Odd Future Vs. Photographers

There is a lot of buzz on the internet right now about how Left Brain from Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All attacked a female photographer during their show at Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans on Sunday.  I was there in the photo pit and I happened to be standing right next to the woman who supposedly got slapped in the face. Her story is bullshit.

Odd Future has a reputation for fucking up photographers. At SXSW they ran across the photo pit stepping on the heads and cameras of many a photo blogger. I have never seen them but I was well aware of their reputation. When I got to the photo pit at Voodoo I was pretty excited about the madness that would be happening. After Tyler the Creator told all the photographers that he fucking hated them for taking up space that should belong to fans I got excited. I was ready to see what kinda violence Odd Future was willing to dish out. I wanted to know if their shows were as wild as I had heard.

Two minutes later Hodgy Beats took a bottle of water and swung it at me covering my camera and I with water. Photographers on either side of me got a litte bit wet and a lot of people backed the fuck up. Personally I just wiped the water of my camera and face and started shooting again. When I wasn’t taking a shot I was just smiling like a crazy person at them ready for whatever the fuck was next.

What happened next was what made news. Left Brain came out to the front of the stage and swatted at the cameras below him. He slapped the guy to the left of me. It was pretty hard and kinda fucked up but I didn’t expect anything less. Rock and roll should be dangerous and Odd Future is doing that right. Moments later Left Brain slapped another camera, this time it was a camera belonging to a woman. She almost dropped it but caught the strap and was perfectly fine  just clearly shaken by the experience. He then came towards me but I think he probably saw that I was looking at him like a crazy person and decided to kick over the video tripod that Voodoo had set up. There was not a camera on it.

The the reason Left Brain targeted the photographers he did was because they were in slapping distance and nothing else. This woman is claiming that he slapped her across the face and targeted her because she is a woman. That is complete bullshit. She got targeted because she decided to shoot a crazy fucking band and was not ready to deal with that. Any serious pro photographer has all their gear insured and while getting your shit broken is not ideal, when you are shooting dangerous subjects it is a risk you have to take.

Personally I live to get the shot that no one else has. I am the guy who takes his camera in the mosh pit to get the shot.  At a festival like Voodoo every photographer takes the same fucking photos because we are all in the same pit for the same three songs with the same lighting. It’s so fucking pointless. At Lollapalooza I was the only photographer that had up close shots of Crystal Castles because I shoved my way to the front of the mosh pit and got the shot. Having a band like Odd Future trying to fuck up photographers will scare people off and only the photographers who take the risk will get the shot and I love that.

After the photographers got kicked out of the pit I got in the crowd and made my way to the front. I knew Odd Future was going to get in the audience and some point and I wanted that shot because no one would have it. I also wanted to make it clear to the band that I would not be scared away. Not that they give a shit but it’s a personal thing.  I got to the front of the barrier and Tyler the Creator jumped into the crowd. I got some fun shots of him and I got a text from my client saying they needed something so I needed to get out of the crowd.  The night before I had crowd surfed out of the Girl Talk show so I figured maybe I could get someone to lift me up and push me over the barricade where I could cut though the VIP area back to my client. But as soon as I got picked up by the crowd they started moving me away from the stage because they saw I was taking pictures while crowd surfing. Everyone started flicking me off because I was the photographer so I started flicking them off. Eventually I got turned around towards the stage so I gave Odd Future the middle finger all while shooting photos.  Left Brain saw me from stage and pointed me out to everyone. I think he said something like “Look at that photographer in the mosh pit!” All I know is that when I finally got down people were high-fiving me and flicking me off at the same time. It was a lot of fun.

After the show I walked through the artist area to piss and on the way back from the bathroom I saw Left Brain and he started pointing at me from about 20 feet away. I wasn’t sure if when I got to him he was going to try to fight me or what but when I got over to him he said something like “You are that crowd surfing photographer! I was just talking about you.” We shook hands and I told him how much I loved the punk rockness of their set.

I need to wrap this up as this post is getting really long but I want to make it very clear that the woman who claims she was slapped in the face was not slapped in the face. I also think that if you are worried about getting hurt or breaking your equipment you should go shoot safe sedate bands that stand around playing their guitars making it real easy for you and 200 other photographers to get the same damn shot of them. And if the photographers who are up in arms about this want to get pissed off at an artist get pissed off at performers that make you shoot from the sound board or artists like Britney Spears and the Foo Fighters who try to and force photographers to sign contracts saying they own the photographers images. Those are the bands really fucking up photographers… not a group like Odd Future.

