A Bucket of Ashes

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED!

2011-07-11T15:08:00.002-04:00

To see current projects and portfolios please visit my new blog HERE.

Endings & Beginnings

2010-11-05T23:01:00.004-04:00

Haridwar, INDIA

2010-04-16T15:40:00.012-04:00

all photos © Michael T Regan Photography

On a journey through India I spent a night in the sacred town of Haridwar. I came across this piece about Haridwar in the New York Times and it brought me back to the amazing spiritual scene.

"HARIDWAR, India — Over the bridge they came, Hindu holy men by the tens of thousands, the most devout naked and dusted with sacramental powder, marching toward the bathing pool in the Ganges where the water is considered holiest on this most propitious of days." MORE

In A Strange Place (#1)

2010-03-08T20:07:00.013-05:00

all photos © Michael T Regan Photography 2010

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash (1932-2007)

2010-02-26T17:25:00.011-05:00

I'm constantly baffled by the amazing work that the late Johnny Cash produced with Rick Rubin. The music is stripped down, bare, raw, emotional, naked expressionism recorded with minimal technology. Today, on his 78th birthday, the sixth and final installment of the American Recordings was released: American Recordings VI: Ain't No Grave.

NPR.com has an interview with Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin that Terry Gross did in 1997 accessible here (hat tip to Phawker's continuous NPR coverage "NPR for the deaf, we hear it even when you can't").

Inside Dr. Barnes' Museum

2010-02-26T14:58:00.011-05:00

The Barnes Museum © Michael T Regan Photography 2003

Don Argott's new documentary on The Barnes fiasco, "The Art Of The Steal," is creating waves in the art world. The location in Lower Merion envisioned by Dr. Barnes was an amazing museum to experience. Granted, it will be more accessible on The Ben Franklin Parkway, but venturing off the beaten path to spend a winters day photographing the galleries inside the Museum is an assignment I'm happy to have had. The physical space and its beautiful surroundings represented a unique museum going experience. Henri Rousseau's "Unpleassant Surprise" is the large piece featured in the room pictured above (left wall).

City Paper cover Illustration © Evan Lopez

• Film critic Sam Adams penned a cover story on the issues surrounding the conflict in this week's Philadelphia City Paper (with a great cover illustration by Evan Lopez).

• In Los Angeles, there's a free screening at LACMA (hat tip to We Can Shoot Too for covering the uniquely Philadelphia story.)

Tuesday, March 9 at 7:30 pm
Bing Theater at LACMA 5905 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90036
Free Admission

Lola.

2010-02-25T16:12:00.007-05:00

a

a

And The Award Goes To: Phil Roy

2010-01-28T13:54:00.012-05:00

Album Cover, In The Weird Small Hours © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

The 9th annual Independent Music Awards were released this week and Phil Roy's "In The Weird Small Hours" won concept album of the year. Inspired by Sinatra's "In The Wee Small Hours," Phil covered Radiohead, Elliot Smith, Conor Oberst, Eels and other influential artists. I've written about my collaborations with Phil before. However, I feel the need to add something: He did it himself. No label backed him, no contract forced him, no radio station promoted him, no publicist announced him and no magazine/newspaper wrote about the album. Whether you like the music or not, its wonderful to see an individual tackle the artistic and financial mountains alone...and come away with some much deserved recognition. So buy the album here and give Phil a call. He doesn't facebook, tweet, IM, blog, chat, or text. He takes phone calls. And his number will soon be listed on his website along with his hours of availability. Thanks Phil for trusting me to conceive the album art, shoot film with my Leica, edit the contacts and design the photo layouts. I forgive you for yelling at me when I touched your guitar at 3am after a long shoot. More about the IMA's:

"The Winners in more than 50 album, song, music video and design categories culled from thousands of submissions from around the globe, were determined by a panel of 80 influential artists and industry pros including Tom Waits, The Black Keys, Ricky Skaggs, Pete Wentz, Mark Hoppus, Aimee Mann, The Apples in Stereo, David Garrett, Suzanne Vega, Bettye LaVette, Judy Collins, Zooey Deschanel and
M. Ward."

opening spread

back panel

compact disc

Mose Allison

2010-01-27T16:13:00.000-05:00

photographs © Michael T Regan Photography 2010

83 year-old Mose Allison performing live in Los Angeles at Largo, January 16th, 2010.

• Mose John Allison Jr. was born in 1927 in Tippo, Mississippi, a cotton town in the Mississippi delta. By the time Mose was in grade school he was already composing boogie woogie tunes on the piano. His father, a piano stride player himself, encouraged the young Mose in his playing but also taught him the meaning of "work on the farm." Mose plowed cotton with a mule and said once that he is probably one of the few remaining living bluesman who can honestly make that claim. He grew up where "The blues was in the air." While still in his teens Mose was sitting in with R and B bands on Memphis’s famed musical mecca Beale Street. One of those bands was led by another teenage bluesman, Beale Street Boy, better known as B. B. King. It was a full decade before SUN Records discovery of Elvis Presley. In the 1940’s in the deep south it was not yet socially acceptable for races to mix in public places. When it comes to music Mose says, "I just followed my ears." MORE

Weathervane Music Burns Forward

2010-01-26T15:23:00.019-05:00

Brian McTear © Michael T Regan Photography

Brian McTear (pictured), whom I've had the honor of working with numerous times for photo shoots and video work, is doing amazing things for music and musicians. His brainchild, Weathervane Music Organization, was launched last year to support the creation of independent music in today's turbulent music industry.

Today Weathervane announced "Shaking Through" a partnership with 88.5 WXPN in Philadelphia. The first artist to participate is Sharon Von Etten. Her song "Love More" is a beautiful ballad filled with drawn out sounds, minimal percussion and two part harmonies.

'Shaking Through' is a curated series of audio and video recordings featuring our favorite independent artists, their music, and artfully produced video of the recording sessions that went into making that music. Each selected artist has the opportunity to record a new song in a high-end studio with noted engineers and producers. The sessions take place over two days including the recording, mixing and video. The process is shot with cinematic flair in HD video, giving the audience an exciting and intimate window on the artist's process, and giving the artist a powerful showcase for their artistic vision. 'Shaking Through" is a collaborative effort of Weathervane Music and WXPN radio in Philadelphia.

Shaking Through: Sharon Van Etten from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Amboy, California

2010-01-22T15:43:00.003-05:00

Album Art: Tom Waits "Glitter & Doom"

2010-01-15T14:46:00.012-05:00

CD three panel opening spread

In this modern era of a dying music industry model, its inspiring to see labels valuing top notch design. Last month ANTI- records released the new Tom Waits live lp featuring five photographs I took at Tom's show in Columbus, Ohio. They've signed Philly artists the likes of Alec Ounsworth, Dr.Dog and Man Man, all of which I'm honored to have photographed in Philly at some point. A label located in LA, with its ear to the Philly pavement, investing in great design? A breath of fresh air.

CD booklet

LP Gatefold

a

The PRIMER Shoot

2010-01-08T14:23:00.022-05:00

;

Photographs © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

Artists should focus on making great work. I didn't pursue a life in photography because I had a burning desire for marketing and self-promotion. I'd rather put the energy towards making great work, not convincing people the work is great. Enter PRIMER.

Brian Isserman and Lawrence O'Toole are the creative visionaries behind the boutique design agency PRIMER Inc. Their creative input and insightful solutions are geared towards helping people push their business forward. When I approached them about marketing strategies, they came back with a litany of ideas to help me push my work in front of the people who need to see it. They created a new portfolio, designed leave behind cards and orchestrated a three-part campaign to generate buzz. All of which I could never accomplish on my own. If you're like me and you need creative people to help you push yourself forward, hit 'em up HERE, you won't be disappointed.

This shoot with Brian & Lawrence took place at two different locations in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. We had a beautiful fall day, assistance from fashion photographer Russell Underwood, a car full of equipment, a trunk of props and a 1963 Mercury Meteor.

Ace Frehley, LA Nokia Theatre

2009-11-06T15:03:00.013-05:00

6

Opening for Alice Cooper's Halloween Ball, Ace Frehley's band donned the famous "Space Man" face paint for the first time. Gene Simmons owns the KISS characters, so Ace is legally prohibited from rockin' the guitar shredding character he created. His band, however, is a different story. Make-up artist Kristin Martin did a great job replicating The Space Man. I never appreciated the fact that the band applied their own make up before every KISS concert themselves, a two hour proccess. Even if you hate the music, you gotta respect the dedication.

ACE BIO: "Known as the "Celestial One", "Mr. Excitement" or simply to the legions of KISS fans as the Spaceman, Ace Frehley with his impressive lead guitar riffs and stinging vibrato has been a major influence on rock guitar for over two decades. Artists such as Pantera's Dimebag Darrel, and Skid Row have named him as in influence. Ace also creates excitement onstage with his spaceman persona with his 6 foot , one inch, 175 lb frame staggering around the stage, his knees bent, and his back arched, totally aloof from his surroundings. He is of course also known for his stage theatrics, which include the burning guitar during his solo which is then put on a wire and sent up into the air, and then he gets another guitar with a rocket launcher and shoots rockets.

