For a while I was spending hours a day going through every photo I have ever taken but at some point I stopped. I think I just got busy or something but the other day I started the project up again. The idea is to pull all my favorite images of all time into one place so it’s easier to find stuff and easier to put together some sort of portfolio page which I don’t actually have. I finally finished 2011 so I wanted to give you guys some of the highlights.

2011 was a good year. It was the first year I started working for Sailor Jerry and I got to shoot a bunch of fun stuff for them back when we were doing music festivals almost every weekend it seems. Lolapalooza, Fun Fun Fun and Voodoo Fest were some of the highlights. I had a Ryan Gosling/ Big Freedia photo go viral at Fun Fun Fun and an Odd Future set at Voodoo made national news after they attacked some photographers and I decided to defend them.

Lots of other great festivals that year including the first Four Knots festival, Mad Decent Block Party and of course SXSW. I photographed an Insane Clown Posse cruise and went to the Kentucky Derby with Prince Terry & Dances With White Girls. I was on stage for Wu-Tang and shot Slayer for the first time and spent more time with Major Lazer, TV On The Radio and the Black Lips than is reasonable. I shot Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears and I even shot a Sweet 16 party that Usher showed up at.

2011 was the year of Occupy Wall Street and I photographed the party at Ground Zero when Osama Bin Laden was finally killed.

I went on a cross country road trip with someone I had met twice. I photographed the woman that I would date for two years for the first time. I started a punk band and photographed babes in our t-shirts. I went to Art Basel and the AVN Awards and photographed a ton of naked women everywhere.

Honestly I am getting bored of writing this but there are a lot of celebrities and naked people and the general madness you might expect from my blog. Just go look at the pictures. There are a LOT of them. NSFW obviously.

Click here to see the huge gallery from the best of 2011!

My longest running client is NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and every year for the better part of a decade I have been photographing their huge scholarship fundraising gala. I always enjoy doing it because while it’s fairly upscale and fancy compared to what I normally shoot, it’s still an art school so everyone there is pretty awesome even if they are wearing a dress that costs more than my yearly income. Plus I get to wear a suit which is always kinda fun. I clean up okay.

This year the Gala was honoring Steven Lutvak, Robert L. Freedman and Michael C. Hall. So yeah, I got to photograph Dexter which was awesome. I remember when Dexter aired I thought I would never get used to him as any other character than David Fisher from Six Feet Under but now I can’t think of him as anything other than Dexter. Two of my favorite shows of all time. Also he was introduced by fellow Tisch alum Peter Krause who played Nate on Six Feet Under so that was pretty great.

After the Gala there was an after party for mostly students and some of the faculty and those things always get pretty fun. I got to eat some food and flirt with some art school girls and my hockey team won while I was there so it was all and all a great night.

Now most of these pictures are fairly boring but there are some celebrities (Ewan McGregor comes to mind) and cute girls and fun stuff like that so you might wanna click through em even though they aren’t the normal kinda thing that appears on my site. Whatever the case I will be back soon with some wild photos so don’t worry.

Click here to see all the photos from the 2015 Tisch Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center!

It’s pretty hard to try and get back to work after yesterday but life goes on for the rest of us and Wednesday I photographed a really fun and unique event, the type of party that Jess would have loved, and I really need to show you some pictures.

Once again my friends at BBQ Films put on a fucking amazing event. Ever since I went to their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles screening I have been working with them to help them in whatever way I can to keep creating these amazing film experiences. I got to work with them on the planning of their Back The Future event and I helped brainstorm their Weekend At Bernie’s party but this is the first film they have done since TMNT that I wasn’t at all involved) and that made the surprises that much better.

In 1995 Empire Records hit theaters. I saw it at the time and then never watched it again. I was a huge grunge fan in the years before Empire but when Kurt Cobain died I completely abandoned “Alternative” for punk rock. I remember liking Empire Records but I certainly didn’t have any love or nostalgia for it. When BBQ announced they were doing Empire I didn’t really get it.

