There are always two people in every picture:  the photographer and the viewer.  -Ansel Adams

Back Alley and the River's Edge

I was asked by Kelly Joe to take some photographs for publicity use. I dig hanging out with him, he's one cool cat. Beside the fact that I think he's one of the most talented singer songwriters of the day, he's just one of the most "chill" people I know. If you want to check out more images of him and give a listen to some great music go here.

My thought was to do a real minimalist thing with the images to carry along the feel of the jazz like improv style of the album. It worked out perfectly because once everyone saw the resulting images they decided to scrap the Illustrations and go with my photography throughout the package layout.

C'mon, leave a comment!

Happiness is perfume, you can't pour it on somebody else without getting a few drops on yourself.

-James Van Der Zee (1886-1983)

Joe Cross

Actor Joseph Cross, photographed in New York. Cool cat and hell to all, he's a Clash fan!

Toss in your thoughts, leave a comment!

Animus1

Hawk

Dim The Lights

Four panels of a six panel CD package. This is just a rough concept and like some of my creations, it's likely to wind up on the floor of my studio, never to be seen (outside of this blog post). One thought is that the four bulbs would make for a recognizable cover from miles away. The 3 and 1 idea holds lots of meaning and I dig the romance of the dim lights. One of the bulbs and it's round housing could fit nicely on the CD face.

None of the red was added to any of the photos, they were obviously all shot with tungsten light, even the portrait.

Cheeky

Here is a sample of one of my sketched ideas followed through to a photograph. It's pretty close to the sketch. The image is for an album cover. Only one pair of cheeks and a hand would be visible from each side until you open it and are able to view it as you can see it here. Band name is applied to either black or white cheek. The final art has a retro 70's feel, accomplished by manipulating the color curves.

Composite Retouching

Okay, this is kinda old but I'm still diggin' stuff up. All of these people were shot in different locations. Some were photographed in Los Angeles and some in New York and even Jersey. I have tons of background images so finding photos to drop behind the subject is never a problem.

L-R in the composite photo: Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying), Mark Civitarese (The Unseen), Hayley Williams (Paramore), Nick 13 (Tiger Army), Ronnie Winter (The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus), Anthony Raneri (Bayside), Michelle DaRosa (Straylight Run), Greg Graffin (Bad Religion).

Hasselblad and Billy Bragg

Yeah, that's me on Broome St. (NYC) with Billy Bragg. You can't see the portable strobe that is just behind me. The strobe allows me to bring that wispy sky down in exposure. My intention was to show Billy grounded and sort of in the thick of it and in this frame he's peering up and over, not as some might see it with his head in the clouds. Chosen for the cover of Mr. Love and Justice. Shot with a 50MM on my Hasselblad @ f16.

Frusciante Scrapbook Page

A page from one of my scrapbooks. John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Starting Line

Okay, a dear friend of mine says that I should start this thing. So, although I don't know exactly why someone would want to follow what I might go on about, here I am at the starting line. It gives me pause and an odd shape to my already odd puss, blog?  I will try to make it simple and treat it as I do my scrapbooks. Maybe even dig through some of the crates and see what I can share from time to time. Too much of my work doesn't get seen... yeah, there ya go, that could be my reason number one.

My disclaimer is that I will not worry over my grammar and I will state whatever is on my mind, if that offends anyone, I apologize in advance. Same goes for any images, some might be graphic in nature but they are only meant to conjure thought and maybe create debate (yum), not to offend any religion, race, sex, or age group.

Cheers, Anthony