Offstage, Ace Frehley is quiet and keeps to himself, but however has had a long battle with alcohol and other substances but is now healthy. His current interests are computers, science fiction ( his interest in science fiction inspired his Spaceman persona), and reading about the International Space Station. A beloved member of KISS due to the fact that he has come from humble beginnings, to make it big in one of the greatest rock bands in the world." MORE

Kiss playing Cadillac High School in Cadillac Michigan, 1975. They literally took over the town with a parade and painted the local dignitaries.

The quiet side of Ace Frehley, backstage interview during the 1996 KISS reunion tour

On Assignment, Texas Hill Country

2009-10-31T17:11:00.020-04:00

While driving across the country en route to Los Angeles, I stopped in Texas for a three day shoot with friend and filmmaker Chandler Kauffman. Philadelphia Magazine asked me to document the culinary journey of Michael Solomonov, Steve Cook and Erin O'Shea (and The Percy Street Restaurant team) as they tasted BBQ throughout the Hill Country, prior to opening their new spot in Philadelphia. The experience included every kind of meat, smoked every different way, roughly five times a day with Shiner Bock beer. We didn't see a vegetable for three days.

Philadelphia Magazine rarely runs photo essays but they published the story in three double truck spreads for the November issue. Click on the well designed spreads below to see enlarged versions. Read Food Editor Ashley Primis' account of the journey HERE.

Check out Chandler's documentary below shot with a mix of HD Video and Super 8mm film.

Percy Street BBQ documentary from Chandler Kauffman on Vimeo.

Phil Roy: In The Weird Small Hours LP

2009-09-24T13:52:00.013-04:00

Phil Roy, In The Weird Small Hours LP cover, © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

I first shot Phil Roy for Decca Records, prior to the release of Phil's album The Great Longing. Phil's successful songwriting career includes working with some of music's greatest soul/R&B singers, such as Ray Charles and Aaron Neville. Recently, Phil asked me to collaborate on the album art for his newest release In The Weird Small Hours, inspired by the classic Sinatra album In The Wee Small Hours. Phil covers Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Connor Oberst Terrence Trent D'Arby (among others) and presents the work through his own interpretations. I must say, his version of Radiohead's All I Need is wonderfully brooding/melodic with a haunting brass sound.

Phil Roy, In The Weird Small Hours album art © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

I'm not a huge Sinatra fan and I didn't have knowledge of the album art, but I visualized Phil in a barren field under a street light. I didn't want to over light the scene or add uneccessary props. Our goal was to express the mood of the music. After doing research on the Sinatra album I was struck by the cover image of Frank alone of a sidewalk at night with street lights receding into the background. It took a bit of convincing for Phil to come on board with the idea (as well as numerous reminders that his other whimsical ideas weren't really up to par..like the flaming marshmellow for instance...) but he's thrilled with the package and I hope the album gets the respect it deserves. Besides the cover image, there's a two panel horizontal image inside as well as a square panel with a portrait. The CD is printed with a long exposure of the empty street at night. BUY A COPY OF THE ALBUM HERE.

About Sinatra's Album In The Wee Small Hours:

Wikipedia: " The album was his first full 12-inch LP, and more importantly it contained a set of songs specifically recorded for the album, which had not always been true of his previous 10-inch records; further, albums at the time were generally randomly compiled collections of a performer's hits rather than deliberately sequenced and selected. In the Wee Small Hours used only ballads, organized around a central mood of late-night isolation and aching lost love (supposedly due to his separation from Ava Gardner). The sequence is triggered by the morose opening title track, which had just been written, and then is followed up by a selection of pop standards, each effectively arranged in a restrained, mellow manner, either for a small ensemble or brooding strings (often highlighted by woodwinds or a celesta.) The album cover, now considered a classic, directly reinforced the overall theme, featuring a pensive Sinatra set against the backdrop of a deserted and eerie night-time streetscape."

Phil Roy photographed for Decca Records, © Michael T Regan Photography 2008

Tom Waits Live LP

2009-09-18T13:16:00.014-04:00

a

It's official, Tom Waits has chosen five of my photographs to appear on the live album he's releasing this fall. Tom Waits: Glitter & Doom Live is a collection of songs taken from his recent tour through the US and Europe. ANTI- records has informed me that one of the images will run as a full 12" panel on the inside of the gate fold LP jacket.

This is an innocent dream. Tom Waits has had a huge effect on my creative development. I discovered the music he recorded on Asylum records in the darker years of my early twenties and he's been with me ever since. In June of '08 I traveled to Columbus, Ohio to photograph his performance. The work was published on Phawker, the excellent blog run by knowledgeable music journalist Jonathan Valania, with an essay by the inimitable Jonathan Michals. The essays on Tom Waits penned by Valania have appeared in Magnet Magazine as well as Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader, with a foreward by Frank Black.

As a collector of his vinyl LP's, being included in the history of creative album photography from 1971 - the present is a tremendous honor. I'll post more information when I can disclose the details of the album. If you haven't seen Tom's creative press conference revealing his tour, check it out below, its worth the three minutes.

a

Alec Ounsworth

2009-09-11T16:07:00.014-04:00

Deep exhale. Spent the last month moving west to Los Angeles. 'Twas a great journey that I'll share when the film is processed and the work is ready. In brief, I drove through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California with friend and filmmaker Chandler Kauffman. I have a new body of work to sift through and some exciting projects in the works.

Recently, I photographed philly native Alec Ounsworth of "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah" notoriety for two new albums being released this fall. In June he recorded his debut album in New Orleans: "Alec Ounsworth: Mo Beauty." Drummer Stanton Moore from Galactic and legendary bass player George Porter both play on the album. It's soon to be released on ANTI- records. Check it out HERE (and that damn photographer credited on the links to the left) Alec's other album "Flashy Python: Skin & Bones" was recorded with members of Dr. Dog, Man Man and The Walkmen. Listen to a track HERE.

We collaborated on two shoots for his new projects and for ANTI- records. Alec hates to be photographed. He's an artists artist with no interest in the circus games surrounding today's climate of music making. He understands and respects the way I work so we were able to break down the walls and make work with a level of intimacy that conveys the music.

On assignment, shooting personal

2009-08-04T20:33:00.010-04:00

Photographs © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

Savoire Vivre, a barge located in Dijon on the Burgundy canal, is the brainchild of a childhood friend I hadn't seen in thirteen years. I traveled to Dijon (later to Paris) and photographed the boat in action for marketing/web imagery. The job was shot in color but I carried my leica all the while. It can be quite challenge to see through different sensibilities in a single journey, but I feel its part of the challenge if you desire to make photographs for money and photographs for art.

Amanda Blank

2009-08-03T12:22:00.013-04:00

Long time no post. Sorry for the absence. It's been a summer of packing and sifting as we prepare to start fresh in Los Angeles later this month. New landscape, new culture, new colors, new adventures. A fitting end to my Philly City Paper run is this recent shoot with Amanda Blank. City Paper Art Director Reseca Glasser and designer Carrie South did a great job putting the package together. As the world moves to the web, graphic design has taken a major hit. All newspapers and magazines should have links to the original pages on their websites. It would bring an authentic vision to their respective websites.

Amanda was wonderful to work with. She's out touring the world with Santigold and spreading her unique blend of hip-hop/rock/pop badass girl power. Drew Lazor posted a behind-the-scenes look at our shoot on City paper's blog. Check it out here.

Check out Amanda's music here.

Night Sky

2009-06-30T21:07:00.002-04:00

Two Pairs

2009-06-24T16:29:00.003-04:00

photographs © Michael T Regan Photography, 2005

Dionte Christmas, the Philly B-Ball star hopin' for the NBA

2009-06-23T10:11:00.013-04:00

photographs © Michael T Regan Photography, 2009

While I continue to work on a series of portraits that won't be published until the fall and aren't "blogable" at the moment, I stumbled upon this enjoyable shoot that I can share. I recently photographed NBA prospect Dionte Christmas, Temple's sharp shooting guard who led the A-10 in scoring for three straight years. James Beale explores Dionte's story going all the way back to when he couldn't make the team as a youngster. Read it in City Paper HERE. He showed up an hour late and his phone went straight to voicemail which left me wondering if this was going to be one of those shoots. He was humble and very respectful towards the photographic process. Athletes can be a mixed bag. Dionte, however, was accommodating to numerous ideas and excited to collaborate. It's inspiring to work with people who understand the value in what you do. The only strange moment came in the beginning when he called me "sir." I felt like turning around and looking behind me. Sir? I thanked him for the formalities but told him I prefer "Michael." He smiled and we got to work.

"Now, back in McGonigle Hall, Christmas keeps rising up and the shots keep falling down. If this skill impresses the right team and he ends up a first-round pick, great. If he doesn't (and he might not), he could end up playing for a minor league team or overseas in Europe.

For Dionte, you don't get the feeling that would be the end of the world. He'll have a degree, his family and the opportunity to make good money playing basketball somewhere. This is an opportunity he seems to appreciate. Christmas signs countless autographs after Temple home games because he remembers how seeing pros motivated him when he was young. And instead of wearing some cocky number on his back — say, 23 — he wears his 22 to honor Aaron Whitaker, a late friend of his who urged him to enroll at Temple. For Christmas, being a professional basketball player is a cool possibility, rather than a foregone conclusion or a fatalistic only hope"

Weathervane Music: East Hundred's "Hammerhead"

2009-06-23T09:42:00.007-04:00

The second release from Weathervane Music Organization is a song from East Hundred titled "Hammerhead." The local Philly indie rockers wax on how they met, how they work and why Philly is a good place for them to make music. In the age of bad internet video, its refreshing to see some thought put into a behind-the-scenes piece on music.

