The runic writ of his knuckles;

ink etched incantations,

the static snap of flesh from flesh:

wrested free, the bristled spread of her shaded gray wings;

it’s leaned against ache of thunder struck trust.

- Kristian Markus

This is how I feel….

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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 He passed away in 2008, but it seems that someone is making an effort to bring an archive collection of some of his unpublished or lesser known images to the public.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..

Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels’
hierarchies? and even if one of them
pressed me against his heart: I would be consumed
in that overwhelming existence. For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure,
and we are are so awed because it serenely disdains
to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying.

Rainer Maria Rilke from “Duino Elegies”

Philippe Halsman, Marylin with Barbells, 1952

As the year comes to a close, I am embarking on a move….a bold move that I would never have imagined just a year ago.  There comes a point in life, where I think we finally understand that we can never anticipate the outcome of our walkabouts.  This is especially true of restless minds like mine who are driven by a peculiar dose of childlike curiousity.  I can only quote Erasmus at this point:

For there are two main obstacles to the knowledge of things, modesty that casts a mist before the understanding, and fear that having fanci’d a danger, dissuades us from the attempt. But from these folly sufficiently frees us, and few there are that rightly understand of what great advantage it is to blush at nothing and attempt every thing. – Desiderius Eramsums “In Praise of Folly” 1509

Happy New Year!!!!

In the meantime, between the gifts, holiday parties, family rendezvous, and year-end adjusting journal entries there is plenty of fuel to add to the creative kettle.  Rikki Kasso’s been one of them for a while now….

Whenever I feel like this I have this tremendous impulse to get rid of everything I own.  Or at least to pair it down.  I look around my home and everything seems disposable.  And trust me it’s not.  I keep things around mostly so long as they are functional or could perhaps spark an idea or inspire something in the immediate future.  However, even that seems silly at the moment. But my Etsy store is back up and there is nothing like the world wanting something from you to keep you moving.

I really do scare myself sometimes…the way I can dive into situations that are absolutely foreign and for which I am probably absolutely unqualified.  Still, no matter how well I prepare…and this is strictly related to photography…I still end up creating better images when there are unexpected elements way beyond my control.  It’s like I shift gears and tap into that deeper sense of aesthetic that is part fight, part flight, and part accident.

Between now and next Sunday I have six…yes, count them 6 different shoots.  And I do still have a day-job.  One of those beautiful part-time jobs that keeps me happy and fed and where I’m kept in line and on point.  So first up is a quick test shoot for hair stylist Michael Haase who is concocting something fantastic that he wants my lens on.  The same day I am shooting my first nude session and as if that wasn’t challenging enough…there will be a 10 by 4 foot mirror involved in a rather small space.  How do I NOT get myself or this strobe or that reflector into the picture?  No idea…that’s where the scared part comes in.

On Sunday I am shooting two adorable children in continuation of my Eclipse series.  Without getting too much into my head let’s just say the series is about longing and an attempt on my part to handle white.  Apparently, white clothing/color is the easiest thing to blow out and the hardest to control texture and subtle nuance.  Having done the first of 10 shoots last week…I get it.  Not easy.  But oh, so worth it….

Then next week is a yet unconfirmed trip six hours up north to do some stills for a music video.  I’ll keep this one under the radar until I know for sure, but what I can disclose is my gittiness over Genart’s Fresh Faces in Fashion at Petersen Automotive Museum, which I get to cover on Thursday night.  Everything is a photograph as Steichen would say…everything indeed.

Wanna know something else?  I have a pending jury duty committment for next week….yup….got called in two weeks ago and there is still chance that they will tie me up when I show up in court on Monday.  This is NOT the time to panick, though.  I will still squeeze in a trip to the pumpkin patch with dear friends on Sunday night….oh, and I also embarked on a month of veganism…;)

Ain’t life grand.

Lest I forget…I COULD NOT do this without my boots.  The look that keeps me calm, cool and collected is perfectly embodied in this collection by twentysevennames…

…and I certainly couldn’t handle this week without Fever Ray…I set this album aside when it came out at the beginning of the year…it just didn’t have the resonnace…and this week it came back with a ROAR…

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loving The Legendary Tigerman’s Femina…

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