The Mixed Media Method – 10.29.15

Last night I shot a new party for my friend Andrea Grant. She is a talented writer, total babe and gives me work a couple times a year so I am a big fan of her existence. She helped start an art, music and poetry collective called The Mixed Media Method and last night they threw their first event at Le Poisson Rouge.

Andrea got things started off with a poetry reading and then Canadian singer/songwriter Apryll Aileen played some songs that were real pretty and then this kinda great Russian band called Mad Meg played. I can’t really explain them but I was real into it. Kinda reminded me of some weird mix between Nick Cave and Gogol Bordello which maybe doesn’t make sense at all. Alycia Mayhew was the headliner and it was a CD release party for her new album “Letting Go”. I unfortunately had to go throw an event for a football team that got fucking embarrassed on national TV so I missed her performance but I showed up a bit early and took some shots of her sound checking and she sounded great.

On top of all the live music Ian Slarsky did blind contour portraits of people all night and DJ Ivan played music between bands. Between Ian and Ivan and Igor (me) there was a lot of name related confusion but we all did our jobs anyway. Rebecca Larson hosted the whole thing too so that’s important and stuff.

And thus ends another weird event write up. I think it’s time you go look at pictures.

Click here to see all the photos from the first ever The Mixed Media Method party at Le Poisson Rouge.

The Mixed Media Method

Rebecca Larson & Apryll Aileen

Apryll Aileen & Alycia Mayhew

Mad Meg

Andrea Grant

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“Arts” Zine Pre-Order!

On November 7th the Zine Friends zine fair returns to Cotton Candy Machine in Brooklyn and this time I am gonna be part of it. I covered the last Zine Friends and this time they asked me to be a part of it. I had a great time and bought some cool stuff but I am a photographer and nearly everyone else involved is some sort of drawers or somethin’. I figured I would have to come up with something special for the fest.

So I bring you “Arts’ a zine about people who draw real good. I photographed nearly 20 of my artist friends on black and white 35mm film and then got them to send me art of theirs for my first really collaborative project. It’s got art and portraits from tattoo artists, graffiti artists, painters, illustrators and cartoonists. It was a lot of fun to shoot and put together.

The zine is limited to 150 copies and is only $10! It comes out at the fair on November 7th but you can pre-order it now. You can also get a copy with a 5″x7″ print of your choice of artists which might be cool if you were into one of these artists.

Also, unrelated to the zine I put together some grab bags on my Etsy store featuring a DBB tote bag, shot glass, some stickers and buttons and your choice of signed zines. So perhaps if you wanna get a copy of “Arts’ you could get a bunch more stuff for just $15 more.

Lastly, here’s a list of the artists:

Buff Monster, Molly Crabapple, Matt Crabe, DAZE, Day By Day, Blanda Eggenschwiler, ELLE, Erik Foss, Nicholas Gazin, Penelope Gazin, Lamour Supreme, Sheila Marcello, Eddy Segal, Amy Shapiro, Minka Sicklinger, SMURFO, Nate Turbow & Wizard Skull!

Now go get your hands on a copy!

Arts

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April O’Neil & Shay Laren

I am leaving town for the weekend and then I have an oppressively busy week next week so I might not get a chance to update again for a while so I figured I would leave you with something good. No, I take that back, I am leaving you with something great.

Over a year ago I took two of my favorite models ever, April O’Neil and Shay Laren to Murphy’s Ranch near Malibu, CA. I had read about it on one of those “abandoned places” lists and could not wait to try and shoot there. It took some searching and a lot of hiking but we finally got there and took some amazing photos of some really hot ladies.

But first, let’s talk about Murphy’s Ranch. Murphy’s Ranch was a compound for American Nazi sympathizers during WWII. They had this idea that they would hide out in the middle of the mountains in what is now Topanga State Park until after the Nazi’s won the war. The whole thing didn’t go super well for them and the US Government raided the compound the day after Pearl Harbor. In the 60’s some hippies lived there in a commune but a forest fire chased them out and it has been abandoned ever sense. There is now dispute between LA County and the CA State Parks over who should own the land. Although it is in the border of Tapenga State Park, the CA Park Service won’t take it until LA County gets rid of the structures that still stand there, but because it’s so hard to get to it would cost millions to deal with the compound. So now it is a technically off limits part of LA County but it’s a fairly popular hiking trail and apparently a big hit for crossfit assholes.

