Anyhoo, my mom always said do one thing and do it well, and while I never took that advice, Ryan sure did. Cause these are pretty. What were the four assistants for?

sweet outfit

See the whole feature, here.

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This weekend I’ve been shooting some Olympians too. Olympic martini drinkers in the Poconos.

Did I say Poconos? I meant Kokomo.

Also the amazing Grant Cornett came to see us in the Poconos. He brought oysters and indulged me when I demanded nicely asked for an oyster portrait.

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If you want oysters too, check out this oyster happy hour round-up. Or call Grant.

I was trying to make some sort of cute pun with that title, so that we all might know I was talking about the Super Bowl*, but it just turned into an album title. Which is fine, I really like album titles. In fact, the saddest thing about being a non-musical person is that I never get to write lyrics or come up with a band name.

What this post is actually about, is surrealism. Horses where they shouldn’t be, mountains made of sugar.

Let us start with Martha Camarillo’s project, Fletcher Street. I’ve seen these images kicking around before, but I’ve never posted them. But someone was telling me about white stallions in downtown LA the other day and now I have horses-where-they-shouldn’t-be on the mind.

Here’s more about Fletcher Street, from Martha herself:

Horses? In the middle of the ghetto? Surprisingly, yes. They have been here for years, when the African American community thrived in Philadelphia, before drugs and unemployment steadily encompassed healthy neighborhoods and they disintegrated into urban war zones.

Despite it all, the horses have stayed, and they have because of the small, passionate, dedicated group of men determined to reclaim their neighborhood and their children. In this fight, they use the one thing that they know, love and trust, the horses.

*the only reason I wanted to think about the Super Bowl is because I like blue cheese dip.

There is also a book of this work, and a movie to come, too.

Next up in our surrealism trip are Elisabeth Bernstein’s quiet Scapes, which are fabricated, and I think, quite lovely.

You can peruse these in real life, too:

The Wild Project

Opening reception: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 6:00–8:00 p.m.195 East 3rd Street
New York, NY

Ooh, I love made-up landscapes, let’s have more!

These are from Matthew Albanese. And they feel completely different.

I like things that are pink and orange.

ok, the end.

I had a rather momentous weekend. And I tried to take the perfect picture to sum it up, but the darn auto focus on my 50mm f/1.2 didn’t quite do the job. That lens costs more than I’m going to spend on a wedding dress, and it fails me!

Or maybe it was user error.

In any case, I enjoyed making a 35mm still life; I was inspired by Grant Cornett’s work the other day.

Please let me know if you would like to photograph my wedding with a 4×5 camera. I only need like ten good pictures, that’s all I want.

Also- see the whole story of how this went down, over at my new venture with my groomfriend– You Rock, Lobster!

I’m talking about the latest Wrangler ad campaign. It seems these jean-maker people CANNOT GET ENOUGH of the whole Ryan McGinley-we-love-to-be-skinny-and-naked-and-unwashed-and-run-around-canyons aesthetic.

I mean, they loved it when they actually employed McGinley. And then Levis loved it so much that THEY employed McGinley.

But at least McGinley actually in real life runs around naked with skinny girls in canyons, ya know?

But now they have another photographer, Jeff Burton, just copying the same thing. For the record, Jeff does has experience with naked people.

But more abstract, like these from Dreamland, his work from porn sets.

But come on- I mean- this is just a McGinley rip off. Right?

I feel like Burton’s too good a photographer to just allow himself to copy someone else completely.

Also, this is a reeedunculous campaign.

WHAT’S WITH THE RED? Is red sexy?

I guess red water is sexy? She looks so unhappy.

Good lord, there are so many of them.

Ha.  There’s a video. It’s so awesome.

Here’s the team, for those who want to know.

Advertising Agency: Fred & Farid, Paris, France
Executive Creative Director: Fred & Farid
Copywriter / Art Directors: Fred & Farid, Feng Huang
Photographer: Jeff Burton
Photographer Assistant: Rob Hamada
Film editor Yannis Rachid
Agency Supervisor: Fred & Farid, Daniel Dormeyer, Dushan Karageorgevitch, Paola Bersi
Advertiser Supervisors: Giorgio Presca, Dieter Jacobfeuerborn, Alessandro Vigano, Stephano Aimone, Adam Kakembo, Yasemin Akkaya,
Art Buyer: Marie Moulin

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Have an animalistic day. Cause ya know, we’re all animals.

I’ve been saying for a few months that oh yeah that Leica M8 looks okay, but with a $6,000 price tag before you even get to the glass, who needs it. But you know what? I need it. I need it bad.

I found this out when I was looking at Grant Cornett’s pictures the other day. He shoots with the M8 almost exclusively now.

Here’s his rig:

I pulled the pictures of Grant’s that remind me of The Glass Family. Because I’m a huge dork and I love Franny and Zooey.

I feel these two could be Les and Bessie.

Do YOU have an M8? Send us your photos!

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go read yourself some J.D., here.

“The worst thing that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly. ” – JD Salinger