Helnwein On Los Angeles

Los Angeles is like an open wound that nobody has attempted connect.

It is the peripheral of a dying civilization - and if you want to see the uncensored version of the western world as it is NOW, this is the place.

Sometimes I feel like in 'Blade Runner' - where the collapse of all morals and values are displayed in a comic-like and apocalyptically surreal esthetic.

-Gottfried Helnwein

Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve ....

... and tattoo your wounds into your knuckles.

I've seen all kinds of things in my life, but never met a 16 year old girl like this one, and you'll learn a lot about the city you live in once you're ready to dig a little deeper.

Boyle Heights is a good place to start.






"All Roads lead to Boyle Heights"

Boyle Heights is a district just east of Downtown Los Angeles on the East Side and was once called 'Paradon Blanco' when California was part of Mexico.
Boyle Heights has long been a destination for newcomers to Los Angeles.

Unlike the middle- and lower-middle-class neighborhoods on the bluffs, "The Flats" was one of the most impoverished areas of the city, and by the 1930s was considered one of the last remaining slums in the United States.
Reformer Jacob Riis had visited The Flats in the early 1910s and declared them worse than anything in New York; a survey conducted by the city in the 1937 deemed 20% of the city's dwellings "unfit for human habitation," including most of The Flats.

Soon after the end the war, Aliso Village and Pico Gardens lost most of their non-Latino populations, and were increasingly populated by Mexican immigrants. With the river on one side and a massive rail yard on another, the construction of the East Los Angeles Interchange further isolated them from the rest of the city, and the closure of the Pacific Electric Railway dramatically reduced the mobility of many of the projects' residents.
By the 1970s, overcrowding had eliminated much of Aliso Village's once-vaunted green spaces, physical deterioration had become rampant, and gangs were an increasing problem.

As of the census of 2000, there are 86,734 people in the neighborhood.

The racial identification of the neighborhood is 93.73% Latino, 2.44% Asian, 2.18% White and 1.65% "Other races".

Imadlak, Draga Mimikem!

I won't be around my mom for mothers day because she's 6000 miles away.
Whoever does have a chance to be with their moms on Sunday (or any given Sunday or other day of the week in general) can call themselves lucky.

I haven't seen my mom in a long time.....
And have been living without the luxury of having her near in over 10 years now.

Celebrate and cherish every single moment you can share with your mothers - many of my friends have lost theirs so hold on to these precious beings while they're around you so you can give them the biggest hug and all your love.

Imadlak, draga mimikem!!!

Ice Cube for Bigshot Magazine

The new issue of Bigshot Magazine just hit the stands, featuring one of my Ice Cube photos that I shot at his West Hollywood office.

(Nice office, by the way!)

If you want to read the full article , click here.

The Continuous Shot : Mikhail Kalatozov vs Baillie Walsh

Baillie Walsh is definitely my favorite director, hands down, and to my surprise much under appreciated for his incredible talent.

He was one of the first directors to use continuous shots in music videos, one of the best known perhaps Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack.

The in the mid 90's re-discovered film I Am Cuba , my favorite film to date, was shot wide angle and became famous for (seemingly) technically impossible continuous shots, and was shot in the early 60's by Mikhail Kalatozov.

There are too many to mention, but this scene is great example of the beautiful cinematography of the film:

Baillie Walsh's New Order Video "World" has so many elements of "I Am Cuba" that I was surprised to learn that he had shot all those videos long before he could have possibly seen "I Am Cuba" - this one was shot 1990, 5 years prior to its release.
This video reminds me of the famous "Havana Roof" scene in "I Am Cuba" .....

This is a great little clip, someone pasted different music over it, but it is the above mentioned scene with the much talked about 3 story camera drop that continues underwater as the camera follows a cuban beauty in the pool:


Maybe you can blame the Collective Unconscious ?

Either way - a beautiful thing.

If you haven't seen "I Am Cuba" , I'd highly recommend to buy it, because you'd want to watch it over and over again....
The visual poetry of the film can only be matched by the poetry that continues through it from the beginning:

I am Cuba.
Once Christopher Columbus landed here.
He wrote in his diary:
”This is the most beautiful land ever seen by human eyes.“
Thank you Señor Columbus.
When you saw me for the first time,
I was singing and laughing.
I waved the fronds of my palms to greet your sails.
I thought your ships brought happiness.

I am Cuba.
Ships took my sugar and left me tears...
Strange thing — sugar, Señor Columbus.
It contains so many tears, but it is sweet...

I am Cuba.
Why are you running away?
You came here to have fun.
Go ahead, have fun!
Isn’t this a happy picture?
Don’t avert your eyes. Look!
I am Cuba.
For you, I am the casino, the bar, hotels and brothels.
But the hands of these children and old people are also me.
I am Cuba.

I am Cuba.
Sometimes it seems to me that the trunks of my palm trees are full of blood.
Sometimes it seems to me that the murmuring sounds around us are not the ocean,
but choked-back tears.
Who answers for this blood?
Who is responsible for these tears?

I am Cuba.
There are two paths for people when they are born.
The path of slavery — it crushes and decays.
And the path of the star — it illuminates but kills.
These are the words of José Marti.
You will choose the star.
Your path will be hard, and it will be marked by blood.
But in the name of justice wherever a single person goes,
thousands more will rise up.
And when there will be no more people,
then the stones will rise up.
I am Cuba.

I am Cuba.
Your arms have gotten used to farming tools,
but now a rifle is in your hands.
You are not shooting to kill.
You are firing at the past.
You are firing to protect your future.

Valentina Lisitsa - Pianist Extraordinaire

Are the 2 things in my life that drive me : my passion for my work and my love for music.
And when I discover certain things that move me deeply, it confirms how music can move us and why i matters to me.
When I hear music, I see colors and shapes and what sounds like someone on acid, that's me listening to music.

Music like this for instance:



I'd say that Horowitz clearly is my favorite pianist .... but there is something about Valentina Lisitsa that wants to make my heart stop.

London, Part II - Helena Magone

Prior to the fateful day I blogged about previously, I shot Latvian Model Helena Magone.

At first, she was a bit weirded out by my idea to shoot her in my my friend's tiny flat in Chiswick but warmed up to me eventually.
Later it turned out she was into Snoop Dogg, so I played Snoop Dogg for her and she started dancing and flapped her hair around.

At the end of the day I was very excited about my shoot for the following day. Little did I know that sometimes things can take a turn in ways never expected.

That same night I had a dream - actually a disturbing nightmare- that made me want to cancel the shoot with those kids.
The only reason I didn't , was because I had nobody's number and it was a Saturday, and no one could be reached at their agencies.

I follow my gut instincts as much as I can, but it occasionally conflicts with that part of my ego that won't give up. Ever.

Perhaps I was born in the wrong century: I would have made an excellent gladiator.