So between hiding from hikers, smoking teenagers and another photoshoot we took some really fun photos and it just happens that the photos were of unreasonably hot women so it works out really well. On top of that we took a LOT of photos so this gallery is only about half the images! I will have solo galleries of both April and Shay coming in the future so get really excited about that too.

Despite this being one of my favorite shoots ever, it has taken way too long for me to publish these. Sometimes when I take photos I am really excited about I just hold on to them for way too long although the few 35mm photos I have posted have been a huge hit. I even included a two page spread of them in Fuck LA.

So yeah, go look at these photos right now. I posted them yesterday on Girls of Driven By Boredom and Girls of DBB has some extra slightly more dirty shots as well. I am sure you won’t be too upset about that.

Now click here to see the amazing photos of April O’Neil and Shay Laren at the abandoned Murphy’s Ranch!

Ps. Sorry for all the silly NSFW logos on the main page. Just click through to the uncensored ones.

April O'neil & Shay Laren At Murphy's Ranch

April O'neil & Shay Laren At Murphy's Ranch

April O'neil & Shay Laren At Murphy's RanchApril O'neil & Shay Laren At Murphy's Ranch

 

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2015 NYC Zombie Crawl – 10.18.15

The god damn NYC Zombie Crawl is back. My friend Doug Sakmann keeps throwing these things and for some insane reason I keep showing up. This is the 9th year he has been running the zombie crawls and he does two a year and I think I have photographed something like 15 of the 18. I really hate getting fake blood on me because it is sticky and smells like pancakes but it always makes for good pictures especially around Halloween.

This year it was probably the coldest I remember a zombie crawl being (take that global warming! (wait, is that how that works?)) and everyone met up at the Twins Pub in midtown. I was just a few blocks away watching football with my Dolfans NYC crew so it was easy enough to roll over there.

The zombies made their way from Twins to the Museum of Sex which apparently has a bar in the basement. I mostly spent my time there looking at sexy photo books in the gift shop because I care about photo books more than I do about zombies or booze.

From  there the zombies crawled over to Slake for the after party and two of my friends bands (Jungle Junkies & Bikini Carwash) played but I decided I couldn’t stay there any longer since I was on about two hours of sleep and felt like I was losing my mind a little bit. I did get to see the trailer for Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse which seems like it could be a pretty good edition the growing line of zombie comedies like Shaun Of The Dead and Zombieland.

In conclusion (how every essay I wrote in middle school ended), there are some photos of zombies that you should look at it if you like that sort of thing. Thank you for your time. The end.

Click here to see photos from the 9th annual NYC Zombie Crawl!

NYC Zombie Crawl

NYC Zombie Crawl

NYC Zombie Crawl

NYC Zombie Crawl

 

NYC Zombie Crawl

NYC Zombie Crawl

NYC Zombie Crawl

 

 

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Schott & Sailor Jerry Celebrate The US Navy – 10.14.15

October has been a big month for Sailor Jerry. I already shot Lucero in Nashville and in NYC for their SJ Presents tour and last night I went down to Schott’s Soho store to celebrate the US Navy. Before Sailor Jerry was a rum company they were a clothing company based on the designs of tattoo legend Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins and to this day they still sell the clothing. They also do some really cool clothing collaborations like when I went down to Miami for the release of their Iggy Pop designed collection. Yesterday they teamed up with the iconic outer wear brand Schott to create a pea coat for the 240th anniversary for the US Navy.

Schott started making pea coats for the US Navy during WWII and Sailor Jerry Collins was in the Navy and was tattooing Navy men in Hawaii during WWII. The connection makes total sense and the pea coat they collaborated on is pretty fantastic and it even has a semi secret flask pocket so of course they had to design a leather wrapped flask as well. The whole thing was a pretty inspired idea.

