Soundtrack to my youth

Allow me to take you for a ride in my time machine...
Go back... the year is 1986... High School is about to begin, I'm out of school for the summer, riding my bike around town on Long Island. A few miles to the west, 3 Jewish kids have put together a new album that breaks through the walls of what hip-hop is, and I love it. The album is License to Ill and the Beasite Boys just became a household name and the heroes of NYC. I play the album until I wear it out. I sing all the lyrics, my parents hate it... so I love it all the more.
Now it is 1998, I am a sophomore in High School, boarding school to be exact, in upstate NY. I am in my dorm room, headphones on, blasting Paul's Boutique, learning the lyrics and throwing my arms in the air, mimicking the movements of the boys from Brooklyn. I love "High Plains Drifter", who samples a shot gun cocking? The Beastie Boys, that's who.
Fast forward to 1992...college, I live in Charlotte NC now, mostly known for being a yankee on campus, driving to fast and playing the stereo too loud and Check Your Head is the album that most people hear as I drive by. It's played at parties, in dorms, in the clubs,it is everywhere, it is college to so many people my age. 1994 brings Ill Communication and "Sabotage". My friends and I bang our heads, jump up and slam into each other, having our summer highlighted by the Lollapalooza tour at BlockBuster Pavillion in Charlotte and headlined by the Beastie Boys themselves!
I gaduate college and look for my place in the world, and I am listening to Hello Nasty more than anything else as I try to figure out life after school. It is a cd that I reguraly wear out, swapping it from car to house, to walkman and back again.
The twin towers, symbols of my youth, a place I went on field trips every year in grade school are removed from the landscape of lower Manhattan in 2001. My Mom passes is 2003 and my relationship with NYC comes to a close... enter To the 5 Boroughs and with it my pride of being a New Yorker returns.
This is how the Beastie Boys have been with me all these years. They are a huge part of the soundtrack of my youth, of my life. Thanks to Michelle Moog and the Moog Fondation I had a rare opportunity to hang out with the boys from Brooklyn, shoot images of them in a casual setting with about 10 other people and go to their sold out show in front of a mere 900 people at the Orange Peel. The BBoys agreed to do a ribbon cutting ceremony for the mini-Moogseum installment at the Orange Peel as they are avid Moog equipment users and all around cool guys.
I could go on about the ties I have to these guys and how their music was playing during so many monumental moments in my life...but I wil save you the details. I think you get it.


Money Mark, MCA, Ad Rock, Mike D


Ribbon cutting


The BBoys get their learn on about new Moog equipment


Ad Rock listens to all the fly sounds of the new Moog Guitar


A little style to round out the shoot!

Brooklyn in the House!

Working with a Model

Hello again,

As I realized the many shoots I have done without posting, I am taking some time to post some of my recent work.
I love photography and I am continually looking to add to my portfolio and develop my skills. I do this by branching out of my comfort zone and shooting scenes that I would not have normally shot 6 months or a year ago. Enter Trecy.
Trecy is a friend of a very close friend of mine and a beautiful model. She and I had coffee recently and hit it off immediately! We brainstormed on some shoots we both wanted to do and have started working on that list. The building where I have my studio has a great 1920-40's feel to some aspects of it and Trecy and I decided we would start with a film-noir inspired shoot.
The idea here being a heroine looking for her salvation. She does not know where that is, yet she feels drawn to the door she stands in front of. Some of the shots, she is fearful she is being pursued, others she is confident she is in the right place, yet others she is inviting her hero to join her.
Hope you like the shots, more to come as Trecy and I work on the list of ideas we have.
Cheers,
J

Jessica and Benton

Greetings All,

As life continues to stay busy, I have neglected my blog :( I feel badly about that and I promise not to let it go so long again, I have missed you guys. I have been shooting a lot and have not made the time to post, such a bad blogger I am! I did not want that to be the case with Jessica and Benton's wedding, so here we are, reunited at last!

Jessica and Benton got married at a friend of the family's farm outside of Tryon, NC and could not have picked a better spot. The barn, the fields, the dance barn (yes, dance barn!), the whole pig roasting in the background, cooked by the #1 whole pig cooker in all of Tennessee, 100's of friends and family and blessed by wonderful weather and capped off by a jump in the lake, I don't think there was any way to have a wedding be more perfect. I feel so lucky to have been choosen by this beautiful couple to document their special day. The blessings bestowed by so many freinds and family on the couple were a testament to this couple and their love for one another. Did I mention they are high school sweethearts?!

Jessica and Benton, thanks for having me there to share in the beauty and magic of your union! I look forward to seeing your family grow and being there to capture all the stages of Holden's life.

Here are a couple of shots from the big day! Special thanks to Jessica for being such a wonderful sport and being so excited to shoot the "trash the dress" session by jumping into the lake.
See you all soon!


So much love for one another!


These two are so much fun to be around.


Beautiful Jessica struttin' her stuff! You look great Jessica!


The beautiful family...


This sums it up! Taking the plunge, loving each other, life is good!