I get it now. For the 20th anniversary of the film BBQ turned the record store and venue, Rough Trade NYC, into Empire Records. It was a fully interactive space with scenes from the movie recreated all over the store. There was a booth where you could get your head shaved like Deb did in the movie. There were quarters glued to the floor like AJ did in the film. They had a button making booth and a photo booth that recreated the fictional Rex Manning video for Say No Mor Mon Amour. The whole BBQ staff cosplayed characters from the film with pretty impressive detail. It was an amazing feat.

The screening itself was pretty tame until my friend and BBQ team member Leah Taylor started passing out brownies in the middle of the film. If you recall there is a scene in which Ethan Embry’s character Mark eats hallucinogenic brownies while watching a Gwar video and gets sucked into the video and gets eaten by the World Maggot.  During that scene the movie started skipping and Gwar showed up!

Gwar (minus Dave Brockie RIP) came out to thunderous applause and one of the audience members (who had earlier won the “Mark Experience”) got to play Mark and was fed to the World Maggot live! If that weren’t enough suddenly the World Maggot started vomiting back up Mark and suddenly Ethan Embry was actually on stage! He got the crowd going crazy and then brought out Johnny Whitworth who played AJ in the movie. The two of them rocked out with Gwar and pulled two more raffle prizes for the “Warren Experience” and the “Gina Experience”. After the intermission the movie started playing but I had to miss the rest of it. I had work to do.

BBQ Films had asked me to make a sacrifice for the cause and after thinking it over for about thirty seconds I agreed. I would let Ethan Embry shave my head for a press photo op. They took me up to the head shaving station and Ethan began shaving my head for the benefit of about 20 members of the press and a handful of people who decided that watching me get my head shaved was a better idea than finishing the movie. It was a sensual experience for both of us and gave me a reason to use Periscope for the first time (I’m @drivenbyboredom on there). I also ended up on Vanity Fair’s Instagram which was mildly hilarious.

By the time my haircut was finished so was the movie but the party wasn’t over yet. The band ARMS, who had opened the party, did a set made up of the Empire Records soundtrack and everyone who had stuck around was loving it. The “Gina Experience” ended up being the opportunity to come on stage and sing Sugar High with the band. Meanwhile the “Warren Experience” was happening in the main room and involved getting to chase one of the BBQ Films team who had “shoplifted” around the store. I was expecting it but it was a great moment for people who had no idea what as going on until this scene from the movie was playing out in front of them.

The whole party was amazing and I actually went home and finished watching the 30 minutes of the movie I had missed. I didn’t give a shit about it at the time, but I now have a new love for Empire Records. Happy Rex Manning Day.

Damn the man, save the Empire and click here to see all my photos of Rex Manning Day at Rough Trade NYC.

One of my favorite galleries every year is my SXSW Film portraits. It’s a chance to put a lot of photo related skills to use and shoot some stuff that’s not naked people or some crazy party or something. I spend the first few days of SXSW running around shooting very quick portraits with actors and directors that have movies in the festival and then the Village Voice and LA Weekly (and a bunch of other Voice Media papers) run a slideshow of all my photos.

It’s really fun to see what you can get in sometimes just seconds with an actor. Last year I promised a publicist that I could shoot three people by themselves and then all together in under 90 seconds if she let me take them out onto the balcony where it was slightly raining. I was done in 60. It doesn’t always work out for the best, like when I have to shoot seven different people in the same location, or when there are a dozen people there distracting the actors while I am trying to bang shots out, but over all I am pretty happy with a lot of this work.

Highlights:

• Adrien Brody was excited about the shoot because his mom, Sylvia Plachy, used to shoot for the Voice.
• Everyone in the cast of the Final Girls was really fun to shoot with even if the location wasn’t ideal.
• Speaking of the Final Girls…  I want to take Alia Shawkat’s photo every day forever.
• I shot Jason Schwartzman for 7 Chinese Brothers and The Overnight. Decidedly not a dick.
• Always shooting Robert Duvall. That’s three Duvall related posts in a row.
• Getting the Duplass Brothers to take a nap.
• Shooting the Babysitter cast/crew on a lake. Fun kids, nice location.
• Putting my brother in the gallery. The film he edited, A Wonderful Cloud, was fantastic.
• Running into the homie Heems. He was in Creative Control and it was good to see that dude.
• Shooting Ava’s Possessions, Excess Flesh and Lamb one at a time in the same room in under 10 min.
• Fresno. Love Aubrey Plaza, Judy Greer and Natasha Lyonne so much even if the photos are mediocre.

