famine, feast, famine, fortune

Just coming off a bunch of really fun jobs, and a very hectic month, and have delivered the last image. And now I have nothing until September.

Finally got a little down time to go for a nice long bike ride yesterday, and to visit one of my favorite spots:

I sat for a bit and thought about how much I am enjoying my life right now -- from being a new dad (again) to having an amazing family, and for the creative, interesting work that keeps me noursihed, both creatively and financially, etc, etc, etc.

Heading to my brother's wedding this weekend, then off to NY for some east coast creative inspiration and work meetings.

ESPN raises its rates

From $500 to $600, although it looks like it will include some sort of increased usage as well, which they have yet to determine.

In addition, they have raised their assistant rate from $200 to $250. That $50 goes a long way in producing better work. A happy, engaged assistant elevates everyone's game.

This is the first time that I can recall that a magazine has increased its rates, which is nice to see. Although it will be interesting to see what additional usage they'll want for that extra $100.

really bad art, incredibly good story

My friend and I were leaving DIA the other day and drove by the heinous blue horse with the glowing red eyes that greets you as you pull into the airport. It is hands down the ugliest piece of public art I've ever seen. It looks like a junior high papier mache' project gone wrong:

I drive by this stupid horse and I just get pissed off. I understand that bad art happens. But it's a bummer when it happens in such a public place, and on such a massive scale, using taxpayer dollars. Like Liebeskind's awful museum, how the hell does this stuff happen? I have no idea. As someone that is paid to create art, I can't imagine ever getting so tangled up in such a mess. I guess when you mix together enough layers of incompetence and beauracracy, anything is possible.

So my friend Justin dug a little deeper into how we ended up with such an expensive, ugly, colossal blue fuck up. The story is pretty amazing, and utterly confusing. To paraphrase, the big, dumb blue horse, also known as "Blucifer" ultimately (and literally) murdered his creator, after the whole project went way over budget, and way, way, way, past schedule.

Here is the whole scoop.

Post from my iPhone

Lately I've been wishing that I could write posts from my phone. Now I can.

the recession is over....

For the last few weeks, it has been. At least for me. (insert sound of knocking on wood)

I'm finally finding time to sit down and write something, things are going crazy right now, and I am feeling very, very fortunate to be working on lots of really fun, interesting jobs:

3 more portraits for GoLite in Marin, Humboldt, and Nederland, CO.
Ad Shoot for AAA in Novato, CA. Intense.
First shoot for Bon Appetit in Denver. Delicious.
Cover shoot for Bicycling Magazine in Durango, CO. Beautiful.
This week: more work for ESPN and Women's Health.
And inbetween I went to my Brother's bachelor party in Northern Michigan, where we had a memorable run in with the coast guard at 3am:

Walker Evans and Robert Frank

Saw Robert Frank's The Americans at the SFMOMA last week. Pretty insane to see the real show, along with the actual application for the Guggenheim Fellowship that made his road trip possible.

Frank's work is referred to more by other photogs more than anyone I can think of, and it's hard to fully comprehend how radically he changed the game. He was soooooooooo far ahead of his time.

Some of my faves from the show:


Afterwards I bought the newly released book, which comes with a ton of additional info about Frank's life, and the arc of his career. Apparently this is the last time that it will be printed, so I'm glad I scored a copy.

In reading about his past, there is a story about how he worked with Walker Evans on a still life portfolio for Fortune Magazine. They scoured New York and found a bunch of interesting tools to photograph.

It's pretty cool to think of these two working together on an editorial gig. Even more interesting, they worked on the story for 4 days and were paid $10/day. But they spent $70 on the tools. Some things never change.....