the photography:
so i just started tweeting. i know what you’re going to say, “jeez ian, what a johnny-come-lately. you only started ’cause oprah was doing it”. well, in all honesty, it’s a great way to meet people who might enjoy my photography. and also, it’s a great way to chat with peeps i know across the country. and my wife has been trying to get me to join for something close to a year so… consider it done. you can hit me up at @IDMPhoto if you are so inclined. photos are from brooklyn, some subway station (thanks leigh for being patient), a restaurant cocktail shoot, and brooklyn again (not in that order). this week marks my second trip up to road america and i’m excited to test out some new cars on the track. it will be nice to race around in the smaller cars with powerful engines. it makes me feel much safer than rolling with the big dogs. i’ll post some shots when i get the chance. until then, drive safe.

the music:
um, you should click on the link next to the “currently listening to”. mac book + me + coffee = a goofy looking guy in a cardigan and an 18 year old Pearl Jam shirt.

the photography:
today was great. i spent much of the early morning going from one grocer to the next collecting what we needed for a fancy feast of waffles, fruit salad, (pork) bacon, turkey bacon, banana nut pancakes, syrup, coffee, mimosa’s, and orange juice. it was a feast attended by family and two close friends and their son, it was great to sit and chat and chew the fat over what was sure to be a great beginning to the summer. after noshing and jawing, we walked outside and went strolling up and down lincoln avenue in lincoln square. my father-in-law was on the prowl for copies of the reader (local chicago arts and newspaper) so that he could collect the subway sandwich coupons hidden in each issue. sorry to anyone who picked up a copy at costello’s thinking that they would get $1 off a subway sub. our bad. pics are from the subsequent walk and hang out. check the us weekly reading affair as well. quite splendid.

the music:
i just picked up this EP for this song alone. it’s layered voices that may not sound much like anything new or ground breaking but justin does us all one better (eat it lil wayne). mr. vernon adds auto tuner to ever single voice as if he were a lost hip hop producer in search of the next best track for an atlanta mix tape. it is so well done that i can’t stop listening to it. it’s divine (as in it belongs in a church).

the photography:

Portrait #14 is michael

michael was kind enough to sit and chat with me today for a spell as we pondered such things as “stooping it” in kentucky, the gentrification of brooklyn, my father’s high school alma mater, my mother’s stint of living in the east village in 1968, the 2009 South by Southwest Multimedia Festival, raising kids in our neighborhood, and of course, everybody’s favorite topic, work. michael is a photographer in his own right and we chatted about film and darkrooms and the such. it’s nice to have people around who you can relate to when it comes to hobbies. it turns out that portrait #7 has known portrait #14 since 1993. small world eh?! well, for this midwest photojournalist, it’s really not that small. especially in the circles i have been running in recently. with the decline of the industry that i cover, people are dropping like flies. every day another email goes out about who is where and why and how and who isn’t around anymore. it’s sad. but to work with such a good group of peeps is great. and fun. SIDE NOTE: a new dawn has broken over IDMPhotography. hades hath turned to hoth and i have joined twitter. @IDMPhoto for those in the know. follow me if you would like to.

the music:
it’s been almost twenty years since nirvana cracked me over the head. i first bought this tape in eight grade, listened to it until i broke it, bought it again. this song starts off the second side of the record (if you bought it on vinyl or tape) and i always took it as a call to arms. with it’s first lines stolen from a youngbloods tune, this track is just so steeped in distortion and crunch that it chills me to the bone. “just because you’re paranoid,
don’t mean they’re not after you”. true kurt, true. i’m gonna always love this record for the time and the place. it truly is a great listen.

the photography:
in sonoma county in northern california, things seem to slow to a crawl. the pace of living, the time spent pondering, the moments spent doing, they all seem to slow down to half speed. when you spend much of your time in a city, soaking up the noise, the people, the movement, you start to forget what the country is really like. i remember the first time i spent a night in the woods of wisconsin where i found it too quiet to sleep. too quiet. ridiculous. driving through the southern tip of the redwood forests and watching the ocean rise below you as you wind down a rolling hill, it’s truly spectacular. it’s trips like this that i need to make twice. one to photograph my surroundings and the other to enjoy them. here’s six from the ocean and the dry creek valley. both beautiful, both close in geography and distance but both completely different.

the music:
this is probably the prettiest song written by my generation. justin is an artist who sets the highest of standards for his craft. it’s beautiful and honest. if you haven’t heard this song, you have been doing a disservice to justin vernon and the music public at large. go on, go buy it. it’s breathe taking.