Now click here to see all of my 2015 SXSW Film Portraits!

My South By Southwest was pretty crazy and I took a lot of photos, but it was actually slightly tamer than normal. I had some days free during music week and for some reason I had nothing booked on the last day of SXSW Film. Fortunately for me I was asked to shoot the after party for the Robert Duvall film Wild Horses on the roof of a bar called Summit. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect and I spent the afternoon taking photos of Duvall and friends, eating free food and partying with legit cowboys including Matthew McConaughey amazing older brother Rooster.

After the party I moved all my stuff from the couch I was sleeping on at my buddies house, to the couch I was sleeping on at the Sailor Jerry house and spent the rest of the day editing my film week photos and eating more food. No complaints.

Anyway, the Wild Horses party was a good time and I ran into a bunch of people I had photographed earlier in the week. The director of The Goob, Guy Myhill, asked me to take a photo of him with his Leica M6 and believe it or not it was the first time I had ever shot with one and ever since then I can’t stop thinking about getting one. Hopefully my shots with it came out okay.

Oh, and also Josh Hartnett was in the movie and at the party and apparently every lady I know was really excited about that. So enjoy photos of him too.

I have no idea where this write up is going, but you should probably just look at the photos and see the movie whenever it’s out in theaters. The end.

Click here to see all the photos from the Wild Horses after party at Summit. 

Still trying to get up all this SXSW stuff but doing my taxes sort of interrupted my life yesterday but let’s switch gears to SXSW Film for a minute. I have three SXSW Film updates and I want to get one up today, tomorrow and Monday and all the SXSW should be wrapped up by Monday or Tuesday and then I have a pretty awesome set of my friend Erica to go up shortly after that. So keep checking back. Lot’s of stuff to lurk.

Today I want to give you probably my least favorite update from SXSW, but the one with the largest amount of famous people in it… SXSW Film red carpet photos. I really can’t stand photographing people on a giant wall of advertising but I would rather do that and shoot the shit with fellow photographers than stand in line for the movies. Plus people seem to like red carpet photos for some insane reason. I completely half assed this stuff, but enjoy looking at mediocre photos of celebrities anyway.

I shot the red carpets for Hello My Name Is Doris, Fresno, Lost River, Love & Mercy, Spy, and Wild Horses. Probably the coolest for me was getting to photograph Brian Wilson and John Cusack on the Love & Mercy step and repeat. Also shooting Sally Field was great because not only is she a legend but she seems like the nicest human ever. Shooting Robert Duvall is always amazing but I have now shot him three times off the red carpet, three times on the red carpet and I got hired to shoot the after party for Wild Horses so I’ve got plenty of Duvall shots, or as I know call him “Bobby”. Just kidding, he still terrifies me.

Okay, go enjoy your Saturday but quickly lurk my red carpet shots. Be back tomorrow with the Wild Horses after party pictures!

Click here to see all my photos from the 2015 SXSW Film Red carpet.

Sometimes this job is really great. On Wednesday I flew down to Miami to photograph the release party for the Iggy Pop/ Sailor Jerry collaboration “The Flash Collection”. The Flash Collection started last year when Sailor Jerry worked together with the Clash’s Paul Simonon to create a very limited leather jacket, two t-shirts and a bandana. This year they teamed up with Iggy Pop to bring you a denim vest and a belt limited to 50 pieces each! The vests are signed on the inside by Iggy Pop and come with a bunch of patches that are based on old Sailor Jerry tattoos.

The party took place at the Garrett in Miami and I was one of the only two photographers allowed to photograph Iggy in the vip upstairs. The party featured free rum, free BBQ and everyone who came walked out with a grab bag of swag. They also had two women sewing on patches all night. I was working too hard to get my vest patched but I grabbed one for the road. Miami natives the Jacuzzi Boys were the main attraction and they played a fantastic set after Iggy introduced them. I have seen them a few times during SXSW but it was great to see them play in front of their home crowd. I took a bunch of photos, met a bunch of babes and hung out with near Iggy Pop all night. It was a pretty great experience.