Meanwhile tattoo artist Oliver Peck became friends with the Schott’s after his favorite 60 year old Schott leather jacket started to fall apart. Schott ended up fixing his jacket and since the pea coat release timed perfectly with Oliver being in NYC for the Ink Master live season finale they got Oliver involved in the release party. He was doing free Sailor Jerry tattoos all night and everyone had a blast.

On a slightly related note I have owned a bunch of leather jackets in my life but they never felt right to me. I finally got one that I like (although the zipper is broken) and it was actually a vintage rip off of the iconic Schott Perfecto made by Sears. I should have worn it last night… or maybe I should just sell it and try and buy a new Schott jacket since they are pretty amazing.

Anyway, click here to see all the photos from the Schott/ Sailor Jerry pea coat/flask release to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the US Navy!

Oliver Peck

Steve Lewis Gets Tattooed By Oliver Peck

Aaron Sagers

Oliver Peck, Audra & The Schotts

Buff Monster

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2015 New York Comic Con

I love fans. I love anyone that is super passionate about something even if I don’t care about that thing. There’s just something there that I sympathize with. I have been a collector all my life from baseball cards to comic books to CDs to DVDs to finally, as an adult, photo books. I am an obsessive fan of the Miami Dolphins and while football is as mainstream a hobby as you can get, it’s pretty derided in the hipster Brooklyn world I live in where people live Tweet the Super Bowl so they can make jokes about how they don’t get sports. So I love fans and I love fans that are willing to dress up in a silly costume and go hang out in public without giving any fucks.

So this past weekend I went to the New York Comic Con to take pictures of fans and it was great. I went to NYCC back in 2012 and wanted to go back at some point. San Diego Con has been on my photo bucket list forever but I haven’t had the chance. NYCC is growing rapidly and was way bigger than when I went a few years ago. I didn’t spend too much time at the convention and honestly didn’t do a good of a job photographing it as I would like but it was sort of a last minute thing and I spent as much time figuring out where to go and getting through crowds as taking photos.

I still the experience was pretty wonderful. It struck me how many disabled people were there and how super heroes could be an escape from whatever handicap they might have. I saw the cutest kid who had some sort of mental disability smiling like I have never seen anyone smile. He was so fucking happy to be surrounded by superheroes and I watched as his parents took him around the convention and I almost started crying it was so wonderful. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to raise a child you know you are going to have to take care of for the rest of their life, but it has to be completely worth it at moments like that where your child is so happy to be in his element.

That is why I love events like these. It’s this moment where people who may have been made fun of their entire life for liking comic books or toy ponies or insane clowns or whatever can come be with people who get them and they hug strangers and take photos with each other and talk about cosplay designs and all of that wonderful shit that they can’t do anywhere else. And yes I get that with the huge Marvel movies and nerd culture being “cool” that comic conventions aren’t like they used to be, but there’s still these moments that are so magical that it makes even a depressing motherfucker like me happy to be alive.

Now click here to see my 2015 NY Comic Con photos that will not at all live up to the hype of my write up.

New York Comic Con

Vera Baby Cosplay As Vampirella

New York Comic Con

New York Comic Con

Cosplay Is Not Consent

New York Comic Con

New York Comic Con

John Rhys-Davies

Jessica Nigri

 

 

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Blade Rave – 10.9.15

Last night BBQ Films threw another amazing immersive film experience. In the most simplistic way BBQ turns venues into scenes from movies and then they show the film in that environment. Their events are always way more than that and every one of them I have attended has been incredible. Their screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles got me hooked and I got a chance to help plan their Back To The Future event and I got my head shaved by a teen icon at their Empire Record party.

As I mentioned yesterday NY Comic Con is happening and their event last night was an after party for the convention. They screened Blade which I believe was the first commercially successful Marvel film. I think vampires are stupid so I couldn’t care less about the movie (pretty sure I last saw it in theaters) but the party was awesome. The only scene from the movie I really remembered was the big vampire rave which was ideal since BBQ threw their party around that scene.

