It’s a little hard to write this, at the moment I’m in a downtown Los Angeles loft and my friend is doing a photoshoot behind me. He’s blaring Pandora radio, I think the station is Miami Horror? I dunno, either way it sounds like they’re having fun, but the strobes are giving me a headache…
…I was living in San Francisco for a few years experiencing the scene — wait, ok that sounds stupid “experiencing the scene” basically I wasn’t doing a damn thing, just going out a lot. I had a friend who did event and nightlife photography there, we would head out to these weird venues that most people wouldn’t be caught dead in. I remember this one joint had a mirror in it and apparently if you stared into it long enough you would go crazy. I’m positive it was the mixture of ketamine, alcohol and cocaine that was making people see things — oh yeah, might not want to touch that door knob.
I would watch my friend shoot a lot and he would show me things, the basics of photography. One night he wanted to talk to this chick so he handed me his camera and said, “here man go fuck around,” so that’s what I did. We took a look at the pictures that night and I guess we both liked them because the next day I went and bought a camera. It was a Canon Rebel T2i, I shot quite a few shows with that set-up. I would bring along this camera and people would say, “oh you’re a photographer now?” Eventually they got used to seeing me with a camera and now if I don’t have it they’re wondering why.
So that’s what I did for about six months, ran around the city taking pictures here and there. San Francisco is a weird place, most people only know it for its historic landmarks and liberal views. In reality, it’s a seedy, dirty and disjointed place. What makes San Francisco awesome isn’t the city itself but the people, I find them very kind. They’re sort of misfits, loathe Los Angeles but fear New York. In a way they don’t belong anywhere, so they end up there. I love that city and I credit it with the seeds of my style (whatever that turns out to be). But San Francisco isn’t for me, I really belong here, in LA.
I’m sorry I went off on a tangent, I do that from time to time.
You know, there are a few major photographers that inspire me, Nan Goldin certainly comes to mind, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdain and some others but I’m a fan of cinema first. I love movies, I love stories and I love pictures that tell a story. It’s not enough to get a good shot, I want you to feel something. Everyone is a photographer now, what seperates you from the rest is the ability to capture emotion. With that said, I do admire the rawness of New York party photographer Kirill at kirillwashere.com; an evolution of Merlin Bronques’ hipster chic style. In Los Angeles, “Rukes” is a long time trusted veteran in the electronic music scene. His photos are very technical and Caesar Sebastian has an almost haunting dreamlike quality to his shots.
Eventually I’d like to go beyond photography and shooting shows. I’m already dabbling in editorial and fashion, video too. There’s so much out there, I hope I can grab a small piece and make it my own.
I think my friend finished shooting so now it’s my turn. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
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