After that a bunch of the journalists covering the launch were invited by Sailor Jerry to a small after party at the Broken Shaker cocktail bar. The bar designed some sort of insane Sailor Jerry drink that had beef jerky in it. Now that is intense. There also were a bunch of kittens running around which is not a terrible way to end an awesome night. The only bad part was after the party I walked to David’s Cafe to get a Cuban sandwich and found out they closed months ago and no one told me. Tragic.

Now click here to look at all the photos from Iggy Pop and Sailor Jerry’s The Flash Collection release party in Miami!

Last week I got a text from Hannibal Buress. He was opening up for Aziz Ansari at fucking Madison Square Garden and asked me if I could come hang out and shoot some photos of the occasion. I was on my way to watch hockey at a bar a few blocks from MSG anyway, I had to miss overtime but it seemed worth it.

I didn’t shoot a ton but I think I got some cool shots of Hannibal throughout the night. The worst photos are the shots of him on stage because I didn’t bring my 70mm-200mm with me and I was shooting from behind the stage. Still, I think the shots reasonably capture the enormity of the situation. The backstage stuff and after party shots are more fun anyway.

I am not one for being star struck but it was pretty insane to have Chris Rock just hanging out all night. A lot of comedians aren’t funny in normal conversation but that dude is apparently hilarious at every moment. Just listening to him talk to Hannibal for a few minutes made my night.

Before I get to the photos I just want to say how amazing it is that Aziz and Hannibal got to play not one, but two shows at Madison Square Garden. Aziz has come so far from the funny dude I’d bring to random dance parties in the LES and Hannibal is doing such big things since I met him at the Gathering of the Juggalos where he was performing because they couldn’t get Rob Schneider. Hannibal and Aziz are both so fucking funny and very solid dudes. Watching them kill at one of the most legendary venues on Earth was pretty special.

Now click here to see my shots of Hannibal Buress at Madison Square Garden.

As you may know I have been making my way through every photo I have ever taken, trying to pull the best images, and somehow organize everything a little better. The goal in the end is to make a series of different portfolio sites highlighting several types of work I do because it doesn’t make a lot of sense to show all my work to every client. I launched a rough version of my new very NSFW 35mm site yesterday and it’s a bit bipolar already without involving any of my event or commercial work.

For a while I was editing a month a day but things slowed down recently as I worked on Dinner With Igor and my Vegas photo album, but I finally finished going through all of 2010. Since people seemed to love my “Best of 2009” gallery I figured I should do a 2010 version. It’s pretty much just event work, I decided to leave the naked babes out of this, but the gallery is still NSFW.

2010 was interesting because I really stepped up my game as far as camera gear. I upgraded from the consumer camera the Nikon D-300 to the pro full frame D-700. I also stopped using kit lenses (I was always worried about bringing a $1700 lens into a nightclub) and bought a couple serious lenses including my standard event lens the 24-70mm 2.8. The odd thing is I think my event photography actually got worse as a result. My portrait work got a lot stronger but as I went through 2010 I noticed that I started slacking on my party photos. Looking back has made me want to up my game a little bit. I think this whole thing has been a great experience despite the tedium.

A few highlights from 2010 include:

• Covering SXSW Film for the Village Voice for the first time
• Photographing Robin Williams, Billy Crystal & Whoopi Goldberg for NYU/Tisch
• The release of Lena Dunham’s first film Tiny Furniture before anyone knew who she was
• Electric Daisy Carnival’s last year in LA made for some hilarious photos
• More juggalos
• The Anthology Film Archives 40th anniversary
• The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
• Guns & Roses in the husk of CBGBs
• Maiden, Miami & Most Interesting

I got laid off from my last real job in December 2008. Most of 2009 I was still thinking about getting a real job, receiving unemployment and trying to figure out what the hell I was doing next. By 2010 I was all in. Aside from spending a quarter of my income on camera gear I also started traveling a lot more including a month long trip where I photographed SXSW Film, SXSW Music, Winter Music Conference and then hit Slaughterama on the way home. It was a pretty good year.

Click here to see a massive gallery of the best of 2010 event photos!