything like this before. It could be described as a classical jam session. The music is compiled of 53 short musical 'phrases'. Each musician is invited to repeat each phrase as many or as few times as they feel, but they must stay in order and remain within 3 phrases of the group. The entire concert is improvised by listening to one another. Each instrument can be played loudly or softly, depending on the instincts of the musicians. At some points it was very quiet and thoughtful other times it was loud and overwhelming.



A very cool concert, it brought so many different types of people together; sitting in front of me was an 80 year old woman in a backless beaded cocktail dress, she never stopped dancing the entire time. At the end there was a standing ovation that literally lasted 10 minutes, I have never heard an applause go on for so long.

moma.

Last Sunday I spent the day at the MoMA. There is an exhibit up by Latin American artists León Ferrari and Mira Schendel called tangled alphabets. They "use language not merely as a vehicle for expressing concepts of ideas but as an almost physical medium to shape and mold." They each used letters as form, not necessarily content. It is beautiful work. Mira played a lot with transparent materials, big squares of thick acrylic with letters and thin paper embedded in the material. The work is very simple and clean - using typography instead of paint.