You can download the song FREE here by joining Weathervane Music Organization (its free, do it).

a

Wandering Old San Juan for an afternoon while Johnny Depp sleeps on his yacht in the harbor

2009-06-16T16:58:00.028-04:00

photographs © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

Last month I traveled to Rincon, Puerto Rico to celebrate a close friend of mine. With a 6 hour lay over in the San Juan Airport, I loaded the Holga with Velvia and hit Old San Juan with my good friend Will (check his design work here). We wandered up to the famous fort "El Morro" and through the brightly colored colonial streets. Clicking, talking, drinking, smoking. The beautiful white puffy clouds shining down. When we got back to San Juan Airport and hopped our 10 seater, I sat up front with the pilot and took in the landscape from above with my leica.

photograph © Michael T Regan Photography 2009

As I was doing research behind Vanity Fair's current cover shoot with Johnny Depp, I came across a behind-the-scenes slideshow detailing how the shoot came to be. The cover shoot was planned for Paris but Johnny Depp was on his Island in the Bahamas, preparing to shoot an adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's "The Rum Diaries." He offered an afternoon in Old San Juan (where they were shooting) so photographer Francois-Marie Banier began wandering the streets in search of locations. Johnny Depp slept on his yacht docked in the harbor and came ashore for the shoot once the location was set. Those beautiful white puffy clouds shining down. If only...

Check out the slideshow HERE:

Weathervane Music Organization: {{{SUNSET}}}

2009-06-11T12:01:00.013-04:00

Brian McTear & Amy Morrissey photographed at Miner Street Recording Studio

Congrats to Weathervane for the completion of their first project! They've worked hard and deserve your support. Follow them on Twitter HERE. Stay up to date with new projects HERE. Show your support and donate HERE.

The first in the 2009 Project Series from Weathervane Music. Sunset is the work of songwriter, artist Bill Baird from Austin Texas. The song “Fishtown” was recorded April 24 - 25 2009 at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia with Producer Quentin Stoltzfus and engineers Amy Morrissey and Brian McTear.

more about Weathervane's innovative ideas regarding the future of music: HERE

a

First Friday Show: Portraits In Music

2009-06-05T16:03:00.005-04:00

Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah photographed in his recording studio. May, 2009

Brian Isserman and Lawrence O'Toole, the two uber-creative directors behind the amazing design firm PRIMER Inc, will be exhibiting a selection of my music portraits at their design studio for the month of June.

Stop by and say hi:

PRIMER Microstudio
15 Byberry Road
Hatboro, PA 19040

Leonard Cohen Live

2009-05-14T09:44:00.007-04:00

PHAWKER REVIEW BY JONATHAN VALANIA The Great Man glides onstage in black pinstripes and a fedora like a gangster cantor, double-breasted and tie-less, his crisp creamy blue shirt buttoned-up to the neck David Lynch-style. He seems to walk on air. He was born like this, he had no choice, he was born with the gift of a golden voice. Now his friends are gone and his hair is grey, he aches in the places he used to play. After all these years, he’s still crazy for love but he’s not coming on. At 74, broke and hat in hand, he is still paying his rent every day in the Tower of Song.

For the next three hours, he dispenses what amount to be prayers and we will need them where we are going. For he has seen the future, baby, and it is murder. Everybody knows the war is over, everybody knows the good guys lost. Everybody knows the rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor. And, he says, there is a mighty judgment coming, though he might be wrong. But this much is true: we may be ugly, he insists, but we have the music. Because everybody knows the rich write history, but the poor write the songs. His mind is still sharp as a razor blade and he remembers them all: the one who gave him head in an unmade bed, the sisters of mercy with dew on their hem, the one in the famous blue raincoat who was gonna go ‘clear,’ the bird on a wire, the drunk in the midnight choir. All of them, the Great Man included, have tried in their own way, to be free.

We have paid dearly for this audience with the Great Man and he is eternally grateful for our sacrifice, humbled in fact. He delivers many a song on his knees, and doffs his cap with humility after every standing ovation, every exclamation of adoration from the back row of the highest balcony. “So much of the world is plunged in chaos and suffering, it’s remarkable that we have the opportunity to gather in places like this,” the Great Man says, his eyes scanning the Academy of Music’s gilded splendor. “I haven’t been here in a long time, it was 15 years ago and I was 60, just a kid with a crazy dream,” he continues, and we all laugh even though we know he is only half-kidding. “Since then, I’ve taken a lot of Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Ritalin and double strength Tylenol. I also plunged into a rigorous study of religion and philosophy, but cheerfulness kept breaking through.” Which is another way of saying ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in.’ Hallelujah. Amen. Over and out.

SLIDESHOW:

Ace Spectrum, 1974

2009-05-12T12:13:00.003-04:00

From the unfortunate vault of wonderful albums that nobody knows: Ace Spectrum's "Inner Spectrum" released on Altantic/Wonderbird, 1974. I stumbled onto "Don't Send Nobody Else" and I'm hooked. Get it HERE

From Dusty Groove America:

A tremendous debut from Ace Spectrum -- a harmony quartet who never cracked the charts as much as some of their east coast contemporaries, but who were every bit as great as the bigger names on the east coast scene! The album's got a soaring sound that's strongly influenced by Philly, but recorded in New York -- a warmly compressed style that's professional and focused, and beautifully put together with arrangements from Bert DeCoteaux and production by the team of Tony Silvester and Ed Zant. We love the group the best on the mellower cuts -- which have a quality that's deeply personal amidst the smoothness -- but even the more upbeat tracks are plenty darn great too! Titles include the sublime slow numbers "Moving On" and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" -- plus "Don't Send Nobody Else", "If You Were There", "Pickup", "I Don't Want To Play Around", and "Me & My Love". Expanded CD features 3 bonus tracks -- "Don't Send Nobody Else" in both mono single and alternate versions -- plus the previously unissued "Runnin Out Baby"

One Minute with John Lennon

2009-05-09T18:04:00.004-04:00

z

c

Zoe Strauss: Art Under I-95, 2009

2009-05-04T10:52:00.001-04:00

- Zoe Strauss presented over 200 photos on the concrete slabs supporting I-95 yesterday in Philly. The cold and wet day was a proper fit for the 8th annual exhibit of her raw street work. What stands out about her vision is how she cuts right to the truth of society's fringes. The almost forgotten people struggling with daily life are captured with an honesty and appreciation that speaks of Zoe's ability to connect with whats real. There's no bullshit in the work. Her new book America was available (Get it HERE) and the color photocopies were still selling for $5 a piece.

- Karen Heller wrote a great piece about Zoe for The Philadelphia Inquirer: HERE

Zoe Strauss photographed under I-95 for PRIMER Magazine
© Michael T Regan Photography

- From Photo Eye's "Election Day" feature on Zoe Strauss:

"Zoe Strauss (b. 1970) was given a camera on her 30th birthday and immediately began to shoot photographs around her neighborhood in South Philly. Since then she has received a Pew fellowship (2005), been included in the Whitney Biennial (2006), was named a USA Gund Fellow (2007) and received a major grant from United States Artists. Each May for the last 8 years she has held "Under I-95," an annual exhibition of her work hung on the concrete columns beneath the Interstate highway which runs through the heart of Philadelphia. Strauss differs from most contemporary photographers in her avid embracement of the inherent reproducibility of an image, never editioning her work and selling photocopied prints for $5.00 each. In lieu of maintaining a traditional portfolio website (though she does have one), she has an incredibly active blog which chronicles her working process and acts as a showcase for many hundreds of images. Her first book, America (AMMO, 2008), was just released this week, on Election Day." MORE

- Next up: Zoe Strauss "Nobody Has More Winners" June 5th-June 27th at Silicon Gallery, 139 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia PA.
Opens Friday June 5th from 6-8.30

Melody Gardot

2009-05-01T14:39:00.008-04:00

Jazz vocalist Melody Gardot released her second full length album on Verve this week, My One and Only Thrill. It currently sits as #12 on the itunes list of top sellers, in between Katy Parry and Ben Folds oddly enough. I had the honor of photographing Melody for the first article ever published about her, May of 2005, by Pat Rapa. (check it HERE) Melody suggested we work at a piano on the 15th floor of the Sheraton hotel on 17th and Race. She used to sneak into the hotel and play, nobody seemed to know it existed. The window to the right had a beautiful view of the city and was a source of inspiration for her.

***

Regarding jazz photography, a copy of Frank Wolf's book "Blue Note Jazz Photography of Francis Wolf" has made its home on my bedside table recently. His prolific documents of all the Blue Note sessions are very intimate and inspiring.

"An accomplished photographer at home (Germany), Frank came to New York without means. He secured a job in a photographic studio by day and reunited with his boyhood friend Alfred Lion to work on Blue Note records by night. His passion for jazz ran as deep as his love of photography, and soon he was completely immersed in the record company. By the end of World Ward II, Francis and Alfred were able to make a living solely at Blue Note. Two men running a small, struggling business in an all-consuming affair. For Frank, photography took a back seat to the demads of Blue Note (which, in that era of 78-rpm single records in plain brown sleeves, did not require artwork or photographs).

Still he took his camera to each Blue Note session, taking candid shorts of the proceedings while Alfred produced the sessions."

