Good Ideas, Bad Ideas and the Economy...

OK... to be honest, the images below are just a loosely related vehicle to get you to read the following excerpt a friend and colleague forwarded to me. The images are meant to illustrate "Good Ideas vs Bad Ideas"...in this case, good and bad ideas about dealing with current economic news. Kevin, a close friend and the subject in these photos, will admit to having lots of both (good and bad ideas, that is... although given the photographic proof, he'd be hard pressed to deny it, wouldn't he?).

The original article was printed in New York magazine and titled "Pessimism Porn". The excerpt below was written by Gordon Kaye, commenting on the aforementioned article, and published in Graphic Design USA. I think the advertising/photography industry would be wise to follow Gordon's advise.

"New York Magazine recently published a brilliant article called "Pessimism Porn", capturing the growing national obsession with surfing the net, lusting after bad economic news. Everyone has their favorite source to satisfy the not-so-secret desire to ogle market volatility, mass layoffs, salary cuts, home foreclosures, plant closings, tax cheats, Ponzi schemes, celebrity bankruptcies, and the like. It hurts so good, and I am as addicted as anyone. In recent days, though, a nagging doubt arises: Could it be that pessimism porn is not merely a guilty pleasure, but an affirmative cause of economic pain? Remember, this is the first recession played out in a totally plugged in, completely connected, 24/7 new cycle age, and the flood of information is as unprecedented as it is overwhelming. Before writing this idea off as crazy talk, consider that our collective fetish for finding and spreading negative news accelerates panic and uncertainty, undermines confidence and blunts action. It is not a healthy pattern for self or society, and I want out. So here is my plan: Avoid business news as much as possible. Resist the temptation to gossip (even if yet another Cabinet member turns out to owe back taxes). Take cold showers as needed. Find at least one bit of good economic news every day and share it with a friend, colleague or loved one."

Amen to that!... OK, so here's some good economic news... the "Beer of the Month Club" has at least one new subscriber. So all of you potential clients saving your "photo dollars" for a rainy day... open up those wallets... we can celebrate a successful shoot afterwards with some cold beer.

Just A Good Ole' Boy...

I was recently on a shoot for the Algonquin Hotel in NYC. It's a cool, boutique hotel with a lot of history. It's only a few blocks from John's Pizza, which in and of itself made it a great shoot. Free cocktails in the hotel lounge didn't hurt matters.

Last minute, we were asked by the hotel to shoot a portrait of one of their upcoming entertainers... Tom Wopat. Holy Mopar!... LUKE DUKE!!! This was awesome! I grew up in the 80's... I'm a much bigger fan of Tom Wopat than Tom Cruise.

To give Tom his due, his role as Luke is probably the least impressive line on his resume. His credits also include a tour in the US Marines, a stint as a boxer, a Tony nomination, 8 albums and countless Broadway performances. He also happens to be a really, really nice guy. Lastly, at 57, he looks like he could still slide across the hood of a '69 Charger with little effort... and has a full head of hair (Bastard!).

All this having been said, I got to do something that Boss Hogg and Rosco P. Coltrane never did in six years of trying. Yup... I shot a Duke boy.

How do you keep a Creative Director happy?

Well, I guess as a photographer I'm supposed to say stuff like, "team player", or "no problem", or "Extra shot?... Sure we have time for an extra shot." In addition, good production capabilities, fantastic crews, good caterers, etc. are all key. It also doesn't hurt, occasionally, to pop off a great shot or two... or slightly more than occasionally if you're looking for repeat business.

However, I found that stashing a bottle of great bourbon, a box of shortbread cookies and a bar of chocolate in the car, can come in mighty handy when looking to keep a Creative Director happy. I found this out completely by accident... but am happy to share.

Holy Fathead!!!

Wow... the disadvantage of being behind the camera, is you rarely get to see photos of yourself. I took this shot of myself with my arm extended (I'm the guy on the left) while on a shoot in Newport Beach. Looking at it now, I can't believe how fat my head is! I never used to be this fat... when did it happen? Why did I not notice it when looking in the mirror? Holy shit!

One of my favorite TV shows is Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. He's the guy that eats lips and assholes for our viewing pleasure. I love this show, and my resemblance to him did not escape me as I watched him chow down on bugs and chicken uterus. However, when watching, I always thought to myself... "Sure, we look alike... but man does he have a fat head!". Now, putting our photos together, I make him look downright anorexic. He needs to eat a truckload of toe jam and rotting melon to get a head as fat as mine!

Time for a diet.

La La Land...

We did a shoot in LA this summer.  That's about as much as I can say about that.  I can't tell you who it was for and I can't show you any samples.  The product hasn't come out yet and the company would own my house if I say anything, much less show you a photo.  I can show you how many people it took to make the shoot happen.  Everyone sure seems excited... you're gonna love this thing!

While in LA, James (my right hand man), found something I hadn't seen before... and quickly made a withdrawal.  The interest charges are killing him.

Weird Places...

Have you ever wondered where the materials for Bon Ami cleansers came from.  Frankly, neither did I.  But I did find out sorta by accident.  I'm enamoured with weird places.  Take me to some bizarre attraction in the middle of nowhere and I'm a happy man.  So when I heard of this place in Grafton, NH called Ruggle's Mine, I had to check it out.  And I dragged my poor family with me ala Clark Griswald, sans the family truckster.  Come to find out, Bon Ami owned the mine a hundred+ years ago, converting the minerals to an abrasive powder our grandmothers probably used on their cast iron pots and pans.  OK... so now it's just a giant hole in the ground, but how was I to know until I got there and paid my $26?   

However, the drive to this mountaintop crater was as quirky as they come.  At one point, we drove through the town of Danbury.  My wife pointed out the window to a sign reading, "The Village Whittler" in front of a ramshackle hut.  Yup... the town has a village whittler.  How can you not stop at a place like this?  My wife, determined to buy some of whatever the Village Whittler was selling, made me run through the pouring rain to see if anyone was in.  There I found a small photograph of James Walter Whitford, The Village Whittler of Danbury, NH. Underneath, a sign reading, "December 3rd, 1926- July 27th, 2008"... apparently, we just missed him.  

Seeing how this works...

Ok, it's been 8 minutes since my first post.  But I wanted to see if I could manage to get some photos on here... give you something to look at.

As I mentioned, I'm from New England.  I grew up in a small town on the MA/NH border.  We still spend the summers there on Cobbetts Pond.  Here's a shot of my son piloting the Boat-det VI (yes... it's a pile of junk, but it starts on the first pull and still floats... and it's been paid for a looooong time!).

OK... one more for good measure.  Here's Cooper smoking a cigar with me.  We love doing stuff together!  (In the interest of full disclosure, that was my cigar and the shot was entirely staged... although he did have to take a puff for the shot.   Don't worry, I gave him a few sips of my beer to get the nasty taste out of his mouth... I'm not all bad.)