Remembering
This series was inspired by the personal black and white work of Saul Leiter. He captured intimate moments of daily life with his partner, free from pretense and polish. I sought to achieve a similar feeling by working with someone I was very familiar with, Angel.
This series was inspired by the personal black and white work of Saul Leiter. He captured intimate moments of daily life with his partner, free from pretense and polish. I sought to achieve a similar feeling by working with someone I was very familiar with, Angel.
I wanted to capture mundane moments such as: getting ready for the day, reading, thinking, resting, and boredom. I layered elements of the setting in the foreground and background to contribute to the familiar yet voyeuristic point of view.
Film stocks: Portra 800, Expired Agfa 100, Instax Wide, Expired FP-100C
Cameras: Pentax 67 II, Contax G2, Mamiya Universal Press
An Unexpected Hole
After much deliberation between different models, I recently purchased a Leica M7. After a few weeks, I finally had a shoot lined up with Jess at a great location. We shot a handful of looks in this apartment with many rooms and great light. I sent the rolls off to be developed. When I got the images back I was in for a big surprise.
After much deliberation between different models, I recently purchased a Leica M7. Whilst the M6 is legendary I do like cameras with a built-in light meter, especially for and EDC camera. Once it arrived, I walked around my neighborhood and shot a couple of rolls. The character of the images made me eager to set up a photoshoot. After a few weeks, I finally had a shoot lined up with Jess at a great location. We shot a handful of looks in this apartment with many rooms and great light. I sent the rolls off to be developed.
I downloaded the scans and to my dismay, I saw a light leak on every image. I ran to grab my camera, opened it, cranked the shutter, and saw the culprit staring at me…a HOLE in the shutter curtain. It wasn’t there in the first two rolls I shot. During the time I shot my first two rolls and the photoshoot I had inadvertently had the lens in direct sunlight, which then burned a hole in the shutter curtain. Despite my initial sadness, the photos still turned out pretty great. The colors, sharpness, and character of the images have are fantastic.
I searched the internet and repairing the shutter curtain on a Leica M7 would cost around $400. I didn’t want to drop $400 so I hunted around for another solution and I found a great one on a camera forum: liquid electrical tape! Did you know that liquid electrical tape existed? Neither did I. I grabbed a can from the hardware store and used a toothpick to place a small amount in the hole. I let it dry for an hour and then used my phone flashlight to see if any light would come through. It was light tight and fairly cheap. Hopefully, none of you have to deal with a hole in your cloth shutter curtain but if you do, liquid electrical tape is the solution.
Film stocks: Kodak ProImage 100
Camera: Leica M7
Build to Something
There has always been a desire within me to create things with my hands. My dad was very handy, not by trade, but by curiosity and at times necessity. Seeing and participating in those projects in my youth has only increased my desire to build things. After months of stepping out of my apartment and looking at my empty patio, I decided that I wanted to build a set.
There has always been a desire within me to create things with my hands. My dad was very handy, not by trade, but by curiosity and at times necessity. He had the keen ability to read a manual on how to do something and then actually do that thing, competently might I add. Seeing and participating in those projects in my youth has only increased my desire to build things. After months of stepping out of my apartment and looking at my empty patio I decided that I wanted to build a set.
The ground was pebbles set in concrete, the walls were corrugated steel, my apartment window and air conditioning unit was on the left side and stairs to the second floor on the right. The space was about 10 feet long and nearly 6 feet wide. With those factors in figures in mind I went to the hardware store. The first thing I wanted to do was find something to make a vertical wall to cover the existing steel wall. The existing wall was only about 6 feet tall, which was not tall enough to block out what was behind it. My original thought was to buy dry wall. It comes in many sizes and thicknesses and it can be painted. However since the patio was outside it would be exposed to the elements and it would rain….eventually (even in Los Angeles), also it had to fit in my sedan. Yes an SUV or truck would have been ideal, but I only had my car with a back seat that folded down. Fortunately after a bit of wandering I stumbled upon concrete drywall that could stand up better against moisture. I grabbed three 5’x3’, 3/8” thick sheets of concrete dry wall hoping the would fit into my car. I knew that I wanted to piece them together so that it would be around 8 feet high and 6 feet wide, but I didn’t want to use any power tools in my small apartment complex. I grabbed a couple long 2”x4”s (and had them cut into 18” pieces), a caulk gun, and a cartridge of gorilla glue. I then headed to the other side of the store to find flooring. I was originally thinking about cheap wood flooring, but I stumbled upon a couple boxes of Travertine tile on clearance for $11. I bought everything and crossed my fingers that it would all fit into my car and with a healthy amount of finagling, it did.
Once home, I laid out the concrete sheets: two pieces vertical and then the third piece horizontal on top. I placed the 2”x4”s along the seems where the sheets met and along the bottom. The idea was to reinforce the sheets so it could stand upright as a wall. I glued the 2”x4”s down and let it cure for 24 hours.
Once I had the wall up and laid out the tile I was ready to style the space. I took some items from my apartment along with a table a friend was throwing away, an old speaker, and a chair I bought via Craigslist to start adding character. I used fabric to cover the left wall and to drape over the speaker. I brought my fiddle leaf fig and yucca plant out doors and bought a few other plants to give the set some depth. That’s all it took! I set up a team and we had a wonderful shoot. Angel modeled, Rachael styled, and Melanie did the makeup.
Film: Portra 800, Cinestill 50D
Camera: Pentax 67 II
My First Photo Road Trip
This series follows a 5-day journey I took with Roarie and Riona up into Southern California, through Nevada, and up through Utah. We visited incredible structures and sites within nature and their human form melded with forms in nature.
The US is a gigantic country and I’ve seen very little of it. So when Roarie mentioned she had an opening for a photo trip I leapt at the opportunity. Roarie was traveling with Riona and the trip would be 5 days of driving, camping, and photographing. Roarie had done a lot of scouting in the western states and she created an itinerary based on things I was interested in and the best times of days to arrive and shoot at those locations. We departed from southern California and made our way a few hours north, we then traveled east through the bottom tip of Nevada, into Utah and up through the state. It was an incredible trip that was the highlight of my year.
Film stocks: Portra 160, Portra 400, Portra 800, Acros 100, Agfa Ultra Color 100
Cameras: Pentax 67 II, Contax G2
