May 2009
The Archives
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05.24.09Musician Jay Bennett has died
May 2009
The Archives
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05.19.09Test shots with Jen and Suzanne
Here are a couple shots from a test shoot I did last week with talented hair and makeup artist Suzanne Ciba and alluring model Jen F. For 3 weeks Jen had to endure a bouffant full of potting soil while we waited for the flowers to grow.
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05.18.09Stuart Dybek at U of Chicago tomorrow and Wednesday
The Coast of Chicago author and MacArthur Fellow Stuart Dybek will be reading at the University of Chicago tomorrow, May 19th, and Wednesday, May 20th (5PM both days; Tuesday at Swift Hall and Wednesday at Classics 110). More info on the readings here. Below is a portrait of Dybek I made in 2007 for the Chicago Reader.
Stuart Dybek.
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05.18.09Lens: NYT debuts photojournalism blog today
Lens: photojournalism blog from the New York Times
The New York Times is debuting a photojournalism blog, and it looks like a winner.
Lens will be a showcase for the work of Times photographers, but it will also highlight the best images from other newspapers, magazines, news organizations and picture agencies, and from around the Web. It will point readers in the direction of important books, galleries and museum exhibitions. And it will draw on The Times’s own pictorial archive, numbering in the millions of images and going back to the early 20th century.
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05.07.09Maurice Seymour Pt. 3: The Plot Thickens
Quick recap: In Austin, Texas, I bought a strange and lovely old (1940s?) 8×10 glossy of an anonymous dancer. I Googled the photographer’s name (his credit was on the print) and discovered he was a very prolific, abundantly talented Chicago photographer, who shot not only local entertainers, but also world class celebrities like Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett, not to mention German synth rock pioneers Kraftwerk (!).
After posting here about the portrait and photographer, my friend David Kodeski sent me a message pointing out that Seymour’s son Ron Seymour is also a professional photographer, whose studio is less than a mile from my own. I had heard of Ron Seymour and walked by his studio many times, but I didn’t make the ‘Seymour’ connection when I got the print.
The top marker is my studio; bottom marker is Ron Seymour’s place. Small world indeed. [mappress]
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05.04.09Maurice Seymour update: Kraftwerk!
My previous blog post included a swell publicity still I found in Austin, by a Chicago photographer I had never heard of. I started looking for more of his stills, which were usually shots of celebrities and less well known local entertainers, mainly from the 40s and 50s. I certainly didn’t expect to see Kraftwerk among his subjects! Looks like Seymour shot the cover of the great Kraftwerk album “Trans Europe Express,” or at least French and German versions. Check out the Maurice Seymour logo below right. Update, thanks to the Derek Erdman vinyl library: the photo below is on the back cover of the American release.
"Trans Europe Express" Kraftwerk album photo
"Trans Europe Express," French version
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05.04.09Maurice Seymour publicity still
Found publicity still. Photo: Maurice Seymour
I love this portrait. I found it at Uncommon Objects in Austin, Texas. I’m very curious to know more about the woman pictured, but she’s not identified anywhere on the print. Seymour was a very prolific celebrity and entertainment photographer in Chicago, who died in 1993. More of his work can be seen here, here and here.
back of print
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05.01.09Chicago street gang business cards
What the WTF, these Chicago street gang business cards from the 70s and 80s are fascinating. They’re posted (the cards below and many others) at the We Are Supervision blog; (via Windy Citizen).
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05.01.09Keiji Haino: you don’t write, you don’t call, you don’t send flowers…
Oh crap–I just discovered that Keiji Haino had a rare Chicago gig last Tuesday. Anyone have a time travel machine I could borrow? Speaking of time travel, here’s a shot I took at the sorely missed Lounge Ax, for a 1997 Reader review:
Keiji Haino performing with Fushitsusha at Lounge Ax, 5/20/97
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