the photography:
in these post-film photography years, actors, writers, artists, musicians, businessmen, professionals, public speakers, chefs, and anyone who does something (almost any job me thinks) for a living will inevitably need a professional photograph of their face. with the death of film and the price of quality digital cameras at an all-time low, the need for a head shot is easily remedied. someone you know, somewhere, owns a digital SLR camera and remarkably, you will be able to exchange very little money in return documentation of your person from your belly button to the top of your head.

now i’m not putting down amateur photographers for wanting a piece of the professional pie, hell, i started out doing exactly that. in fact, you must start somewhere and practice makes perfect in this world when it comes to a trade. and there is very little that is new when it comes to portraits. for years and years, people have been documenting themselves for future generations to ogle at and revere over drinks and food. in 1809, you sat for a painter for hours (maybe even days) at a time. in 1909, you held yourself still for 15 seconds or more without blinking so a photographer could capture your image in silver and chemicals.

these portraits are the new proof of life, the artifact to be found by future generations, the art on the wall of a collapsing building on fire. portrait photographs are the new form of existence past death. in 60 years, these photos are the pages that will be thumbed through and purchased at thrift stores and second hand marts across the country; your headshot, your portrait, your memory, your legacy.

but that’s already happening now, right? you go into a thrift store and you can find a dozen old photographs in broken frames, of family members, lost grand parents, and posing great great grandmas in their ugly 1930′s sweaters. but what happens with our generation? you know what they are gonna find? that’s right. our facebook photos. wasted snapshots of how many tequila shots you took on your 27th birthday and hazy moments where your friend captured you checking out that girl’s bosom at that party back in 07. oh yeah. that’s what people will find when we go. oh lord i hope that’s not all they find. let’s make sure we leave our ancestors some good photos no? your grand children might thank us. go get your photo taken by someone, for serious’s sake. and don’t put bunny ears up. don’t wear a shitty sweater. go and make these few shots count. you can save the stupid photos and poses for your next wedding reception.

photos are of two writers, one filmmaker, two actors, two musicians, one new father, and one rather fantastic chef. i love portraits. i love trying to tell a story. i love feeling emotion from people i don’t know. i could study faces for hours. and sometimes i do just that.

the music:
“went to your house this morning, it was a little after nine, could have been the willie nelson, could have been the wine”. gordon downie is known more for his edie brickell meets joe cocker style of spastic dancing than he is for his intriguing and incredibly legible lyrics. downie supposedly has a photographic memory when it comes to conversations and quotes. his lyrics tell incredible stories because of the snippets he remembers from life. we try to create dialogue with our work, he reaches back and reproduces it. no wonder their songs sound so familiar. i really have the biggest love for this band. they are one of the pop-ier bands to grace my catalog but they deserve it. no pulling indie-cred punches here, these guys are canadian and way older than me. listen to them if you like your rock to be rolling with stories to be told and as many hockey references as possible.

the photography:

Portrait #30 is Lauri

lauri is one in a million. she is a wonderful conundrum of sorts (professionally speaking), the kind that can only manifest itself in the modern world of multiple careers, job jockeying, and with a market that is keen on hiring as many creative people as possible. she’s a writer, a photographer, a politically charged painter (on the humor fights fear fights humor side), a lawyer law school grad (by schooling) (my bad!), freelancing coordinator, and according to a biography from the real hot 100 issue of 2007 she’s lived a thousand lives. before tuesday, lauri and i had never met. i guess you could say that i remedied that situation by asking if she’d join the 50 Portraits Project crusade. she said yes. turns out she’s done stuff like this before.

there is something uniquely endearing about small town people who live and create art in the city. escapism is nothing new to the world of literary genius but to those of us who grew up in rural areas, the urban sprawl is something to behold, to digest, to explore, to interrogate, and to investigate. lauri does this on hundreds of different levels with her art, her writing, and her genuine (and i mean it) interest in the lives of everyone around her. it took ten minutes of conversation to catch the documentary bug from lauri.

lessons learned from my experience with lauri? easy: 1. go out and learn, document, photograph, speak with, engage, walk, run, look; and 2. do it all within the world around you that you have yet to explore. i really like that. there are few interactions that are better than meeting people who make you want to get out of you chair, grab your camera, and run out to the closest ‘ren fair’. i reacted exactly that way to lauri.

did i mention that lauri has a couple of websites? i didn’t? well, here they are. and they are awesome. Found Clothing (take the time, read it, it rules), The Trendpiece Factory (art for laughing, art for sale, art for art), and here’s a link to her most recent stuff at the Chicagoist.