This was the first BBQ screening where the movie wasn’t the centerpiece. They screened it from front to back on the roof but on the main stage at the massive Terminal 5 they only showed a few clips from the movie around their reenactments and performances. They had some dance crews and some sort of bizarre sword performance but the event was mostly a dance party.

They had several DJs including Pictureplane but the evening was all about the Crystal Method and the blood shower that capped off the evening. Halfway into the Crystal Method’s set the DJs stopped and a fantastic Blade cosplayer came out and got beat up by the BBQ Films crew. He eventually kicked some ass before getting dragged off as an army of people came out and sprayed the crowd with fake blood. The whole thing was pretty incredible and I still have some blood on me from last night.

If you ever get a chance to go to a BBQ Films screening do it even if you don’t care about the movie. I mean it probably helps if you have at least some idea of the film so you get the performances and inside jokes but whatever the case you are going to have a blast.

Now click here to see the fucking insane photos from BBQ Films Blood Rave at Terminal 5.

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

The Crystal Method

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

Pictureplane

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

BBQ Films Comic Con Blade Rave

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Another Evening With Lucero – 10.8.15

Before I head out for a very long day of photographing the New York Comic Con I wanted to get up some more photos of Lucero. Last week I shot them in Nashville as part of the kick off for their Sailor Jerry Presents: An Evening With Lucero tour. Well last night the tour came to NYC so I figured I would shoot that show as well.

Once again they opened for themselves with an acoustic set and then playing a second, longer, electric set. It was a big crowd that filled up most of the massive Webster Hall. I don’t have much to say different from the last show, except that I ran into a bunch of friends including Oliver Peck who is on tour with Lucero for a few days before he comes back to NYC for the live Ink Master season finale on Tuesday.

Anyway, it was a fun show and I think it was even better than the Nashville show because Webster’s sound is fantastic and I had actually slept.  Now go look at some photos and I am gonna go photograph some nerds.

Click here to see all the photos from the NYC edition of Sailor Jerry Presents: An Evening With Lucero.

Lucero In NYC

Lucero In NYC

Lucero In NYC

Lucero In NYC

Lucero In NYC

 

 

 

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An Evening With Lucero – 10.1.15

Last night Lucero played the first date of their US tour, kicking things off with a two set show in Nashville. Fortunately Sailor Jerry is sponsoring the tour so I got a chance to fly down to Tennessee for the event dubbed “Sailor Jerry Presents: An Evening With Lucero”.

The idea was that Lucero would play two sets, one acoustic and then come back 30 minutes later and play a second electric set dubbed “the drunk set” by front man Ben Nichols. It’s a pretty cool idea especially if you are obsessed with a band like a ton of Lucero fans are. It was a packed house and I met people who came from NYC, Baltimore, San Diego and even Ireland for the show. Kinda amazing dedication.

In my life time of music I can only think of a few times when I have seen a band open for themselves. I saw They Might Be Giants get dressed up for Halloween and pretend to be a TMBG cover band only to play a legitimate set an hour later. They spent a lot of the set making fun of the “cover band” for drinking all the booze on their bus. I saw Camper Van Beethoven open for Cracker and while technically they are two different bands they just swapped out guitar players. And once when I was managing the band the Gaskets I hired a cover band to play their entire first album at the release party for their second album. Not quite the same thing but their die hard fans loved it. They got to hear the old hits and the whole new record.

Not that any of that is relevant to last night, but my flight back to NYC is delayed so you get that random story because I have nothing else to do.

If you are a Lucero fan this is a tour you should not miss. They are playing at Webster Hall next Thursday and I will be covering that show as well so I hope to see a bunch of friends there there. Check out the rest of their tour dates here.

Now click here to see photos from the Sailor Jerry Presents: An Evening With Lucero tour kickoff at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville.

Sailor Jerry Presents: Lucero

Sailor Jerry Presents: Lucero

Sailor Jerry Presents: Lucero

Sailor Jerry Presents: Lucero

Sailor Jerry Presents: Lucero

 

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