Now that my rant is over, click here to see all my shots of Odd Future from Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans, LA, including the shots of me crowd surfing and taking photos at the same time.

UPDATE: In the 30 minutes this post has been up two people have commented on the bland of these photos after I “bragged” about getting shots no one else gets. They have a point. These photos are pretty mediocre and other than the shots of Tyler in the crowd pretty much the same as any other photographer who covered this event has. I know I am going to make a lot of photographer enemies if this post gets out there so I just wanted to point out that I don’t think these photos are anything special. I also want to point out that you are a bitch. Thanks.

Left Brain Of Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

Tyler The Creator Of Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

Hodgy Beats Of Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

Tyler The Creator Of Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

Left Brain Of Odd Future @ Voodoo Music Fest

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My New Sailor Jerry Tattoo

I am sorry I haven’t updated in a minute. I have so much fucking content to get up but I am in New Orleans at the “Voodoo Music Experience” shooting photos for Sailor Jerry. I’ll have so many photos from it up next week but I had to get something up today.

Part of Sailor Jerry’s promotional stuff here is giving the musicians at the fest free Sailor Jerry Tattoos. In the last two days they have given them to a bunch of musicians including Diplo, the green guy from Peelander Z and the lead singer of Fucking Bullshit.  Oh wait, that’s me.

Instead of going to see Blink 182 tonight Terry Brown tattooed a Sailor Jerry pirate head holding a knife on the back of my right arm. It is not my first Sailor Jerry tattoo, I have this sweet Monkey too. The pirate head is pretty fucking awesome and Terry rules. If you are ever in New Orleans or playing a huge music festival sponsored by Sailor Jerry you should get a tattoo by him. He works at Uptown in NOLA if you in the city and in need of ink.

This is my arm. I’ll be back soon!

My Sailor Jerry Pirate Head

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Insane Clown Posse – 10.25.11

Guess what’s back muthafackos? Insane Clown Posse in NYC, juggalos return to Driven By Boredom and everything is right with the world.  ICP brought their American Psycho tour to Hammerstein Ballroom. They didn’t sell it out like they did the much smaller Gramercy Theater last time they were in town but it was still packed with juggalos, juggalettes and a few hipster kids there to gawk at actual real life ‘los and ‘letts.

My juggalette life partner Village Voice staff reporter Camille Dodero and I showed up too late to catch the Wolfpac who put on an insane show that was a five AM highlight of the Gathering of the Juggalos. This guy Big Hutch played next and juggalos did not give a shit about them. They did some sort of half N.W.A. cover so I support that. Psychopathic artist Blaze Ya Dead Homie was up next and juggalos do give a shit about Blaze. He was recently arrested with the next act Twiztid for felony weed possession a few tour stops back so that’s a thing. Twiztid I listened to back in 1998 and every time I wear my Twiztid t-shirt to one of these juggalo events someone tries to buy it off me. I also got to hang out with them for a while during this interview and they actually seem like really good dudes so I am officially pro Twiztid.

The Insane Clown Posse of course headlined and I am pretty sure they played the same show at the Gathering of the Juggalos but it was a pretty different thing indoors and without 20,000 juggalos hanging out in a field surrounded by carnival games. It was still pretty wild and most of the hipster kids who looked pretty bored most of the night started to get pretty into it. I ran into my old friend Charlotte there and she and her friends seemed to be having a lot of fun. Two of her super cute friends were really into it so I taught them juggalo gang signs and they ended up covered in Faygo. I don’t think the dudes they were with were trying to get their snap backs wet but I am sure they had more fun than they thought.

The thing about ICP is that even if you go there to make fun of people it is kinda impossible not to have fun when ICP starts throwing Faygo and it sort of seems like the world might end. Plus juggalos are fucking nice as hell. Nik from Monkeys on Crack drove me home and bought me food on the way. I also recognized by a bunch of juggalos and they all seemed like big Driven By Boredom fans. So fuck it, I got Family love, whoop whoop, etc. See you all at the next Gathering.

Click here to see all the fucking insane (and slightly NSFW) photos from the Insane Clown Posse from the American Psycho Tour at Hammerstein Ballroom.

PS. I have some exclusive pics of ICP and Twiztid from the Gathering of the Juggalos that I never posted that I am gonna get up tomorrow of Saturday so if you are a juggalo or a fan of my juggalo photography come back soon!

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

Insane Clown Posse American Psycho Tour In NYC

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CMJ Music Documentary After Parties

During CMJ I shot two after parties for music documentary screenings at Mondrian SoHo’s club Mr. H. On Wednesday I shot the a after party for “Fix: The Ministry Movie” and on Thursday I did the afters for “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest”.  I was a huge fan of Ministry when I was like 12 and a big Tribe fan for a long damn time. I am pretty sure I own like 7 of their albums.

