YOU'RE THE STAR OF MY MOVIE

The West Indian Day Parade is massive. If you haven’t been you should put it on the to do list. Loud music, bikinis/feathers/glitter, jerk chicken, lots of people, lots of people dancing, flat bed trucks full of speakers. These pictures were taken when people finished the parade and I concentrated on the bikinis/feathers/glitter aspect but the whole thing is worth your attention. (There is a rather randy Lord Kitchener song–to get you in the mood–at the end of this post if you like looking at pictures with music. If you’re not feeling old school I included Gyptian’s summer jam Hold You.)

Here’s a new portrait I took of of beauty expert Jessa Blades. See her interview at the Castor & Pollux Loving Blog.

Soho House No Photography drink coaster:

I just finished Claire Messud’s The Emporer’s Children.” She is a compelling storyteller and draws vivid, complex, and believable characters.

There is some “what would this look like photographed?” language, but it rarely gets overly descriptive. The writing is mostly in service of the storytelling and you can read the whole thing in a couple if days if you get hooked and stay up late like I did. (It has a post-The Secret History vibe in a smart people/page turner kind of way.)

There are, however, many parts worth thinking about photographically. If you need some inspiration here they are:

• Murray flipped a slab of steak with his greasy tongs. Fat spattered on the front of his shirt. He felt this in itself was manly.
• She stood, when he approached, and smiled her big, goofy smile. “Did you ever think, Daddy, that I’d come from my office to meet you for lunch? Did you ever think I’d have a job?”
• They were quick about it, grasping, opening, panting, both of them slightly off their heads [...] at first he didn’t realize that David was in the room, in the stall, was dragging them both by their skin, viciously, out into the bathroom, their trousers flapping open, dicks out, and he was pummeling at Julius…
• [...] but she remembered him, too, as saturnine in his plumpness, with eyes that, behind their smeary glasses, seemed to peer all too intently [...]

It looks like Noah Baumbach is all over it. (Maybe Harris Savides will DP… if not, I hereby nominate myself!)

You can read about Julia Bainbridge, whose portrait I shot, over at the Castor & Pollux LOVING blog. We had a great time hanging out in Prospect Park. You can’t tell from the shot but we were surrounded by a healthy amount of bags from the Farmer’s Market.

I’m now reading: Freddie Young & Paul Petzold’s “The Work of the Motion Picture Cameraman.”

It inspired me to post an exceprt from Dviga Vertov’s “Man With a Movie Camera.” Make some popcorn because it’s a stone cold classic. I must have watched it 20+ times in school. (This is the popper we use and my wife makes a butter with Worcestershire sauce, blue cheese, cayenne and salt topping. It positively slays.)

Please excuse all the film posts but I’m on the warpath with nailing down video on my Canon 5d Mark II.

Director of Photography extraordinaire Harris Savides shot the new Sofia Coppola movie Somewhere with Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning. Here’s the trailer… (and here’s a great interview with him)

My friend DB Burkeman’s book “Stuck Up Piece of Crap” is being published by Rizzoli this September. It’s a history of stickers across counter-cultural movements with nods to skateboarding, punk rock, graffiti, political activism. I had to watch a couple of times but I spotted at least a few skate stickers I had when I was a wee thing with a crappy car, no job, and lots of friends whose sole object was to have fun flinging ourselves off of whatever we could find to skate.

From Jerry Saltz in the comments page of New York Magazine’s site about his favorite paintings in New York City:

• Dear Readers,
  Thanks for reading this column about my favorite paintings in New York museums.
  Do you have an inner art-critic dying to get out and get published? Maybe I can help. I’m expanding this article into a book: “An Art-Critic Pick his 100 Favorite Paintings in New York Museums.’ 100 100-word entries. 100 ‘guest’ artists to pick 1-painting & write 100-word entry. Some ‘guest’ critics, curators, dealers, etc.
  This is where YOU come in. If you’re up for it & understand there’s NO MONEY in this WHATSOEVER, take a crack at writing 100 words about a favorite painting of yours that is CURRENTLY in a New York Museum.
  Conditions:
  1. No more than 100 words. No exceptions. Anything over will not be read (you can do it in 35 words if you want.
  2. Do not use the word “I.” This is not about you; it is about the art.
  3. Keep it simple. Don’t use jargon. Write so your grand-parents who don’t know art would understand.
  4. Describe what this work does; why it does this; and HOW IT LOOKS.
  5. Don’t natter on about how “beautiful” or “scary” the painting is. Those words mean very different things to different people.
  6. All entries must be signed.
  7. Write as many entries as you like.
  8. Post your entry in THIS COMMENT thread.
  9. It is OK to write on paintings that others have already written on.
  10. All entries are subject to editing.
  11. I will read entries over the next 12 months. BE PATIENT.
  That’s it. You’d be surprised how once you’re in touch with your inner-art critic how thrilling it is to try to CLEARLY impart to others WHY something turns you on. If your entry is used in the book you’ll be given a by-line. NO MONEY! But that’s the art-criticism business. Hah!
  Thank you,
  Jerry Saltz

I came across the 4×5 work of Dannielle Nelson Mourning recently and I am particularly captivated by the open-ended quality of this picture. There is much to read into the filmic nature of the gesture (she is casual, yet determined and I have to wonder what happens next). The look on her face (deep in thought, yet aware of the camera) is one I’m sure I’ve had during many a late night snack. The hanging garlic and the hair style strike me as funny mirrors of each other but the picture isn’t humorous. The open pantry suggests there might be more eating to do. What I particularly love is the color scheme represented by the freedom and wildness of the dress fabric against the solid dependability of a well built house.

Perhaps such a color scheme isn’t surprising given the landscape near Marks, Mississippi where this picture was taken. I’ve traveled across the US many times (I am only missing Arkansas, Alaska and Hawaii in my 50 state quest) and I always check the map for places I don’t know about. If you find yourself near Marks it will unbelievably look like this from above (just one more bit of inspiration to kick my butt out the door for a good road trip):