Inspiration Station

     A lot of my artistic inspiration comes from really weird sources. If you look at my most recent artwork, most of has a eerie, vacant feeling since I'm still working on Ghost Towns but a lot of it isn't very much different. I've always seemed to enjoy being alone with the ocean and my thought. The ocean is pure and its intentions are nothing but good. One of my favorite quotes from film is the fact that the Pacific Ocean has no memory. This is from the great Shawshank Redemption. You may wonder where all this dark inspiration comes from. I was born into a dark world and it is both my blessing and curse. This dark world moves my soul and toward all of the artistic skills I have developed through the past years have moved along with it. The sources I draw inspiration from only move my further into the world of art.

     One of my all time favorite sleeper movie hits is titled Midnight Meat Train. It is a movie derived from the twisted mind of Clive Barker. Drawing from one of his books, the story involves a photographer who investigates missing person cases that happen on the subway around midnight. It is a wonderful story full of blood and guts and an amazing twist at the ending. To this day, I credit this film with pushing me over the edge to pursue photography. Everything that the main character, Leon (played by Bradley Cooper), does during this movie was exactly what I wanted to do. Minus the ending, I wanted to live in his world. I also credit this movie with my obscene obsession with Leica cameras. It was almost like Leon was a secret agent working for himself, uncovering the secret of the Midnight Meat Train.

Leon (Bradley Cooper) going insane from hearing "doors are closing" on the Market-Frankford Line.

     Like the movie says during one of the build up parts, I feel at home when I am at the heart of somewhere. I do my best to stay there and keep shooting. I want to document things like no one ever has before. This is half the reason I started Ghost Towns because nobody has ever captured the shore the way I see it. People build their lives around a 3-4 month period there, but no one cares about what the shore has to offer in the winter. There are people who live there year round and I always wondered how they feel about it. It's such a black and white dichotomy and people say that black and white never exists in real life. The shore burns white hot during the summer months, with people flocking to it and enjoying the summer weather. It also burns to black during September and everything is left behind. Beaches long for the company they shared in the heat of July and the ocean beckons for those who looked for answers during the fading days of August. The ocean may not have a memory, but it longs to give advice to strangers.

      The Ocean is a dear friend of mine. He's always helped me through some rough situations. Through break ups, school problems and even money problems, the ocean always has the right answer. Like a great philosopher, I can always count on him to give me some sort of advice to help me through troubled times. It seems like my bridge over troubled waters, is the troubled waters themselves. The ocean has marvelous power. We've seen it devastate islands and swallow towns and cities whole, reclaiming them for itself. Personally, the most powerful part of the ocean is the feelings that it gives us. Feelings of redemption and forgiveness. Nothing matters to the ocean, you can't offer it money, you can't make it mad and you definitely can't control it. The only thing that ocean asks of you is your company. You can yell and scream at it and it will never scream back or you can sit quietly and listen to it talk to you. The ocean is my biggest source of inspiration and I hope though this philosophic look at this magnificent friend of mine, I hope you can find the peace and serenity you desire at the ocean. 

Eardrum Assault!

     So if you, like the guys in the new Geico commercial, have been living under a rock you probably have already heard of the new poster boy for house music. He goes by the stage name of Deadmau5. He has been producing music since 2006 and is currently one of the most awarded DJ/producer by Beatport. This is somewhat of a strange moniker because mau5 does not consider himself a DJ.

     I started listening to Deadmau5 back in high school. One of my many friends from Jersey told me about this really cool DJ that got his name because he found a dead mouse in his computer. It was ridiculous enough for me to remember the name and I haven't stopped listening to him since. That was back in 2007. It's currently 2011 and mau5 has been hard at work touring, making new music and keeping his fans updated on Facebook.

     Mau5 is one of those artists that you never want to stop listening to. He's got really hard hitting beats, drops that are like a dessert after a great meal and songs that really get stuck in your head. That's all we ever ask for in a musician, music that keeps us begging for more. Hope to see you guys at a future show, if i ever get un-broke.

(All Rights Reserved to their owners: Joel Zimmerman, Drew Ressler)

Living Legends

As many people have become turned on to the works of the famous street artist, Banksy, the more his work has seemed to pop up all over the place. Thanks to a post on his most recent piece in Los Angeles by Bobby Hundreds of The Hundreds I have really started to realize his impact on society and even the world.

Banksy is such a low key guy and many people have no idea what he actually looks like. I think his movie Exit Through The Gift Shop really let us know how he see the world of art and more particularly, street art. His movie involves a pretty complex prank on a personal documentary maker Thierry Guetta giving him the great idea of making his own art and hosting a show. If you have seen the film, you know exactly how it turned out for Thierry and the rest of his career as an artist. 

Banksy makes a statement towards the end of the film that really reflected my personal opinion on any type of art form. He alludes to the fact that many artists spend years training their eye and hands with their chosen medium and begin to establish a style. They practice this style until it comes naturally and it is shown in all of their pieces they present. Thierry seemed to skip all of that and became an artist overnight. 

Banksy pretty much summed up my interpretation of art during present times without me knowing prior to his statement. I feel that many people are just picking up a brush, spraycan, or camera and simply calling themselves artists just because they paint, tag or take photographs. Personally, I don't consider myself an established photographer because I'm still learning. Everyday I challenge myself to learn something new about photography. Whether it's trying different exposures, new and old ways to process film, experimenting with different darkroom techniques, every day is something different. I have begun to develop a certain style but I still find myself breaking that style with new types of art work, so I haven't really found one that fits me perfectly. 

Banksy makes quite a serious point in his movie that was a "roll on the floor" comedy. To all those people calling themselves "photographers" when they really have no right to you can start calling yourselves fauxtographers. Really take some time to decide what it is you are going to do with photography. Are you going to make statements about life or simply just capture stupid pictures that no one really cares about except your friends. Become an artist, not a hobbyist. 

(All Rights Reserved to the Original Image owners: Bobby Hundreds and Thierry Guetta.)

Why We Do This

Lately, my inspiration has been lacking. I just can't think of anything really interesting to photograph around me. I swear one of these days I'm going to just drive until something jumps out at me. Even though my mind has been trying to come up with something for days now, the reason I keep on going is because I know there is something out there. I know that there are photographs waiting and hiding in everyday experience. I know that it's just lurking around the corner waiting for me to discover it. I not only yearn for this moment to capture, I dream about it. I even go to the point where I lose sleep over it.

This video will give you a taste into what photography is for us photographers. Mickey Smith is one of the world's best surfing photographers. His monologue during this insanely epic video almost reads like a poem. It's quite an awe inspiring track to a video that one day I hope to produce. Check it out

It's not easy being a photographer. Your whole life is dedicated to capturing moments that only add up to a few hours. Many people think that if they go buy a nice camera and some nice lenses and a little flash, walk around and take pictures, they become a photographer. My advice to them. Keep the camera you have and write down a list of moments you want to capture. Go out with that camera, capture those moments and don't come home until you are completely satisfied with your work. Once you out grow this little camera move into something more advanced. Buy into a camera system you like and buy all of the glass that you can afford. Lenses make great photographs, not cameras. Remember if you really want to be a photographer, you can never give up.  Try and tell a story with your photographs. Don't just wander out into the world and try and capture "water drops on a leaf" or "people in the city", tell everyone a story. Make people feel what you felt when you pressed the shutter button. Never sell you gear and if you really want to get out of the hobby, introduce someone else to it. Hopefully, they'll find the wonderful friend that I did so long ago.

Look for these designs to hit the streets in early June. All of Your Legends come from Dreams