Theater Oobleck‘s new show, The Hunchback Variations Opera, opens tonight at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater. I haven’t seen it yet, but from all indications it’s outstanding. The libretto’s by brilliant playwright Mickle Maher, and music by the lovely and talented Mark Messing, bandleader of Mucca Pazza and one of the geniuses behind Opera-Matic (he’s second from the left in this photo). Info about tickets, etc here. I shot promo photos for the show, here are a couple.
Last October I photographed the legendary saxophonist Von “Vonski” Freeman for The Reader; here are a couple outtakes. I shot him before and during a set at the fabulous, historic Green Mill. Special thanks to Green Mill owner Dave Jemilo for being gracious and hospitable despite (because of a miscommunication) not knowing a photographer was coming that night.
Shot today in a storefront window on Cermak near California.
Last Friday the Chicago area was treated to a sublime sunset sky. Here’s a shot (7 actually, stitched together) taken near my studio in Douglas Park. I’m reminded of something Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “I believe in God, only I spell it “Nature”.
My friend Mike Finch directed, edited, and stars in Rob Crow‘s (Pinback) new music video, So Way; I shot it. It debuted yesterday on the Rolling Stone blog, but the resolution is better at Mike’s Vimeo (below).
I shot portraits of Charles Coleman, Christy LeMaster, Mike Reed, Fred Sasaki, and Weed Wolf for this week’s Reader–the inaugural People Issue. Thanks to photo editor Andrea Bauer for the plum of an assignment. The bottom two shots are outtakes.
Fred Sasaki
Charles Coleman
Weed Wolf
The New York Times published a fascinating, heart-wrenching feature yesterday, called The Lives They Loved. They asked readers to send a photograph of a loved one who died last year; I submitted a picture of my close friend Diane Izzo.
I shot this self-assigned portrait at my studio last week. The lunar inhabitants pictured are aerialists Laura Left and Helena Right of the duo Ambidextrous. (here’s an earlier post with a shot of them in the air at a lower altitude). The set was painted by the masterful artist Ray Borchers.
Tomorrow night I’ll be taking part in the Hideout Holiday Sale, selling fine art photographic prints alongside many other very talented artists, listed below. Come on by and have a drink; even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on art, there will be a bevy of first rate people to mingle with, and I’ll be there too.
I shot the picture above on Maxwell Street not long before it was completely wiped out.
Hideout Holiday Sale! Tuesday, December 13th, 6PM to 9PM. Free.
1354 W. Wabansia Ave. Chicago, IL 60642
Participating Artists
Rock Candy by Helen Tsastos – Exquisite hand-made-in-Chicago jewelry featuring pearls & gems, vintage treasures and original artwork
Sarah Bortt – Hand Maid soaps, lip balm, bath bombs, wallets, cases & purses from truck tire inner tubes plus jewelry
Souldier – Handmade guitar straps and belts
Dollybird – Metalsmith jewelry
Nomadic Ant – Jewelry, leather hip bags, belts
Kiku Handmade – Fused glass jewelry, buckles and house wares
Greg Schultz – Wood fired ceramics
Tim Wood – Wood works
Martha Bayne and Sheila Sachs – Soup & Bread cookbooks, recipe cards
and boxes, aprons, and art prints and knit items
Vera Videnovich – Hand-spun yarn, knit items & homemade preserves
Winter Session – Handmade canvas/upcycled bags, scarves, aprons
Bloodshot Records – All kinds of swag
Jo Snow – Flavored syrups for coffee, snow cones, Italian sodas and
cocktails
Sarah Steedman – (20th only) Handmade stuffed animals
Petula Bay Frangias – Books, journals and photo albums
Studio Relativity – (13th only) Custom holiday stockings and wine gift bags
Alison True – (13th only) Hand drawn insect décor and proofreader’s marks posters
Chivas Goat Milk Skin Care
Black Dog Gelato
Puffs of Doom
Pleasant Plot CSA
Map to the Hideout
Last October I spent a good part of an afternoon near Chinatown, photographing local wurkstep duo Sich Mang for the Reader. The top shot is an outtake, the bottom one was published. Their Tumblr is an exercise in subtlety and restraint; here’s their Soundcloud page.
OK, last batch of New York pictures for a while.
October 13, 2011, Zucotti Park, New York City (click photo see larger version)
Here are pictures I shot in New York last month; more to follow.
While browsing through the vaults here at the studio, I came across this picture (above) I shot in Rogers Park in the mid 1980s. I hadn’t printed this shot before (I had just made a contact sheet), and just now am noticing that this was a prequel to a photograph I took a few years later, Greetings From Uptown (below; some of you might be familiar with this picture but I don’t think I’ve posted it here on the blog). What can I say–I have a way with kids.
I photographed Jason Polan in New York a few weeks ago, and it looks like he drew me as well. He’s on a mission to draw every person in New York; he also once drew all the people in People.
Trumpeter Nate Wooley, shot in Brooklyn on October 11th, just before he played a gig with Canada Day. This is for a series I’m doing on imrov musicians. I’ve been loving shooting at night with only available light–challenging but fun. Here his main light is coming from a storefront window. More NYC pictures soon, been (thankfully) working like crazy.
I stopped by Bobby Conn headquarters recently, where I found him in the basement, mixing his new record. The track I heard sounds fantastic, and smells like a chart-topper. I shot his portrait for this week’s Artist on Artist feature in the Reader, where he interviews Bryan Ferry. Above is an outtake, a slight variation on the shot the Reader published. Yes, that is a Lehman Brothers necklace–glad you asked. Here are a couple other portraits I shot of Bobby, from two earlier photo sessions.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the interview. Thanks to Alison Cuddy for having me on the show, and to Andrea Jablonski, the hardworking curator of the exhibit.
This Friday I’m participating in an exhibit with 9 other photographers. We’re showing photographs depicting life at Chicago’s greatest music venue, the Hideout. I’ll be on WBEZ’s Eight Forty-Eight tomorrow morning discussing my pictures for this show.
Above is a portrait of Shellac‘s comely drummer and flower arranger, Todd Trainer. I shot it at the Touch and Go 25th Anniversary concert, which was hosted by the Hideout.
The show is called Scrapbook, and here’s the info:
Friday, September 23rd, 2011 6-11PM
High Concept Labs: 1401 W. Wabansia, Chicago (catercorner from the Hideout)
Featuring photographs by:
Paul Beaty
Brooke Blocki
Carmelo Espanola
Robert Loerzel
Emily Long
Dan Lutger
Suzanne Nathan
Jim Newberry
Chris Roo
Ryan Sweeney
Angeline Evans
Javier Ayala
And posters from Steve Walters, Alana Bailey, Kathleen Judge…and more!
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