Miles Davis © Francis Wolf/Blue Note

m

Robert Capa: Inside The Mexican Suitcase

2009-04-30T13:03:00.009-04:00

A wonderful article in The New York Times about Robert Capa's (and others) lost film from The Spanish Civil War, around 4,300 frames to be exact. They arrived mysteriously in cardboard boxes at The International Center of Photography last year.

Click HERE for a slideshow

Although the "Fallen Soldier" controversy hasn't been put to rest, the mere appearance of these negatives 70 years after they were taken is a testament to documentary photography and its ability to out live time. Click HERE for Richard Whelan's essay "Proving That Robert Capa's 'Fallen Soldier' Is Authentic," published in Aperture Magazine No. 166, Spring 2002.

Discovered in The Mexican Suitcase:

Flatiron Polaroid, 2002

2009-04-27T09:50:00.004-04:00

I found myself agape, admiring a skyscraper — the prow of the Flatiron Building, to be particular, ploughing up through the traffic of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the late-afternoon light. – HG Wells (1906)

m

Wandering Haridwar, India

2009-04-22T17:32:00.010-04:00

Haridwar is considered the gateway to the four pilgrimages in the Uttrakhand region. The Ganga leaves the Himalayas and enters the plains, Haridwar being the first major town. Though the Ganges does not lose its rapids completely, it becomes very quiet and calm here. The water is clean and people prefer taking baths on the numerous ghats built on the river shores. It is said that bathing here purifies the soul and opens the way for the ultimate freedom, Nirvana.

n

View Camera Polaroids

2009-04-17T11:17:00.006-04:00

Mike Koehler, photographer © Michael T Regan Photography

With the intense amount of photographic production and distribution in today's modern world, I've been craving a connection to where it all came from. Often, we need to slow down and remember why we do what we do. I discovered a box of Polaroid Type 59 from 2006 during a long over due cleaning session last week. Polaroid has since gone out of business and no longer makes the wonderful 4x5 print and negative film that fueled the large format industry for decades.

I came across this quote from Joel Meyerowitz while reading the spring '09 issue of Photographers Forum:

"The large format camera is a slower, more classical instrument, the photographic equivalent of a cello, while the 35mm camera is like street jazz."

I made these portraits with the box of outdated Polaroid film. I still have a few left. The color shift is from the passing of time, nothing was added or enhanced digitally.

Chandler Kauffman, filmmaker & Karen Wise, photographer
© Michael T Regan Photography

My family. Shawna, Aidan & Lola
© Michael T Regan Photography

Erica VonKleist

2009-04-13T13:45:00.006-04:00

photographs © Michael T Regan Photography

Already a rising star in the jazz world, Erica has begun to make her mark on the New York scene. At 26 she has established herself as one of the most in-demand young saxophonists in the city, having performed and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Chris Potter, Sean Jones and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She approached me with the idea of creating a new image for the release of her debut CD. We wanted to get away from traditional jazz imagery for this shoot and emphasize the fact that she’s a female saxophonist in a male dominated field.

Check her out HERE

Eddie Adams: An Unlikey Weapon

2009-04-13T09:05:00.000-04:00

Collaborations

2009-04-09T09:44:00.007-04:00

Often, a photographer gets credit for more than his or her photograph. We're the name on the shoot, the production, the image. My recent shoot with artist Amber Lynn Thompson was set at The Franklin Fountain, a wonderfully designed ice cream parlor that embodies the spirit of early twentieth century life. Owners Ryan and Evan Burley are fully committed to making the experience authentic and the ice cream is delicious. So, in the spirit of giving credit where credit is due:

Location: Franklin Fountain (excellent website HERE)
Hair: Danielle Car for Lakshmi Hair Studio
Styling: Barbara Botting
Loyal pet: Miss Pinky Polkadots

iphone sketches

2009-03-30T12:00:00.007-04:00

Hello,

I'm embarking on a new project, "iphone sketches." I've been meditating on social media quite a bit lately and how its changing our cultural landscape. The angry ones can't stand to know what someone else had for lunch. The addicts are sharing every detail of life. The marketing savvy ones are self promoting. The news outlets are competing for readers. The comedians are creating characters.

Many ethical issues have been brought to light and they deserve attention. Our obsessive need to feed the internet has compromised diligent reporting. Writers with camera phones are trying to be photojournalists. Bloggers are trying act as established news organizations. However, as an artist, I now walk through life with a camera in pocket 24/7. Although I'd like to have my leica with me in the same fashion, I just don't. So, I've decided to embrace this iphone and share a daily visual diary with you. The sketches aren't finalized ideas, they're exactly what they say the are: sketches. THEY WON'T REPLACE MY WORK! I'll use them to scout locations, test light and remember ideas.

Ultimately, photography comes from the photographer, not from the camera. The brush doesn't make a great painter. I'm limited technically, but the sketches will come from me, not the phone. My hope is that by embracing this idea, I'll be able to share a visual nugget of gold and inspire you. We're constantly looking for stimulus from this beast that is the internet. If you get anything from the sketches, its worth my time.

I'll be posting them through my twitter account right after I release the shutter on the 2 megapixel phone: http://twitter.com/MTR_Photography. If a sketch stands out to me I'll post it on my blog. Other photographers are embarking on similar journeys, but we all travel through different streets.

Stay Positive.

-MTR

The Morrissey Dilemma

2009-03-24T09:59:00.009-04:00

The ticket lady at The Academy of Music handed me an interesting piece of paper when I asked for my photo credentials for the nights performance. After twelve months of non-exclusive usage the copy right returns to Morrissey. Essentially, Morrissey owns my work in a year. My knee jerk reaction was to tell the lady to shove it. Nobody owns my work. Now, there's also a clause preventing Morrissey from exploiting the work without my consent. That what's kept me at the show. Unfortunately this proccess is becoming all too common in the industry. When I photographed Phil Roy for Decca records (a subsidiary of Universl Music Group) I was faced with a similar dilema. From Morrissey's contract:

5. Company shall not exploit the Photographs other than by way of the licence to the Photographer hereunder without Photographer’s consent.

7. Company shall be entitled to assign transfer sub-license mortgage charge or otherwise dispose of its rights hereunder to any person or entity without reference to Photographer provided that Company shall remain primarily liable to Photographer for its obligations hereunder subject always to clause 5 above.

Michael Alan Goldberg penned a passionate plea for photographers to boycott this process. He walked away from the show after receiving the contract days before. I thought about it when the ticket lady was staring at me impatiently, but I decided to sign. Morrissey wants to prevent photographers from capitalizing off of his image. However, Morrissey has capitalized from the work of other artists throughout his entire career.

His performance was wonderful, I felt it from front row stage left. Did I do the right thing? Maybe not. This I know, he'll never own the enjoyment I experience from making pictures. Nobody will.

For a review of the show, check out Phawker.

PS - How 'bout Morrissey referring to himself as "Company." We're a long way from June 1986, when "The Queen is Dead" was released.

Amy Winehouse

2009-03-18T13:30:00.003-04:00

A night after she headlined a show at the electric factory on May 15th 2007, Amy Winehouse surprised an intimate crowd at World Cafe Live for The first annual Black Lily Film + Music Festival. These photos were taken while she was performing "rehab" with Questlove on the drums. Jill Scott, Alice Smith, The Jazzyfatnastees, Ursula Rucker and other talented artists performed in honor of the legendary night that started in Questlove's living room and moved to the Five Spot. Here's a personal note published in honor of the Five Spot after the club burned down two years ago.

David Berger, Conductor

2009-03-16T09:39:00.008-04:00

I was recently hired by the preeminent Duke Ellington scholar David Berger to create a portfolio for his new website. He's a seven time recipient of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and he conducts his big band jazz orchestra every Tuesday night at Birdland. I created a studio set in the club, we worked on the street and of course, we used Birdland as well. He was a pleasure to work with, I'll post a follow up when the site is live.

"David Berger is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing era. Conductor and arranger for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed more than 500 full scores of classic recordings including over 350 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

In 1996 Berger collaborated with choreographer Donald Byrd to create the Harlem Nutcracker, a full-length 2-hour dance piece, that expanded the Tchaikovsky/Ellington/Strayhorn score into an American classic. Berger's added touches to the piece extended Ellington's and Strayhorn's work to nearly four times its original length. The new opus, performed by Berger's Sultans Of Swing band, received rave reviews wherever it was performed, including concerts in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and for three successive years in Detroit." MORE

Thom Yorke

2009-03-15T12:25:00.006-04:00

Good Karma. I thought I lost this shoot after a hard drive meltdown years ago. I had two low res jpegs filed away and I posted them a few weeks back. I've been combing through years of music work and organizing my archives over the past two weeks. I found the RAW files from Radiohead's concert at The Tweeter Center (8.18.03) on a DVD located at the bottom of large stack of CD's!! Back.Up.Your.Work.

Lauryn Hill

2009-03-15T12:21:00.003-04:00

One from the archives: Lauryn performing live at The Tweeter Center, 2001

The Foreign Exchange

2009-03-10T09:33:00.020-04:00

CLICK HERE for a slide show of the concert

If I had to chose a hip hop album from the past 5 years that stands apart from the crowd and breaks new boundaries, it would be 2004's Connected by The Foreign Exchange. MC Phonte of Little Brother met the Dutch beat master Nicolay through the OkayPlayer chat board. They sent tracks back and forth from North Carolina to the Netherlands and carved out a wonderful range of hip hop, soul, trip hop, electronica....label it whatever. It's a masterpiece.

