Diggin' in the box...

I just got back from 4 long and hot days in the Mojave desert, wich I'll write about a little later...
I was going through old images on my hard drives a ittle earlier today to see how much space I have left, and found some photos I took of Ashley a couple of years ago.
My friend Vanessa did the makeup and we shot these in Ashleys studio in Hollywood that she was working out of at the time.

Cassandro Bleeding

This is a photo I snapped of Mexican Wrestler Cassandro after i dragged him out of the ring ,semi-unconcious.
Even security thought the blood was fake.
He was still in shock and I had about 45 seconds to take this photo before everyone realized what happened and took him away.
Backstage at "Lucha Vavoom" , Los Angeles ,Valentine's Day 2006

Jeans brand pays $200,000 for bad-boy photographer

If you subscribe to the theory that sex sells in advertising, Terry Richardson is definitely your man. Best known for louche imagery that blurs the lines between photography and pornography, the 41-year-old American coaxes models into his studio to strike poses that no doubt shock their parents. It's all in the name of art and commerce, with a long list of international fashion magazines and brands from Gucci to Levi's keen to trade on his risque rep.

Australia's Lee Jeans is the latest to join that list, investing what local sources estimate at $US150,000 ($200,000) to get Richardson to photograph its spring/summer advertising campaign in New York on Thursday. That's roughly 10 times what an Australian photographer would earn for the same campaign.

The competition is incredibly stiff in denim at the moment - everyone who has the chance to make a pair of jeans is doing so, said Richard Bell, the marketing manager for Lee's parent, Icon Clothing: "We feel like we have to constantly push it."

Although the two international models cast for the campaign did not have sex in the studio - as has occurred on previous Richardson shoots - Bell revealed the setting was "intimate" and that several shots showed nipples and pubic hair.

Lee would not flinch from showing the most provocative images, he added, even on large outdoor billboards, in spite of the fact that a Richardson billboard was once torn down in New York after complaints and an Australian magazine was once withdrawn from distribution because it contained a self-portrait of Richardson's genitals.

"I think that the people that get their knickers in a twist are just uncomfortable with themselves and/or repressed and have absolutely no sense of humour," said Richardson, who appears inured to common complaints that his images of women with their legs akimbo, and simulating (or in his exhibition work, in fact actually performing) fellatio, are perverse or demeaning to same.

"You can call me anything you like, just don't call me late to dinner," he said.

The Richardson coup is the latest instalment in Lee's brand trajectory from dag to diva.

In 1994 the Yakka subsidiary Icon Clothing began changing it from a cheap denim line sold in Kmart to a hip, youth-focused brand with campaigns photographed by locals such as Max Doyle and Jonathan Bookallil.

But although some photographers complained about the Australian Government's recent decision to hire an international photographer for its latest tourism campaign, one photographic agent said the industry was abuzz at rumours Richardson may have been hired.

"You can't really fight with the master. He's at the top of his field," said Jo Sinclair, the general manager of The Artist Group.

"As much as I would like it to swing round and that they would use an Australian next time, which I'm sure they will because they probably can't afford to do that for a second season, competition is a good thing, and I think that by using him it's raised the bar."

HELL YEAH!

Robin, Sleeping.

This is a shot of my friend Robin, passed out on the couch after partying with me all night.
I took this one with on camera flash and slapped a blue gel on the flash thingy.
I am such a hippie.

Emma

This is another shot of Emma I took a few months back at Salton Sea.
I like this series of her best with minimal makeup.
She's such a beauty.

LA is Burning

This heat is killing me.
It's hard to hold a thought for more than 20 seconds.
Here's another photo from the shoot with Emma I did on Saturday.

A Walk On the Dark Side

If some frail tubercular lady circus rider were to be driven in circles around and around the arena for months and months without interruption in front of a tireless public on a swaying horse by a merciless whip-wielding master of ceremonies, spinning on the horse, throwing kisses and swaying at the waist, and if this performance, amid the incessant roar of the orchestra and the ventilators, were to continue into the ever-expanding, gray future, accompanied by applause, which died down and then swelled up again, from hands which were really steam hammers, perhaps then a young visitor to the gallery might rush down the long stair case through all the levels, burst into the ring, and cry “Stop!” through the fanfares of the constantly adjusting orchestra.

But since things are not like that—since a beautiful woman, in white and red, flies in through curtains which proud men in livery open in front of her, since the director, devotedly seeking her eyes, breathes in her direction, behaving like an animal, and, as a precaution, lifts her up on the dapple-gray horse, as if she were his grand daughter, the one he loved more than anything else, as she starts a dangerous journey, but he cannot decide to give the signal with his whip and finally, controlling himself, gives it a crack, runs right beside the horse with his mouth open, follows the rider’s leaps with a sharp gaze, hardly capable of comprehending her skill, tries to warn her by calling out in English, furiously castigating the grooms holding hoops, telling them to pay the most scrupulous attention, and begs the orchestra, with upraised arms, to be quiet before the great jump, finally lifts the small woman down from the trembling horse, kisses her on both cheeks, considers no public tribute adequate, while she herself, leaning on him, high on the tips of her toes, with dust swirling around her, arms outstretched and head thrown back, wants to share her luck with the entire circus—since this is how things are, the visitor to the gallery puts his face on the railing and, sinking into the final march as if into a difficult dream, weeps, without realizing it.

Franz Kafka

Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus

Richard and I went to see Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus at the Verizon Amphitheather in Irvine last night.
The show was amazing and I barely recognized Trent Reznor!
When I first met him in New York in 99 ( he was on Nothing Records back then with a buddy of mine) I remembered him as this skinny, quiet, weird, depressed dude.
He's all buff now! Holy crap, has he been hitting the gym?
I loved the show. The Bauhaus set was a nice treat and Trent Reznor played a Song with Peter Murphy from Bauhaus later on.
Great fucking show!


On another note, my laptop is currently at the Mac Doctor. Obvioulsy a hardware problem.
Hopefully it won't be gone for long.
Laptops can be such a pain in the ass.

"I learned more from Donald Duck than from all the schools I ever attended." Gottfried Helnwein

Gottfried Helnwein's art has moved me in many ways since I've started studying his work during high school and college.
It's beautifully dark in a disturbing way that moves my soul. Most of his work evolves around children :hurt, bleeding, immobilized, modified.
He's a painter, sculptor, photographer and performance artist and he also costume designs for theater.
I am not sure how well known he is in the US but he sure is in Europe, and his work has been shown in galleries world wide since the early 80's.





I especially love his self portraits. The black and white photograph is titled "Self Portrait with Smiling Aid"
I can relate.

Karin + Raoul: Online Exhibit

I have a Gallery up on Karin + Raoul.


Karin + Raoul is a bi-monthly online Gallery and publication which showcases mysteriously sexy fashion, documentary and portraiture photography. Our mission is to highlight bold imagery from photographers who celebrate and document contextually and emotionally rich aesthetics whithin our individual and collective worlds.
Karin + Raoul hosts an international audience with members in fine art, fashion, film and the likes. What they all have in common is an eye for striking subjects and compositions. There are few places an advertising, documentary and fashion photographer can go to express his/her more personal interests. Karin + Raoul showcases these unique visions of our contributors; allow us to present yours to the world in a way that expresses your artistic voice.

Hey, works for me!
; )

Kalani at Club Paradise

I took this photo of my friend Kalani in her in her Jessica Rabbit costume a few days ago at Club Paradise in Las Vegas, just before i was heading back to LA.
If you're ever in Las Vegas, make sure to check out one of her stage shows, they are fabulous. Besides, Club Paradise is one of the best clubs there for sure!