From Me To You

Men's Fall Fashion~

Denim jackets, bright colors, and a return of gingham

Styling by Kylie Fife, Makeup by Virgina Bradley, Model JR from ORB Models , blue gingham by Brian Wood

Ode to Irving Penn

(Left) Inspired by Penn’s series between studio flats. (right) Inspired by Penn’s 1961 “Woman with Bare Back”

Last week I learned of the passing of one of the greatest photographers in the medium’s history. Irving Penn was more than visionary, he was a silent teacher who continues to show me the study of light, darkness, tonality, texture and composition.

Throughout my career his influences and inspiration can be seen in my work such as the above images. I think Mr. Penn’s photographs are timeless in a painterly way, beyond the normal limits of a photograph. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned from him is that your vision controls if a photograph is going to be successful or not, success of an image is not based on what’s available to you.

I rode 8 hours round trip on a bus to DC one day just to see his work on exhibit but nothing compares to few years back at a photo store in NYC I helped a stranger pick out a digital camera, the stranger happened to be Irving Penn’s Studio Manager. As a way to say thanks, she arranged for me to come by the studio to meet Mr. Penn and take a tour. Of course I wore a tweed suit and red lips, I was meeting my idol! We talked for a bit about the photography I dreamed to do and he sat back and looked at me and said, “but you’re so put together?” and I had to assure him I could get dirty too. When the elevator doors closed on my way back down to street level I began crying emotionally overwhelmed from having met someone I respect so greatly.

I will teach my kids about him, I will continue to look at my books by him throughout my career and I will always dream about the studio I’ll someday have with a skylight of light to illuminate it.

“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.” ~ Irving Penn

The Coming of Fall

Kevin’s been itching to experiment with the video feature of the 5D MarkII and this weekend we made our first collaboration film. We didn’t want to get over our heads so we kept the project simple, under 2mins, and based clips on photographs that happen to be moving images. Kevin has been playing with video and editing so it made this collaboration a breeze and fun learning process for us both. I find it really gratifying to envision a photograph then watch it come to life.

Having just watched The Assassination of Jesse James we were inspired by the imagery of that film and wanted to base our project around it. We used “Song for Jesse” by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis to help set the tone of what we now call, “The Coming of Fall.” See it in full HD on Vimeo.

Filmed in New York City’s Central Park