the first couple of photos were taken at the Bleeding Heart Bakery (a fantastic place indeed, check it out if you are in Lakeview) and the rest were snapped in the surrounding area. again, sitting tight with the fixed 28mm f1.8. fun. bike shots are an homage to Candy Cane Sammy and his tall bike in my alley way (my goodness that sounds racy). there’s lots of color in these photos, that’s something that i love. lots’a color.

the music:

in the fall 1995, my high school ska band was holding court as the only ska band in vermont (a title quickly sent down the tubes by many other bands that popped up, most notably, Una-Panoona-Ska-ka-Poleeta from montpelier) and as the local jazz fest placed the Skatalites upon the main stage at the end of church street in downtown burlington, this english beat tape was stuck in the dash of my maroon 1988 buick century. by 1998, ska had become such a passing phase as dozens of craptastic bands dragged the genre through the mud (i’m sorry but no doubt sucked and so did most of the sublime catalog). so it comes as no surprise to me that when people say ska, i think of the early eighties and i think of england and i think of these bad boys. who cares what the lyrics are about, feel that bass, rock those horns, kick that upstroke guitar… pick it up pick it up pick it up.

the photography:

Portrait #28 is Joel | Portrait #29 is Elizabeth

kickball shall bring-ith us together-ith. that’s pretty much the mantra that i followed for a while back in 2007. that’s when i met joel. it’s also how i subsequently met elizabeth but i don’t really remember it that well. either way, they were both kind enough to tag along for some logan square photography complete with a 2 block radius sweep of the CTA blueline stop.

joel is a kindred soul. i knew this already but after further discussion, we realized that we each have significant ties to the upper peninsula of michigan and that we both enjoy the same humor and intellectual stimuli. amazingly, we have lived with the same roommate albeit in two different parts of the country and at least 5 years in between the two apartments. funny how life works like that? friends bring friends together in the oddest of ways.

and that is also how i met elizabeth. she’s from the same suburban chicago-land town as joel but they were enough apart in years to not know each other from school. it’s all about how you use your six degrees. the reason i asked joel to be a part of this project was because he is a reader of the blog and he owns this fantastic leather jacket. i told him to bring it with him. elizabeth noticed that joel was being photographed and wanted in. my philosophy? the more the merrier. and she was smashing. it helps when your subjects are comfortable with each other. awkward moments caught on film? we save that for facebook. they do make a pretty pair, don’t they?!

photos again are with the 28mm f1.8. it just makes things right in the world. i’m gonna get the 50mm fixed, someday. numerical order = chronological order = story telling w/out editing.

the music:
i started a thread on twitter the other day that centered around nerf herder lyrics. my friend dixie picked up on it quickly and we have been going strong for a few days now. it’s been cracking me up the entire time. who knew that some fleeting frat-punk band could last the years and make some inspiring songs for the world to hunger over? the song van halen was my introduction to nerf herder. pantera fans in love is where i pee my pants. “i bought van halen I it was the best damn record i ever owned…”

the photography:
at the end of this week i realized how slacker i have really been with posting photos and, ABOVE ALL ELSE, taking photos. so in a flourish of productivity i have secured four new 50PP portrait sessions and i am about to email three more. it feels good to be productive.

do you know what else feels good? going to your local farmer’s market and purchasing fresh produce for which to make the summer’s first crock-pot chili. i am so stoked. walking around evanston’s farmer’s market is always a blast as i know i will be able to sample some fresh fruit, some fresh bread, possibly a nibble of some pickles, and my very favorite – a taste of some of the local jams. if the day is rainy, we’ll usually follow it up with a feature film or some thai. today, the ladies decided it was mani/pedi time and took off. me, i headed home to secure some computer time uninterrupted. win-win.

photos are with the fixed 28mm. still sitting pretty in my #1 spot as fave lens right now. so photojournalistic in nature, and so fast and easy to use. it also is compact and doesn’t get in the way of grocery hauling. daddy’s got to carry what daddy’s got to carry.

the music:
“goodbye mr. good humor, now i’m just a joke”. this is, by far, some of bob nanna’s finest and most heartfelt lyrical work. this song hits so close to home as the subject is coming to grips with his ability to do day-to-day tasks. i too wish that some days i could just “howard hughes” myself in the house and stay in the comforts of what i know and can control. i remember hearing this song early on in college and i remember how it related to my own thought process surrounding self-esteem. big ups to bob for putting it into words. this song picks me up every time.