On Wednesday Paul Barker from Ministry was going to DJ but he was missing some gear or something so that didn’t happen. He still hung out and I got to say what’s up and take some pictures.  On Thursday Questlove DJ’d and Beats, Rhymes & Life director Michael Rapaport showed up. Pharrell Williams who was interviewed in the documentary was also hanging out. I think I have now run into Pharrell three times in the last 10 months and this is the first time he let me take his picture. I am a pretty big fan of both Pharrell and Michael Rapaport. Pharrell’s from my home state of VA and Rapaport has a fucking Bad Brains tattoo which I tried to get a picture of but he had it covered with makeup for work.

Both parties were fun and everyone washed down the good hangs with free Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and everything was right with the world. Keep up the PMA y’all.

Click here to see pictures from the “Fix: The Ministry Movie” CMJ after party at Mr. H.

Click here to see pictures from the “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest” CMJ after party at Mr. H.

Pharrell Williams & Michael Rapaport

Paul Barker Of Ministry

CMJ After Parties

CMJ After Parties

Questlove

CMJ After Parties

Sailor Jerry @ CMJ

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Kill Shop Kathryn

If you know any thing about me you know I love to barter and when my new punk band Fucking Bullshit needed t-shirts I knew just the people to go to. I hit up Kill Shop Kill about possibly trading some shirts for advertising and they just happened to be launching their new Bad Kitty clothing line. So if you look at the banner above you there is about a 1:5 chance it’s an for the new kitten related band t-shirts KSK is selling right now. They are pretty hilarious shirts with cat parodies of Black Flag, Bad Brains, Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth and more.

Now the second part of this fantastic colaboration is that I had set up a shoot with a girl named Kathryn and I didn’t have any place to shoot at. When I went to pick up my band’s t-shirts I realized that the Kill Shop Kill screen printing studio would make a great place to shoot so I asked them if I could bring a girl there.  We put her in some of the new KSK clothes and it worked out perfectly since I could put up this photo set the day the Bad Kitty ad started running. Plus Kathryn got to keep a bunch of clothes which she was really psyched about.

Now you may recognize Kathryn from an earlier shoot I did with her under the name Brooklynn. I have been trying to shoot her again for years because we did that shoot in 5 minutes in the back room of a movie theater but it never worked out. Two years later we finally shot again and this time she has brand new boobs, is going by her real name and has become a more established model doing work for Inked Magazine, the TITS clothing line and a bunch more. I was psyched to get the chance to do this shoot and I kinda think we killed it. There were so many good shots that this gallery is one of my biggest girl galleries ever with over 120 images. This is my favorite shoot that I have done since I was in LA in June and I hope you guys love it.

Oh and before we get to the pictures I just wanted to thank Kill Shop Kill again for not only doing this trade and letting me use their spot to shoot in, but they also donated 30 t-shirts to the fundraiser we are doing for the Ross Harman tribute album. That means a lot. Now let’s get to the NSFW fun!

Click here to see all the amazing naked photos of Kathryn modeling the Bad Kitty line at the Kill Shop Kill screen printing studio in Bushwick!

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

Kathryn For Bad Kitty

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Filter/Hyundai Re:Mix Lab CMJ Party – 10.22.11

Filter Magazine and Hyundai threw some crazy party in the Chelsea Market for CMJ last Saturday. It was an amazing clusterfuck of crazy social networking madness, toys, shoes, Hyundai cars and all sorts of wild shit. There was an insane amount of free Sailor Jerry, a performance by Cold War Kids, a DJ set by Datarock and some insane Underground Rebel Bingo thing. I really had no idea what was happening the whole time but it was clearly a lot of fun.  I also thought Cold War Kids were pretty awesome live despite never really being a fan of their music. Probably not gonna run out and buy a CD or anything but I would check them out again for sure. I have a bunch of stuff to do today so I am gonna end the write up here, but look at the pictures because it was a pretty good time.

Click here to see all the pictures from the Filter Magazine/ Hyundai Re:Mix Lab CMJ Party at the Chelsea Market.

