Playing with Time, Michael Shainblum’s “Existence.”

I always enjoy seeing the work of my friends in the creative fields. It has long been a source of enjoyment and inspiration. A few days ago a buddy of mine, Michael Shainblum released a time lapse video project titled “Existence.” I’ve been on the road for a few weeks and have had shoddy internet service but I was able to finally check it out today. It is amazing, and I wanted to share it with all of you here. I’ve always been impressed by Michael’s work, especially his motion and time lapse projects, but this one is just above and beyond. Be sure to give it a watch, or ten, and share it with others.

-Joe

Michael Hussar, White: A Decade, book signing and party.

This past weekend I got the opportunity to photograph artist Michael Hussar’s book signing for “White: A Decade” at the awesome Studio Servitu in Los Angeles, California. The event was great, and being an admirer of Michael’s work for some years now, it was amazing to finally get a chance to come face to face with his work, and the man behind it. What struck me first, aside from how beautiful these pieces are, was the size, these were somewhere in the neighborhood of around 4-8ft by 6-10ft in size, definitely awe inspiring. The party and reception was a blast, with a good number of great guests, including Kat Von D, and members from a good number of bands, including Vampires Everywhere. One of the highlights of the night was Michael’s live painting demonstration, in which he created a portrait of the beautiful Miss Crash. To top it off, after the guests had left for the evening, I got to have a drink and a talk with Michael himself, which was a great way to end the night. A special thanks to Michael, Jane, Crash and the ladies and gents of Studio Servitu for a wonderful and inspiring evening, hope to do it again soon! And, if you haven’t yet, be sure to check out Michael’s work, and his new book.

If you are looking for pictures from the photo booth and event, the gallery can be found here: http://t.co/QeILwLI

-Joe

Michael Hussar Live Painting.

Playing with the past.

Although I absolutely love what I do for a living, I am a strong believer in having an escape from the grind to help keep yourself fresh for working. Nearly all of my business related photography is based in digital capture. When I have time to shoot for myself, I tend to gravitate more towards analog imagery. That being said, I found and fell in love immediately with the Wet Plate Collodion process. This post is to show you guys a little about the process, and a few of my recent pieces, I’m still learning as I go, but I am very happy with where I am right now!

The Wet Plate Collodion process is a photographic process developed in the 1800s and introduced in 1851 by Fredrick Scott Archer, replacing the earlier Daguerreotype process. It is termed Wet Plate due to the need for the plate to remain wet through the entire photographic process. In the process, glass plates are hand cut to size, edges filed and cleaned, then hand coated in collodion. After a soak in Silver Nitrate the plates are placed in a plate carrier and the photograph is made using a large format camera. Exposure times vary, from a few seconds to over a minute. While still wet the plate is removed, immediately developed by hand in a darkroom, fixed, and washed. After drying out the plate is then coated with a protective varnish, baked on over the open flame of an alcohol lamp. The entire process from start to finish can take around an hour to complete one image.

In today’s photographic world many are obsessed with perfection in imagery. Hours are spent in programs like Photoshop to perfect people, products, and scenes to a point that was impossible until now. Though this perfection has a place in photography, I had developed a desire for something more hands on, something with imperfections that are a part of the beauty of it, something that has a magical feeling to the process. Wet Plate Collodion offers all of those, and more. There is something you feel that is hard to describe, as you watch an image form out of nothing during development on a once clear sheet of glass. The little tears, bubbles, and imperfections are unique to every image created. The hands on aspect, and satisfaction from the process is far different from pressing a button and having an image pop up on a digital screen. And to quote a friend, “art is in its best form when safety equipment is a necessity.”

-Joe

The Stars Are Maligned 11-11-11 Event Article.

I had a chance to cover an event at Studio Servitu last week in Los Angeles. The event was a gallery showing for the art and work of Nick Kushner, Rudy Coby, and Anthony Silva. If you are unfamiliar with any of these artist I urge you to click the links and take a look, some amazing talent all around. Lip Service was one of the great sponsors of the evening, and just posted an article about the night featuring some of the photos we took, give it a look HERE. Some great guests were in attendance, including Marilyn Manson and Janice Dickinson. A big thank you to Jaysen Turner as well, without him it would have been impossible to cover all the goings on of the evening. The photographs will be posted in a gallery online soon, so attendees can grab the shots they are in.