Nicolay made his cameo appearance in Philadelphia last night as part of the first Foreign Exchange show in the city. In the spirit of The Roots, Phonte and Nicolay took the stage with keys, bass, drums and the wonderful voices of Yazarah and Darien Brockington. Nic's Groove was performed with the same lush sounds as the vinyl cut and Phonte waxed poetic on relationships. His statement of the night "There's one word that can save a marriage people. One word: OhhhhhKaaayyy"

Winter Sunshine

2009-03-06T14:09:00.009-05:00

Back to Basics in Barnard, Vermont: Fujichrome through the Holga

The Music Issue Potfolio (Vol.5)

2009-03-05T15:26:00.017-05:00

On the cover of this week's CP Music Issue is a piece by Shaun Brady on Toshi Makihara, an experimental drummer. As advertising revenue shrinks, so does the book. There's less than usual in this music issue, but an interesting section remains:

"Each night, at just about 8 p.m., Toshi Makihara descends into the basement of his Wyndmoor home. He sets his Panasonic digital video camera on a small tripod on a table next to an old IBM computer, hits "record" and steps into frame. Over his left shoulder is a set of shelves holding a variety of drums. Over his right shoulder can be glimpsed a water heater, washer and dryer. In front of him is a single green drum." MORE

Artist: Toshi Makihara
Story: Snare and Tear by Shaun Brady
Location: Toshi's basement

Artists: iNFiNiEN
Story: Black and Blueprints by John Vettesse
Location: Forbidden Drive

Artists: The Lemon Treasures
Story: Darling Noir by A.D. Amorosi
Location: My Studio

Artists: Canadian Invasion
Story: This Is War by MJ Fine
Location: Andrew's parents' basement

*Full disclosure: My mom is Canadian, born and raised in the small town of Belleville Ontario. I'm not into the band's name, since none of them are Canadian. However, the guys are really nice...

The Flyers Yarmulke ("Yah-mah-kah" for the Hebrew illiterate)

2009-03-02T11:55:00.012-05:00

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Michael Klein blogged about my photograph hanging in Zahav Restaurant. It's developed a cult following due to the kid wearing the Flyers yarmulke who wandered into the bottom left corner of my frame. Check it out HERE.

The photograph was taken hours before Shabbat in Jerusalem's Mahaneh Yehuda market. I showed Zahav executive chef Michael Solomonov my discovery when I was editing the days work in my hotel room. A 5' x 10' mural print is hanging above the kitchen area.

Live and direct from Philly...The Website

2009-02-28T15:18:00.008-05:00

The constant battle of updating the website with recent work is a bear. Nonetheless, its also a necessity. Since I lack the time and patience to teach myself flash coding, my pal Will from Nathanson Design recently tweaked the site and helped me organize new galleries. Take a gander right HERE

Change is gonna come

2009-02-27T10:37:00.008-05:00

The position of staff photographer at The Philadelphia City Paper was eliminated this week. Hardly shocking. In the same week the Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News filed for bankruptcy and the Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) announced its last issue. The kicker of the City Paper position? It was mine. I created the job in 2002. It was a dream job at a time when my wife was pregnant and I wanted to shoot the streets of Philadelphia every hour of every day. I needed work and I hounded Paul Curci until he hired me. For 7 years I photographer the politicians, musicians, news makers, neighborhood workers, high rollers, bottom feeders and everything in between for the paper. I worked with a slew of amazing writers, editors and designers. The fact that I won't have a staff job at a newspaper for the remainder of my time on earth brings on the nostalgia, but change is exciting and I'm inspired to find new ways to communicate through my visual language. I won't miss the blurred images, misaligned plates and all around horrible printing of my photography in newsprint. I'm pushing my work in a new direction and I'll continue to shoot musicians for The City Paper (until they join the Rocky Mountain News and other fine publications that have drowned in the internet). I saw the writing on the wall years ago and I have other outlets to keep my head above water. I just hope the many others who are without work can do the same during these strange times. Stay tuned for more projects, there's a lot of 'em in the works.

Radiohead Flashback

2009-02-09T15:08:00.007-05:00

Radiohead performing at The Tweeter Center in Camden, NJ on the Hail To The Thief tour, 8.18.03

Jazmine Sullivan

2009-02-08T15:35:00.008-05:00

I photographed Jazmine Sullivan this week for Drew Lazor's City Paper cover story. The twenty-one-year-old Black Lily prodigy is nominated for 5 grammy's tonight! Not to be all "I knew it" but I watched her sing at The Black Lily when she was thirteen and she owned the night.

Drew Lazor: "Ever since May 2008, when Jazmine Sullivan's debut single — the riddim-flecked, Missy Elliott-helmed "Need U Bad" — started getting spins on urban radio, national writers have been breaking out in paper cuts, thumbing through thesauri in an attempt to capture the right words to aptly describe the electricity that runs throughout the 21-year-old singer/songwriter's self-penned J Records debut, Fearless.

She's got swag. She's got attitude. She's got a chip on her shoulder. She's got wisdom and confidence beyond her years. She's got what they call an "old soul." And that's without even getting into her voice, a window-frame-shaking, drawn-from-the-depths alto she still manages to bend and tease with ease, splashing across tracks like a smooth stone across a still pond.

All these trite superlatives, of course, can be encapsulated in one simple six-syllable phrase that only people from around here can truly grasp: The girl is from Philly." MORE

Here's Jazmine performing "Accept What God Allows" at The Apollo when she was eleven:

Pearce Bunting, Actor

2009-01-30T10:02:00.004-05:00

In Theatre Exile's Blackbird, Pearce Bunting (with co-star Julianna Zinkel) plays a man who's scared to death. AD Amorosi penned a piece on Pearce for this week's City Paper.

Theatre Exile:
"Two lovers meet face-to-face for the first time in 15 years. They awkwardly retrace the steps of their affair, collectively remembering the details; the moment when they met, the events leading up to their parting. Typical in most every way of any other romance, except that she was 12 and he was 41. Ray and the prepubescent Una booked a room in a hotel to consummate their relationship with the intention of leaving together the next day, never to look back. He left to get some cigarettes and then they never saw each other again. Not through the six year jail sentence Ray served. Not through the years of public scorn and subjugation Una suffered. A chance picture in a trade magazine has lead Una back to Ray. But is it for answers, reconciliation or revenge?"

By David Harrower
Directed by Joe Canuso

Blackbird, Feb. 5-March 1, $18-$40, Theatre Exile at Plays and Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St., 215-218-4022

Passing Thru

2009-01-30T09:51:00.004-05:00

2008, Obama's Historic Campaign Through Philadelphia

2009-01-19T22:57:00.019-05:00

Tuesday March 18th, Obama's speech on race, "A More Perfect Union," at The National Constitution Center

Friday October 3rd, Abington High School.

Saturday October 11th, Vernon Park, Germantown:

Obama spent the day in Philly and stopped for a rally at Vernon Park in Germantown. There was a wonderful energy in the crisp air. With the Phillies up 2-0 against the Dodgers in the NLCS, with the sun shining on 74 degree fall Saturday in October, hope was everywhere.

Tuesday November 4th, Election Day in Philadelphia. CLICK HERE for the slideshow

Tuesday January 20th, 2009. The inauguration at Independence Mall. Seventeen-year-old Daryl Walker reacts with shock, repeating "I just can't believe it," as Obama takes the oath of office. CLICK HERE for a slideshow.

k

MLK Day

2009-01-19T13:23:00.015-05:00

Germantown Ave and Cambria St, North Philadelphia

"BBC World News America has unearthed a fascinating clip of Dr Martin Luther King speaking to the BBC's Bob McKenzie in 1964 in which Dr King predicts an African-American president 'in less than 40 years.' " CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Martin Luther King Jr's Last Speech:

We're Taking Poe Back (Revisited)

2009-01-19T13:20:00.000-05:00

"For Years Baltimore has laid claim to one of our greatest writers. Nevermore!"

Today, January 19th, is Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday. In October of 2007, I photographed local Poe impersonator Helen McKenna Uff for Edward Petite's City Paper story on why he belongs in Philadelphia. For the cause, she was gracious enough to let us tie her up and place her in the back of a Lincoln Towncar.

Last week, in light of Poe's 200th birthday, Edward Petite penned another piece for CP "Goodbye Rocky, Good Night Ben"

"Ben Franklin was a great icon for a time when we wanted to whitewash the past, see it in terms of all its possibility, but not its limitations. Franklin's story is the buttoned-down version of the American Dream, complete with corny aphorisms. Don't get me wrong — Franklin was brilliant and led an extraordinary life. But have you read his autobiography lately? Not very inspiring for most people living in a 21st-century city.

Poe is the creative genius for our time, unafraid to show the wicked along with the good. Willing to work hard and keep pursuing the dream, even when life kept knocking him down. Off-center, but firm in his conviction that his was the right way to look at the world. And in the end, he was right.

That's why we still read him." FULL STORY

Edward Pettit, better known as the Philly Poe Guy, is a writer and educator. He writes the Ed & Edgar blog at the Bibliothecary blogsite.

