Real People Portraits

This is another portrait from the Reflections at the Footlight project I did a while back.

Tonee was the stage manager during that project, so we found an interesting piece of the backstage area to set up her portrait.

We lit her with a large octabank in the front and an umbrella from behind.

She walked onto our set and we had our image in no time. On to the next set up!

Reception this Saturday

If you happen to be in the Boston area this Saturday evening and are looking for something to do, stop by the Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain between 6 and 8pm and say "Hi!"

The Found on the Beach series has found a home for the month of February at Eliot Hall in the Footlight Club, 7A Eliot Street.

I created The Found on the Beach limited edition photography portfolio after being inspired by a lifetime of exploring that magical transition zone where water meets land.

"Inspired by shape and texture and informed by delicate light, these images will bring you back to that first moment when you held a shell up to your ear."

Sounds like a lot of art-speak to me, but people seem to like these pieces enough to use them as the cover of a couple of jazz cds and to take them home.

So, stop on by and share some grog, maybe some tasty snacks. I will also have a some Found on the Beach books for signing. There are also a few Reflections at the Footlights books available (that was my portrait series at the club).

Hope to see you there!

Halloween In Greenwich Village

People are amazing. As a photographer who is called upon to create portraits for marketing and the occasional editorial project, I often come across subjects who are reluctant and hesitant.

And, that's okay. That is part of the challenge. To help them understand that their 15 minutes is here and that they can trust me to create an image that they will be proud to be associated with.

In stark contrast, everyone at these events in the Village have almost no reluctance. Only two people, out of the thousands we saw over 5 years, were not into strutting in front of the camera.

It is like their inner child has come to play and wants, or even craves, our attention.

I always wonder how many of these people were CEOs and engineers in their "day" persona.

A Night in the Village Lives...

After the first year, I was hooked. As a social anthropologist (voyeur), it was a fascinating experience.

As a photographer (voyeur), I was stuck with the problem of what to do with all of these images. In those days, print on demand was still in its infancy. The idea of putting together a book was beyond my meager skills.

A Night in the Village, the Production Part 1

The first Halloween, I went down to my buddy Greg's place, in NJ. We met up there and packed up a rental autofocus medium format camera. This was a few years before I made the digital switch.

I threw a flash on top and Greg ran around with a second flash radio slaved to my camera for an accent light. It was my standard lighting setup of the time, only made mobil.

We hopped in his rag top Jeep and made the 5 mile run to the Big Apple in just under 45 minutes. We parked, got out and walked to a street corner and Greg turned around and looked at me.

"Well? Now, what do we do?"

To be continued...

A Night in the Village, the Beginning, cont

A case of Labatts, some great movies, long conversations and laments about creation.


Sitting on the porch steps, watching the local skunk make his rounds, the photographer's friend, who lived in New Jersey, said, "Have you ever seen the Halloween Parade through Greenwich Village?"

"Why, no,"" said the photographer innocently. "What is that?"


In a nut shell, the parade carries on a 30 plus year tradition of celebrating the unique culture of Greenwich Village, in New York City. Which means that it is artistic and grassroots based. And, a half a million people show up to see it and party.


It is also where people go to get their freak on and they are accepted for the individuals they are. Drag queens get to strut their stuff next to kids dressed as Sponge Bob. And, it all works together.

It is the perfect place for a voyeuristic photographer, who has a hard time approaching people on the street to take a picture.

Heck, these people want to be photographed!

A Night in the Village, the Beginning

Once upon a time, a photographer was told that he should always have a personal project going. This would help him to stay fresh and creative.

He heard the advice but didn't know what to do. There are so many ideas in the volumes of sketch books. Any one of which could make for an interesting (at least to him) series of images. But, most required a lot of preproduction and cash to put together. It also meant a lot of work. That, along with satisfying the current client roster, meant that the personal project languished in the pre- pre- pre- production stage: "Wouldn't it be neat if..."

One fateful night, over a few liquid libations, his friend, who lived in New Jersey, said, "Have you ever seen the Halloween Parade through Greenwich Village?"

to be continued tomorrow!

a b October, Happy Birthday to Me!

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. I don't know. Maybe its the weather, maybe it is still the childish glee that I feel as my birthday approaches (which has mitigated a bit as I have gotten older. Now it is more of a bitter sweet glee).

That first day of school. The first splash of color in the leaves. The first time you see the twinkle of crystals in the morning frost.

And, after a hot summer like this one, the first breath of relief where I really get motivated to do things without feeling like passing out from heat exhaustion!.

This image represents another part of my favorite season. Halloween approaches! It is from a series of images that I will talk about more as October proceeds.

Found on the Beach Photography Show

Found on the Beach, my series of images of objects found during beach walks, has a new home for the month of April.

Thomas Durand, the curator at JP Lick's in Jamaica Plain, and the creator of the MonkeySox photographic series, had a cancellation in his schedule and needed an emergency show to put up.

Luckily, my work was still in its frames from the last exhibit in September.

It goes up on Tuesday and will be up for the month.

Stop by and see it!

Matt

It's Official!

Found at the Beach has officially been launched at lulu.com.

During the spring of 2006, we took a family vacation to visit some of our relatives whom we haven't seen in a long while. We traveled down to North Carolina and toured back up through Maryland and finally back up to Boston.

Every time we take one of these trips, I am fascinated by my children's reaction to the new input of ideas, scenes and situations. And, I reflect back to my own memories of my parents taking me and my brother on similar excursions.

Every time we take one of these trips (both when I was a child and now), we invariably end up at the shore at some point.

And pockets get filled with sand, shells and other little treasures.

This book was inspired by all of those trips. The work is an exploration of all of the wonderful bits and pieces that I collected.

It is also a journey back to my roots in photography. I started out doing table top sets in my living room and garage, following instructions I found in the old Peterson's Photographic Magazines, when I was a teenager. During my formal education at the Rochester Institute of Technology, I also spent most of my time playing the roll of a small god in a dark room, setting up still lifes and table top sets. It wasn't until my senior year that I realized the lessons I was learning with these images would apply to any other story telling image: light, composition, subject matter.

My boys and I took another trip recently, up to my parents' place on the coast of Maine. For some reason, we decided to do a winter trip to the beach at Reed State Park. And, once again, we came out with cool bits that are inspiring me to continue the series.

In any case, I hope the images tempt you and that you enjoy the book!

Matt