Art
Being an artist means sometimes you really just “fuck around and find out.” That was not the case the other day when I had an idea. I found a location, established two ideas, and gave it the good ol college try and did not succeed. This is the intersection of where art and technicality come into play. I did everything right. I loaded the film in my Pentax 67 correctly. Not that you can mess that up.. I went to the location. I metered properly. I made all 12 photos properly. I did everything by the book.
When I went to pick the film up I saw it hanging from the clip. The negatives looked a bit thing. Shit. This isn’t good. The owner of the shop expressed he thinks the shutter wasnt opening all the way. Possible. Each frame has an unexposed portion of the film on it. I started to think, could it be the battery, could it have been when I was trying to get the film to stay closed by the little tab you rub against your tongue. Could it be anything but a costly repair to this beautiful machine? I hope so.
I purchased my Pentax 67 in January of 2020 at Sam’s in Hollywood. It appeared to be brand new. Thee absolute cleanest used camera of that age bracket I own. I have used it twice since then due to an extreme amount of commercial work in the last 4 years. I plan to use it more this year and have hope to bring it with me on some travels. Or so I hope..
The subjectivity of art allows us to reappropriate work as we need to. This is truly the beauty of art and design as a whole. You could call it professional growth, the development of myself as an artist, or just general creativity. While I can not confirm the functionality of the camera yet, what I did do was take the accident and turn it into something intentionally unintentional. The technically perfect image I was going for, the beauty I was trying to capture, did not go according to plan. Instead, I made something else instead.
I am, after all, an artist.
Portraits of an Athlete
Shawn Lockett, Portraits of an athlete
Portraits of Shawn Lockett, Athlete and Educator.
DTLA Model Test Shoot
Rooftop test shoot in DTLA
Photoshoots on a rooftop will never be a cliche’. It does’t matter if you’re in Los Angeles or New York City, a rooftop will always be a dope spot to make photos. For this agency test shoot I photographed Laura on a roof top in DTLA. We were afforded access to the entire rooftop but we chose to stay within a certain section that fit the vibe and looks were shot.
One of the biggest cliche’s a photographer can make for a backdrop is train tracks. Unless you’re photographing someone for the Train/Rail Industry I’m sorry to say train tracks are over played. It is nearly impossible to make an original image on train tracks. Its all been done. Rooftops however, they are an evolving canvas. The rooftop that we photographed Laura on had a lot of different spaces and elements to work with. Change the looks, the time of day, or even how you make photos and the same spot can be transformative. In a future I post I will show a shoot from the same rooftop but with a slightly different view of the background and an entirely different vibe and style.
This test shoot with Laura was a ton of fun. Laura and I clicked right away and she was amazing to work with. My makeup artist Mel clicked with her as well. This type of connection is vital to the success of a shoot. Without establishing a good rapport, you’re going to find a shoot can be boring, lack communication, and just otherwise not be fun. A good test shoot should result in building a relationship, creating a connection with your models, creating awesome work, and leave you feeling accomplished. A great test shoot will produce an outcome that lands your images in their book and ensure the agency is happy.
Like I said, this shoot was a ton of fun. It was the type of shoot that created lifelong friendships.
Interiors: A personal photography project
Exploring interiors through a cinematic lens.
Beginning sometime in 2020 I started photographing interiors with a new lens. While on location for a shoot I observed a dark part of an interior with a sliver of light entering the space. I was captivated. Drawn. Deeply inspired. The scene in front of me took me from the shoot I was producing and thrust me into a Hollywood film set. As I began to find these spaces I became entranced by the cinematic peculiarities each one offered me. As I continued to direct my lens towards these spaces I noticed that the work became hauntingly beautiful. Each images tells a story. Each image looks like a frame pulled from a film. My goal, as I started to further develop the work, is to treat the space like it’s telling a story.
Portraits of Time Dealer of the Year, 2023
Gary Rome, Time Dealer of the Year, 2023
In September of 2022 I photographed Gary Rome of Gary Rome Hyundai for his nomination of Time Dealer of the Year. It was announced today that he is the recipient of Time Magazien’s Dealer of the Year. Previously he won Massachusetts Dealer of the Year.
Congratulations to Gary on his achievement.