Andrew Wyeth, The End of The Road

2009-01-16T12:03:00.007-05:00

Stop, 2008

New York Times: Andrew Wyeth, one of the most popular and also most lambasted artists in the history of American art, a reclusive linchpin in a colorful family dynasty of artists whose precise realist views of hardscrabble rural life became icons of national culture and sparked endless debates about the nature of modern art, died Friday at his home in Chadds Ford. He was 91. MORE

Trodden Weed, 1951

His website: When this non-traditional self-portrait was done, the artist was recovering from a major surgery to remove a portion of his lung. On his feet are boots once owned by Howard Pyle, founder of the Brandywine school of painting, as well as the teacher of Andrew's father: artist and illustrator N.C. Wyeth. Here, the boots walk over Kuerner's Hill in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania - an area that Andrew Wyeth has walked all his life.

Tom Reing, Founder, Inis Nua Theater Company

2009-01-16T09:43:00.005-05:00

Tom Reing, founder of Inis (pronounced Inish) Nua Theater Company has generated excellent local buzz from his US Premier of Paul Meade's Skin Deep. The play is running at the Adrienne Theater and there's only three performances left (Fiday 1/16 8 pm, Saturday 1/17 2 pm, Sunday 1/18 2 pm. Click here for tickets

The Inquirer: Skin Deep is a revenge tragedy, an Irish and very contemporary spin on the 16th century's stage parade of body parts, lust, jealousy, blackmail, death, money, disease and power. And, like Jacobean revenge tragedies (think 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, The Revenger's Tragedy) it's sometimes funny in a horrible way - a tricky business pulled off by this excellent cast. Inis Nua's U.S. premiere of Irish playwright Paul Meade's complex and ambitious play introduces us to yet another startling Irish playwright.

Skin Deep is a play about looking and listening and not seeing and not hearing. Go see it.

City Paper: Beckoning us to this new island is Inis Nua founder Tom Reing, who conceived his theater's unique identity after seeing Paul Meade's Skin Deep in Dublin in 2003, and realizing that "no theater in Philadelphia seemed like a right match to pitch it." To do it, he'd need a company. Now the powerful drama about greed and deception is Inis Nua's first 2009 production, a U.S. première.

PW: The ethical issues provoke the most interest. The human form has long inspired art, from Michelangelo’s David to Robert Mapplethorpe’s controversial photos. Stealing body parts is illegal, but what if a photographer uses a person’s image without their knowledge or a journalist prints a story out of spite?

About Inis Nua: Inis Nua Theater Company's mission is to produce contemporary, evocative play from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England which reflect those culture's identity in today's world. Inis Nua also seeks to produce contemporary, evocative work from American playrights who deal with the Irish-American, Welsh-American, Scottish-American and Anglo American experience. Translated from the Irish language, Inis Nua means "New Island."

Anthony Campuzano, Artist

2009-01-14T18:39:00.008-05:00

Anthony Compuzano, photographed at the ICA for his exhibit "Touch Sensitive." John Vettese penned a profile of Anthony for City Paper's Second Season Arts Preview:

"I've always said as a visiting artist, hang on to good ideas, they don't go away," Campuzano says. "If things don't go right the first time, people give up. But if you re-examine it, change things slightly, you'll get closer to what the idea really is." MORE

From the ICA: "Known for his use of found language, Philadelphia-based artist Anthony Campuzano activates texts from a variety of sources—newspaper headlines, Wikipedia entries, the covers of paperback novels, trivial cultural events, common clichés, pop song lyrics—in drawings that couple intense color with the tangible presence of the artist's hand."

Musiq Soulchild Re-Envisioned

2009-01-08T10:11:00.021-05:00

Musiq Soulchild, Philly's tried and true vocalist, talks with Baller about his latest release for Atlantic Records On My Radio. I photographed Musiq at the TLA before his performance on valentine's day. He'd recently released Luvanmusiq and his catchy single B.U.D.D.Y. Pat Rapa and I caught up with him for a City Paper music issue feature:

"I don't wanna bash people upside the head with reality, that's not what I'm about. I just wanna simply put in song form what goes on every day in my life..."

Musiq performing "Break You Off" with The Roots at Emerald City for The Tipping Point CD release show, July 8th, 2004

"Just Friends" Performed Live:

k

Birds of Peace

2009-01-05T13:30:00.012-05:00

Things are getting worse in Gaza. As I was looking back through my work from Israel, I re-discovered this photograph I made while wandering the streets of Tel Aviv.

- Israel has barred foreign reporters from entering Gaza. Here's a video from inside Gaza hosted by the BBC.

- Today's BBC Reports:

Casualties have been pouring into over-stretched hospitals in the Gaza Strip as Israel presses on with its offensive against Palestinian militant groups.

The Palestinian health ministry said 90 people, mostly civilians and including 26 children, had been killed since Israeli forces went in on Saturday.

Israel says it is targeting militants continuing to fire rockets into Israel.

Intense diplomatic efforts are under way to resolve the crisis but Israel rejected calls for an immediate truce.

US President George W Bush gave his support to Israel's right to self-defence and blamed the current situation on Hamas militants.

"Instead of caring about the people of Gaza, Hamas decided to use Gaza to launch rockets to kill innocent Israelis," he said. MORE

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak photographed during a visit to a North Philadelphia public school, 2003. He happened to be standing immediately next to the word "conformity" while he spoke to the kids.

w

2008: A selection of music portraits

2009-01-03T15:52:00.019-05:00

Bootsie Barnes photographed at Chris' Jazz Cafe, Philly

John Legend photographed at the Sony Building, NYC

Tom Waits photographed at The Ohio Theater, Columbus

G. Love photographed at Philadelphonic recording studio

Santogold, TLA, Philly

Phil Roy photographed in his studio

TV on the Radio, The Electric Factory, Philly

Ursula Rucker photographed in Vernon Park, Germantown

2009, Enjoy Life!

2009-01-03T15:44:00.005-05:00

The Music They Made

2009-01-03T15:30:00.002-05:00

The New York Times: A sound collage of artists who died in 2008

Click Here For The Slideshow

Will Oldham, Bonnie "Prince" Billy

2009-01-02T10:08:00.018-05:00

Will Oldham photographed in Philadelphia at The First Unitarian Church

From this week's New Yorker:

THE PRETENDER
Will Oldham Transfigures American Music. By Kallefeh Sanneh

...Will Oldham was born in 1970, the second of three boys; Joanne was a full-time mother, and his father, Joe, who died in 2006, was a lawyer and an amateur photographer. By the early nineteen-eighties, Oldham was getting musical tips from his older brother, Ned, who was immersed in Louisville’s fertile punk-rock scene, and he soon developed his own adventurous listening habits—he struck up a correspondence with the noisemaker and poet Lydia Lunch, after meeting her at a Sonic Youth show during a trip to New York. (He also remembers sending a “fairly elaborate” package, including a collage, to Glenn Danzig, the former leader of the horror-punk band the Misfits; he says that Danzig, in turn, sent him a package that included a rare copy of “Cough/Cool,” the band’s 1977 début single.)

Despite his strong and particular musical tastes, Oldham was taken with acting—or, more accurately, he was taken with the idea of getting into character. He studied at the Walden Theatre, appeared onstage at Louisville’s acclaimed Actors Theatre, and auditioned for a role in “Matewan,” John Sayles’s film about a coal strike in the nineteen-twenties. He got the part of Danny, a prophetic boy preacher, which meant two months away from high school, living with actors (including Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones), the crew, and a tutor in West Virginia, and earning twelve hundred and fifty dollars a week, plus a per diem. When he got back to Louisville, he couldn’t figure out what to do next; with some nudging from his parents, he finished high school and applied to Brown. He lasted one semester before dropping out; he moved to Los Angeles, then to New York, tried Brown again, and finally left for good. MORE

Will Oldham "Horses"

This "Horses" was originally written and performed by Sally Timms - from the British punk/post-punk outfit the Mekons - on her 1988 solo album Somebody's Rockin' My Dreamboat. The Oldham version originally appeared on the Drag City Horses 7" single in 1994 and later that year on the Domino-released An Arrow Through the Bitch EP. It would appear again on the 1997 Drag City collection Palace Music: Lost Blues and Other Songs (1993-97)

b

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, A Woman Who Rocked The World

2008-12-29T10:11:00.018-05:00

Pat Rapa and I visited the grave of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a gospel legend who spent the last fifteen years of her life in Philadelphia. Here's Pat's story featured in the Naked City section of this week's City Paper:

FINALLY, SOME RECOGNITION FOR SISTER ROSETTA THARPE, A WOMAN WHO ROCKED THE WORLD

Why did Bob Merz work so hard to get a headstone placed at the grave of gospel-blues legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe? For one thing, he's a fan. Tharpe, though hardly a household name these days, was a musical pioneer who inspired everybody from Johnny Cash to Little Richard with her dazzling guitar playing, emotive singing and witty song-writing. She deserved better than an unmarked plot in North Philly's Northwood Cemetery.

For another thing, he wants the people of this city to be fans, too.

"Philly is always looking for a champion and someone to hold on to. We really hold close those who help put our city on the map. Rosetta Tharpe is one of those people that we should say, 'she is ours,'" says Merz, who helped raise money for the headstone with a benefit concert featuring Dixie Hummingbirds, Odetta and others at the Keswick last January. The stone was quietly put in place in September. "Rosetta Tharpe is a Philadelphian."