Cold War Kids

CMJ Re:Mix Lab

Datarock

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

Underground Rebel Bingo

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Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Day Parties

This CMJ was my best in a few years. Every since CMJ stuck my friend Teddy Blanks in the back room of some bar that should never have had bands play there I have been down on the festival.  The last two years I sort of avoided it completely and was planning on doing so again but luckily I got a gig working for Sailor Jerry Rum and they got me off my ass and I had a great time in the process. Every event they had me cover was a good time and I was psyched to work the Brooklyn Vegan Day parties at Public Assembly.  I have worked for Brooklyn Vegan in the past and I was glad to be working with them again, plus it was in Williamsburg so I didn’t even have to get on a train.  On top of that there were free Sailor Jerry drinks so everyone was clearly going to be properly partying all day.

Friday’s party ended up being a lot of fun but musically a little down tempo for my liking. I walked as A Place To Bury Strangers were midway through their set. They were good performers and so fucking loud which of course I was into, but they are just a little bit droney for my personal tastes. Everyone else I talked to was psyched about them though. Plus I took some pics of them in the Sailor Jerry air stream and they seemed like good people. Chelsea Wolfe was another performer that everyone seemed really into. Her music was really pretty and I get the attraction but it was a little too sleepy time for me to listen to at a rock club. When I am out and about I want to rock. For me the highlight of the day was Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis who did things with an acoustic guitar that I didn’t think possible. He didn’t exactly put on a wild show or anything but the guy is a legend and he impressed.

Saturday’s party was a bit more up my alley. I was kicking myself because Peelander Z was leaving right as I go there. I have seen the crazy Japanese rockers a half dozen times over the last 10 years and they are always amazing. They were a highlight of this years SXSW for me. Luckily I grabbed them and took some photo of them in and around the Sailor Jerry air stream before heading into check out the New Orleans booty bounce madness that is Vockah Redu. He did an insane NWA cover and I found out that I had actually met his dancer before and we have some mutual friends. If you get a chance to check out Vockah you fucking owe it to yourself to do so. The band that I would most likely go home and listen to (I am actually listening to them now) was a California punk band called Fidlar who headlined the second stage. They are no Fucking Bullshit of course but I would go see them any time. Headlining the main stage was Idle Warship a hip hop/soul group fronted by Talib Kweli. They were great and I am pretty sure they covered Devo and there was just awesomeness all over the place. Oh, and also there was a guy dressed like a stegosaurus. Wild.

After that I headed home for 90 minutes and then right back to Public Assembly for another Sailor Jerry party… but we will get to that another day.

Click here to see all the photos from both Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Day Parties!

PS. Shout out to the cute girl with hot dog tattoo who is a big fan of Driven By Boredom. Keep me bookmarked!

J Mascis

Peelander Z

Talib Kweli Of Idle Warship

Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Party

A Place To Bury Strangers

Fidlar

Vockah Redu

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Betty’s Birthday Bowling Bash – 10.18.11

I cannot remember the last time I went to a birthday party at a bowling alley. I am sure it was in middle school or something. But my tattoo artist Betty Rose is kinda hilarious like that and she told me if I came out and took photos she would trade me for a tattoo. As a man who loves to barter this seemed like a wonderful idea despite my hatred of bowling.  Plus Betty rolls with a lot of hot tattooed chicks and her last birthday was fucking wild.

This year things did not get quite as crazy but it was still a lot of fun. Everyone got insanely drunk and I figured someone was going to get murdered with a bowling ball but no one did so I have to say the party was a great success in that regard. By the time we all left the place was littered with Sweedish fish and spilled booze. It was clearly a party.

As an aside you may recognize Betty from my mini documentary which was viewed 30,000 times yesterday. We are going viral motherfucker.

Anyway, you can click right here to see all the pictures from Betty Rose’s birthday party at Bowlmor Lanes. And then go get tattooed by Betty and wish her a belated happy Sweet 16.

Betty Rose's Birthday Bowling Bash!

Betty Rose's Birthday Bowling Bash!

Betty Rose's Birthday Bowling Bash!

Betty Rose's Birthday Bowling Bash!

Betty Rose's Birthday Bowling Bash!

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Felix Berkley

Today brings to an end a week of Chicago Burning Angel girls with Felix Berkely or Felix Angel as goes by on Burning Angel.  I shot felix the same day as Sidney and Rizzo but by the time I got to Felix we had lost all natural light and I shot her in my friend Matt’s living room using my on camera flash. I have been trying to get away from the on camera flash because it’s so inconsistant but I will never have the patience for real studio lights so I guess it will have to do sometimes…

Anyway, I have to go shoot CMJ stuff so I gotta make this quick but Felix is awesome, has amazing boobs and some nice scum bag tattoos to complete the package. You cannot fuck with this girl. She will ruin you.

Click here to see the full gallery of Felix Berkley nudes. They are of course NSFW.

Felix Berkley

Felix Berkley

Felix Berkley

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