I’ve been shooting ad hoc, from the hip as some have called it, and keep postponing every concept shoot since December.  I TRUST that this is precisely the way things are supposed to be, and that’s that.  There are people wiser than me who would agree.  I don’t like myself in transitions.

What I have shot are a number of events for Unite Eurotherapy.  March will mark a calendar year since our relationship began as a consequence of my love affair and fascination with the work of Michael Haase.  I’ve enjoyed every minute of behind the scene candids of this brilliant man at work during fashion shows.   Recently, Unite has invited me to cover their creative simulations for stylists from around the country and I continue to be inspired by the talent behind this team.  The best part in all of this is that Unite lets me have all the fun in the world in terms of retouching and I spend hours creating an atmosphere around the narratives. It’s the digital age equivalent of sitting in the darkroom for hours.  Of course it comes short of the real thing, but for now perfectly fills that little irrational need for muddling developers, fixers, and chemical agents without toxic side-effects.

When working on the latest set from Sunday I googl’ed “60s color theme” and my heart stopped.  I ran across a set of photos on flickr from Tom Palumbo, a New York based photographer and director who shot for Vogue and Harper’s back in the 60s. He passed away in 2008, but it seems that someone is making an effort to bring an archive collection of some of his unpublished or lesser known images to the public. I am ever so thankful.

The set that has me absolutely captivated is from a week he spent in Paris about the time that Yves St. Laurent’s runway show vaulted Dior to new heights in 1962.  His take on Les Halles, the street life as it no longer exists, the nightlife, the coffee shops is absolutely exquisite. They capture the era so perfectly that you can almost taste the wine and Camembert.  I am especially fond of candid photography and spend a lot of time doing the same thing in the streets of downtown LA and our bohemian neighborhoods.  Palumbo is a man of my own heart and seeing these images reinforced my quiet suspicion that there is a good reason for capturing an imprint of my era.  What if in 50 years it gives someone else the same quiet moment with timeless gestures of love, friendship, and passion for life? (the entire album is worth your click)

Another reason the set feels so familiar is the similarity in hues and tone to my own retouching cocktails. Oh, if I could have more time for real film….alas…the time will come soon enough..

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DROOL.

(Lonely’s Lunch by You Say Party! We Say Die!)

I volunteered to take some pictures of the CreateFixate event on Saturday.  And this image really jarred me, because it came just hours after I got the above album with a song so synchronous that it gave me shivers.  Anyway, the photo is by Joe Rubenstein and the entire SnapFlash event was as always…wonderful.  So many great local artists and an eclectic crowd gathered in parts of LA where you would never suspect it.  Surrounded by distribution centers, wholesalers, and all the industrial gears of this city.

I find it so odd that as much as we crave freedom it is still something we have to learn and work on day in day out.  Whether it’s the freedom to create, to dream or just to make your own decisions.  And the hardest thing is to maintain focus in light of a certain degree of abandon when you embrace that freedom. Which is where yoga comes in, ha, ha.  Yoga’s good for you people.  I can’t say it enough.  Do it. Do it.

I suspect that another activity which is considered universally liberating is swimming.  Floating. Any kind of underwater activity is so particular in the way that it silences the world.  All you have are your thoughts and the echo of your bodily functions, for better or for worse. I would LOOOVE to photograph underwater one day.  Zeina Holloway does it so well, don’t you think?

The last two are from Edward Weston & Andre Kertesz respectively.  Both have been feeding my image library for weeks as I continue to do my poking and probing through the history of photography….something I’ve never done before, never felt inclined to do, actually….and now that I have I don’t feel so lonely anymore.  To absorb this history has validated so many of my fantasies…

Someone made a reference to Helmut Newton today when looking at my girl/gun series.  I guess I can’t hide anymore…I’ve been walking around with his images in my head for a while.  In the hands of an amateur fetishism, perversion and the failings of modern society can be quite gruesome.  Give it to Newton and they hit you over the head with raw beauty.  An honesty that overshadows its graphic elements.  And as much as his work is voyeuristic and sexual…it’s not sexy.  There is actually nothing sexy about them.  They exist in a dream.  His dream…and hopefully mine…and hopefully yours.  Because it’s a really great dream.  Really.

I also ran across this sweet French piece by SUPERBUS…goes with the lighter side of Newton.  If there is such a thing…ha ha…(actually there must be as he spent Winter months at Chateau Marmont to “keep the gloom at bay”)

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My only regret is that the production of September Issue failed to enlist the help of someone like Sophia Coppola for music direction. With the exception of the almost mandatory track from Of Montreal…”Suffer For Fashion” I have to admit that the sound was quite dated.  The great thing about an imagination is that you can play out your own musical backdrop, and mine happened to be the new beautiful album from Boards of Canada…especially when Grace is standing over the Parisian garden, “Kid For Today” would have been perfect as she stumbles through her romanticism to maintain composure in the face of fashion’s fickle nature.  The film was an inspiration regardless, and reflections are just spilling out so forgive the random rant to follow.  September is such a strange month for shifting direction and if you are in any way a fashion bug like me you certainly feel the energy spilling from the catwalks.  This parade of style and glamour packed with the intensity of a teenage boy about to hit puberty is really quite infectious.

And of course I remembered this issue from last year.  I still have my favorite tearsheets scanned and organized neatly in my deep inspiration drawers.

Back then I was absoluely consumed by designing knitwear and seasons come and seasons go.  For obvious reasons the bulky knit above was a fun novelty, but I always held it against Anna that she didn’t feature Sandra Backlund’s work.

But that was then, and I haven’t knit since February, except for the beginnings of of an update on Nimbus…a prototype that may surface again this winter. Seasons come and seasons go, and this is definitely one for the lens and the eye, not for the needles and hands.  I seem to be bursting with ideas for photoshoots, while the immediacy of knitwear and craving for the tangible quality of yarn and fiber lay dormant somewhere quiet and still.  I did manage to shoot part of the prototype a few weeks back, though.  I had a little test shoot in the studio and there was only enough to wrap around the model’s neck.  I have to look at it with one eye closed for fear that it might inspire another marathon of knitting until my fingers bleed as I did in the past.  It must be hushed for now…hush….

For now it’s all about these jackets, which are popping up everywhere with their petite shoulders. Absolutely adorable…

Via Lookbook

I haven’t gone through this September’s issue cover to cover yet, but this month is packed with fashion. I will be shooting behind the scenes for Diane Von Furstenberg’s Fashion For The Cure event in a few weeks.  Then another shoot at the Mondrian dring the launch/show of three lines.  And finally in the first week of October, I’ll be tossing around the LA Fashion week.  That should offer plenty of eye candy and a fairly potent dosage of model frenzy.  I have high hopes for the talent at DVF’s event.  Rachel Zoe had some highlights from her February rounds at NY fashion week and it looked plenty fun.  And while all the Vogue readers are eating through Mario Testino’s  Little Red Riding Hood spread…I am loving his intimate portrayal of ex-lover Milla…and the new albums from The Lost Valentinos and Dial M for Murder!…

…Happiness Made Easy
…NYC (now you care)

Don’t you want to just cuddle with this one?