Much like Edgar Allan Poe, there is grounds for a kind of custody battle when it comes to the once internationally renowned singer. Tharpe was born in Arkansas and mostly raised in Chicago. She didn't set up shop at Bright Hope Baptist Church at 12th and Cecil B. Moore until much later. "She spent her last 15 years in Philly," says Merz. "And if her health did not fail would have been here for 50 years — like the Dixie Hummingbirds."

Merz has said he'd like to see Tharpe get a mural in her honor and a star on Broad Street. "We are working on placing a historical marker at her 11th and Master home to heighten her profile in the Yorktown North Philly neighborhood," he says. "The marker has been approved, and we will soon start a fundraising drive. When the marker is in place, just imagine if one kid sees it and says, 'Wow, Sister Rosetta lived here — I would love to follow her footsteps and rock the world.'"

Sister Rosetta Tharpe "Up Above My Head:"

Sister Rosetta Tharpe "Didn't It Rain" 1964:

k

David Bowie and The Tower Theater

2008-12-22T10:53:00.037-05:00

David Bowie at The Tower Theater, October 21st 2002

Sunday
Cactus
Breaking Glass
Fame
Ashes To Ashes
Slip Away
China Girl
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
Starman
Absolute Beginners
I've Been Waiting For You
Afraid
Fashion
Be My Wife
Sound And Vision
Rebel Rebel
I'm Afraid Of Americans
Life On Mars?
"Heroes"
Heathen (The Rays)
encores
White Light/White Heat
Let's Dance
Ziggy Stardust.

David Bowie's love affair with Philadelphia goes back to the early seventies when he released David Live, a two record set from his performances at The Tower Theater in July of 1974. In 1975 he released Young Americans, recorded at Sigma Sound Philadelphia. Steve Volk wrote a 2002 cover story for PW about the Sigma Kids who did everything in their power to catch a glimpse of Bowie while he was in town recording the album.

PW: "They spent two weeks straight sleeping in the streets so they could do things like watch Bowie walk from the Barclay on Rittenhouse Square to his limo. Then they'd dash off to their cars, driving as fast as they could to reach Sigma Sound Studios before he got there.

"If he was already out of his limo when we were pulling up," remembers Patti Brett, "we would stop our cars in the middle of the street, get out and halt traffic just to say 'Hi' to him again."

Over time the Kids got friendly with the studio staff and the Bowie entourage, especially guitarist Carlos Alomar. Sometimes Bowie would chat with them.

He eventually learned their names: Marla, Patti, Leslie, Purple--about a dozen in all. No one remembers who made the announcement that Bowie had decided to throw a party for them when the sessions wrapped.

What they do remember is that they were led into the studio late at night, their hearts thudding in their chests" MORE

My wife Shawna was six months pregnant with our son Aidan when I photographed the show in 2002. It was a crazy time and we didn't really know what the hell we were doing. But when he sang Starman...I thought of this being about to arrive who knew more than I did. It gave me a confidence. My perception of the song changed after that show.

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks hed blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
Hes told us not to blow it
Cause he knows its all worthwhile
He told me:
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie

Chris Conner and his Les Paul

2008-12-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

Ice and The Weeping Cherry

2008-12-21T11:44:00.006-05:00

Pierre Robert, DJ

2008-12-18T16:52:00.011-05:00

The legendary 93.3 WMMR DJ has been filling the local airwaves with rock & roll since 1981. He was born in San Francisco and started his career at 84.9 KSAN, a progressive rock station in his home town. I photographed Pierre with his dog Lucy in September for Philadelphia Style. It was supposed to be published this month, but Niche Media (the owners) fired the entire photo department and dumped the work onto the New York office. Good times.

Pierre was a pleasure to work with. Somehow he's managed to hold on to that west coast vibe through 27 east coast winters. We were blessed with beautiful late afternoon light reminiscent of a crisp clear day in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

David Byre and Brian Eno

2008-12-17T17:19:00.014-05:00

The new collaboration between David Byrne and Brian Eno Everything that Happens Will Happen Today is a wonderful arrangement of lush sounds and soothing meloncholia. I wish I had a photo shoot with the two together to share, it would be an honor. Press play up top and whistle while you work.

"The dimming of the light makes the picture clearer. It's just an old photograph, there's nothing to hide." -from the song Home

Jonathan Valania over at Phawker penned a review of David Byrne's recent show at The Tower for Rolling Stone.

b

ROBERT FRANK: The Americans

2008-12-16T15:26:00.012-05:00

First published in 1958 by Robert Delpire in Paris, Les Américains was finally published in the U.S. in 1959 by Grove Press, with an introduction by Jack Kerouac. The book was heavily criticized here for the profound expression of a dark and depressing loneliness. The alienation and emptiness captured by Robert Frank, while traveling on a Guggenheim fellowship in '55-'56, marked a turning point in photography, forever.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Robert Frank's seminal creation, The National Gallery of Art in D.C. will be exhibiting "Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans" from January 19th - April 26th.

Wikipedia:

"To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of The Americans, a new edition was released worldwide on May 30, 2008. Robert Frank discussed with his publisher, Gerhard Steidl, the idea of producing a new edition using modern scanning and the finest tritone printing. The starting point was to bring original prints from New York to Göttingen, Germany, where Steidl is based. In July 2007, Frank visited Göttingen. A new format for the book was worked out and new typography selected. A new cover was designed and Frank chose the book cloth, foil embossing and the endpaper. Most significantly, as he has done for every edition of The Americans, Frank changed the cropping of many of the photographs, usually including more information. Two images were changed completely from the original 1958 and 1959 editions."

"Fire In The East: A Portrait of Robert Frank," is a 28 minute documentary from 1986 seen here in three parts:

b

Profile in Design: Allison Rossignol

2008-12-16T14:39:00.014-05:00

Things have been tough lately for the artists among us working at newspapers. The Philadelphia Inquirer announced it will lay off 7 photographers, 2 photo editors, 3 lab technicians and 3 designers. The Daily News will lay off a photographer and a graphic artist (and that's just the photo department). The Tribune Company, owners of The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times among others, filed for bankruptcy. The Detroit Free Press will be canceling delivery service Monday through Wednesday. City Paper recently laid off a designer in the already-too-thin art department, leaving four full time staffers and a part timer to lay out the paper (as well as design all the ads) on a weekly basis.

On the positive, Allison Rossignol is the senior designer at City Paper. She designed "Stenton Avenue Reprise: Jazz At Long Last Returns To East Mount Airy," the photo essay that I worked on with reporter Rick Valenzuela. Loyal readers will remember the photo essay taking home the national first place award for photography (from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies) in 2008. The layouts were recently published in the AAN book "Best of 2008." Click on each page to see the work, strong design brings a photo essay to life.

b

Carlos Henriquez, Jazz Bassist

2008-12-15T17:00:00.014-05:00

Carlos Henriquez, born in the Bronx, is a jazz bass player currently with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet. He's played with Tito Puente, Carlos Santana, Steve Turre, Eddie Palmieri, and George Benson among others. We worked together for the launch of his new website, soon to be constructed by Nathanson Design. When the spring rolls around we'll be shooting outside in NYC.

Here's Carlos playing at a private gig:

Profile in Photography: Ambroise Tezenas

2008-12-09T11:50:00.013-05:00

French born photographer Ambroise Tezenas spent a week in Cuba for a story published in The New York Times Magazine: "The End of the End of the Revolution." His book, Beijing: theater of the people, won the Leica European Publishers Award in 2006.

The body of work he created in Cuba was shot with a Toya Field 45A view camera. He used a 120 mm lens and shot 4x5 sheets of Kodak Portra 400NC. Click here for a slideshow.

Annie Leibovitz on shooting The Rolling Stones in Philadelphia, 1975

2008-12-05T14:03:00.025-05:00

The Rolling Stones, live at The Spectrum, June 29th 1975

Annie Liebovitz read excerpts from her new book At Work last night at the Free Library. She recalled with fondness the concert the Stones played at the Spectrum on June 29th 1975. She was on tour for Rolling Stone when someone told her to come out from backstage and hear the performance. They both thought it was the best show they'd heard the band play.

"When I think of Philadelphia, it seems all the best shows were there, I remember that concert well" she told the packed room. Annie brought her tennis racket on tour thinking she'd be able to play during the day.
"I realized after the first show I wouldn't see the light of day."
The story ran on the cover of Rolling Stone on July 17th, 1975

Here's Annie on the experience:

MUMBAI, 3 months ago

2008-12-03T21:23:00.018-05:00

The Gateway of India seen from the 10th floor of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, 3 months before armed gunmen stormed in and began killing innocent people.

In August, I spent three days in Mumbai with my wife Shawna, wandering the streets with my Leica. I wasn't there as a journalist on assignment and had no editorial angle. My experience was that of a wandering traveller, with a love of urban culture and desire to explore. On our anniversary, we slept on the 10th floor of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. Each day we decompressed with big bottles of Kingfisher beer at Leopold's Cafe and marveled at the beautiful structures, among them Victoria Terminus station. All targets of the heavily armed group of lost souls who stole the world's attention on Wednesday November 26th.

After last week's terror attacks, I began reflecting on my own experience in an amazing metropolis that left me craving more. It saddened me to know that the majority of the world, having never experienced Mumbai, may now forever associate the city with the images of last week's senseless attacks. As a tribute to Mumbai and the people who shared their city with us, I put these images together.

CLICK FOR THE SLIDESHOW

Wake Up Hickey

2008-12-03T09:51:00.020-05:00

Brian Hickey, friend, former colleague, talented journalist, wild spirit and loyal soul was hit by a pathetic individual who sped away and left him for dead last Friday in Collingswood, NJ. He's in a coma at Cooper Trauma and the Philadelphia area is waiting for him to break out of it. Mike Newall and Doron Taussig spent the earlier part of the week reporting on the accident and penned the best article in town.

Brian and I were invited to Citizens Bank Park in May of '07 as part of the Richie Ashburn Home Runs for Heart (Media Day). We brought our gloves, ran down fly balls in center field (well, attempted to) and had ten pitches at the plate. I took the top photograph of Brian as manager of the Phillies, I was his pitching coach. We laughed our asses off, couldn't shake the excitement, we were livin' the dream. Briefly.

There's a benefit for his family Friday December 12th from 7-11 at The Tap Room, 427 W. Crystal Lake Ave, Westmont NJ. The entrance fee is $25 at the door.

Goin' Out West: Ry Cooder, Wim Wenders and Robby Muller

2008-11-25T08:44:00.012-05:00

Leaving LA: my window seat view

Phtotojournalist Eric Grigorian traveled with blues/surf guitarist Ry Cooder to El Mirage Dry Lake, in the Mojave Desert. Click Here for an audio slideshow, with Ry Cooder's music, featured in The New York Times.

Known for his "discovery" of the Buena Vista Social Club in Cuba, Ry Cooder also did the music for Wim Wenders Paris, Texas. Watch it. Robby Muller, the cinematographer behind the dauntilgly beautiful Down By Law, shot the film:

Brian Wilson at the Keswick Theater

2008-11-24T10:19:00.018-05:00

Quick hits from the Brian Wilson show at the Keswick Theater, Saturday November 22nd:

- He did two sets. The first set was comprised of Beach Boys songs. The second set was his new album That Lucky Old Sun.

- His band was amazing. Drums, percussion, bass, three guitars, saxophone, keys, vibes, and a back up vocalist. Nine voices, including Brian, were harmonizing together. From his website: Brian Wilson calls his band the best he's ever worked with. Paul McCartney echoed these sentiments when he called them "the best touring band in the world."

- He opened with "California Girls." Other popular Beach Boys songs included "Little Surfer Girl," "I Get Around," "In My Room," and "Do You Wanna Dance?" among others.

- Two guys got in a fight. One in his 50's, the other in his 30's. The younger guy was being too loud for the older guy. They had words, the older guy pushed the younger guys face, an ambulance came for the younger guy because his contact rolled back in his eye.

-I had to split at intermission, so I don't know if he played the best song they ever wrote in the encore:

ee

The Holy Land: Masada

2008-11-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

The cover story of this months National Geographic (Dec 08), written by Tom Mueller, is focused on King Herod, the holy land's visionary builder. On the cover is an aerial image of Masada, the ancient fortress he constructed in approximately 37-31 BC.

Seven months ago, on a cold March morning, I watched the sun rise at Masada. I was documenting a culinary tour through Israel, led by chef Michael Solomonov. We awoke in the Negev desert at 4.15 am, inside a bedouin tent, and drove the winding road to Masada. As the light appeared above the hills, I loaded rolls of tri-x 400 into my cameras and began to shoot the structures and views of the fort.

In 66, at the beginning of the First Jewish-Roman War against the Roman Empire, a group of Jewish extremists called the Sicarii overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish rebels and their families fled Jerusalem and settled on the mountain top, using it as a base for raiding Roman settlements.

The Romans eventually took back Masada in the spring of 73. When they entered the fortress, however, the Romans discovered that its 936 inhabitants had committed mass suicide rather than face certain capture, defeat, slavery or execution by their enemies.

Today, there is declaration in Israel set in place by the Israeli Defense Forces: "Masada shall not fall again"

Profile in Design: Reseca Glasser

2008-11-21T08:51:00.001-05:00

Reseca Glasser is the art director of the Philadelphia City Paper. She's responsible for the award winning cover and editorial design that's featured in CP on a weekly basis. If you don't live in Philly, or if you aren't passing through town and grabbing a CP from the orange box, you won't see her work. And that's a shame. With this outlandish race from print to web, the creative design in magazines and newspapers is lost.

Reseca and I have worked together since I started making pictures for The Philadelphia City Paper in 2001. I owe her a tremendous amount of gratitude for A) putting up with my Aries personality and B) teaching me how to think about the marriage of words and images on a page. This year, Reseca took home the first place editorial layout award from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Essentially, it means of all the weekly papers across the country, and Toronto, her design was decidedly above the rest. You aren't going to see a better presentation of words and images in your web surfing today.

She took home the award for Drew Lazor's compelling piece on Artist Daniel Heyman and his journey inside Abu Ghraib:

"In March 2006, the Art Museum-based artist traveled to Amman, Jordan, with reps from Philadelphia law firm Burke Pyle LLC and met face to face with the Iraqis whom most Americans had seen only in those grainy, horrifying photos. He followed up the visit with an August trip to Istanbul, Turkey. What emerged: bleak, almost voyeuristic portraits, glimpses into lives irrevocably shattered by the very forces sent to protect them. More strikingly, Heyman surrounded each subject's face with textual excerpts from his or her stories — damning evidence that has only now begun to surface. He's compiled the art — a series of stark prints and watercolors — for 'The Abu Ghraib Project,' " FULL STORY

La Boheme

2008-11-19T20:08:00.005-05:00

John Douglas, music director of Temple Opera's production of La Boheme, involves his students in all aspects of production, from building sets to sewing costumes to performing arias.

from AD Amorosi's arts lede in this week's City paper:

"Penned in 1896 before the onslaught of his more garish works, La Bohème is the finest of Giacomo Puccini's operas — a glorious, grueling Bohemian romance that peers into the workmanlike life of artists, poets and seamstresses of the 19th century. There's class struggle, poverty, love and grief to be found in Puccini's Paris streets and its lead characters, Rodolfo and Mimi." Full Story.

Annie Liebovitz "At Work"

2008-11-19T10:12:00.013-05:00

I finished Annie's latest book At Work last night. If you're looking for lighting secrets and how-to details you'll be disappointed. Instead, the book focuses on the challenges behind her shoots and how she creates in different situations. Personally, I love the anecdotes and descriptions. Her words heavily out weigh her pictures on topics such as John & Yoko, Demi Moore, George W. Bush, The Queen, The Rolling Stones, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Sharpton and Vanity Fair.

I'm still getting over the fact that she created her famous Rolling Stone cover of John & Yoko at their apartment in the Dakota, hours before he was killed. I never could process that one.

There's a review of the book on Strobist and I published these words in the comment thread:

Two lines worth sharing:

1. "As much as I love pictures that have been set up, and as important as those pictures are to me, I'd rather photograph something that occurs on its own."

2. "I've never been able to make strobe light look as beautiful as natural light."

Coming from the world's number one photographer of highly lit, stylized, set-up portraits, these are powerful statements. I'd say that's a tall nod to the ways of Robert Frank, Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander and the documentary legends.

Maybe she's just waxing nostalgic for the 1970's Rolling Stone days...but it's a tall reminder that important work isn't just about the physics behind a photograph, but what that photograph means when art and science merge.

Aidan & Lola

2008-11-18T14:51:00.008-05:00

...from my life long project of photographing (and keeping pace with) my two children.

Bill Clinton

2008-11-18T09:09:00.009-05:00

Could the man himself hurt Hillary's chances of a cabinet position in the Obama Administration?

From Today's NY TIMES:

"...but Mr. Clinton’s postpresidential life as a globe-trotting philanthropist, business consultant and speech-giver poses the highest hurdle for Mrs. Clinton to overcome if President-elect Barack Obama chooses to nominate her as secretary of state, according to aides of the Clintons and Mr. Obama." CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY

Palin's Dream

2008-11-18T09:02:00.002-05:00

Equality

2008-11-17T09:03:00.005-05:00

Saturday November 15, 1.30 pm, Protesters gather at city hall for a rally against proposition 8, the unfortunate legislation effectively banning gay marriage.

Congo: Multimedia slideshow

2008-11-17T09:01:00.004-05:00

Click Here for a NY Times multimedia presentation of Danish photojournalist Johan Spanner's work from a remote tin mine in Congo. The work is powerful, informative and very important.

Behind the Stoya Portrait

2008-11-14T09:44:00.005-05:00

I photographed Stoya, a 21 year old porn-star from Delaware who now resides in South Philly, for Matt Stroud's City Paper cover story on her life in the adult industry. My initial concept was to create a narrative series of images in a high end hotel room, but I was unable to find a hotel that would collaborate (I guess the Four Seasons isn't interested in tying their brand to the adult industry). I ended up using Bruce Schimmel's apartment in the Society Hill Towers. Bruce founded the paper and is always willing to help in any way. He wrote his weekly column on the experience of hosting our shoot. Its a good read and accurately describes the atmosphere. Bruce was very curious about what was going on in his bedroom so he tended to pop in frequently to see what we were doing. I was drawn to the sheen of the 70's wall paper in his laundry room and used it as a backdrop for one of the sets. As I was working with Stoya I noticed, through my lens, Bruce peeking around the corner to see what was going on. I released the shutter and then told him to get out of my frame.

It's easy to make pretty pictures of Stoya.However, by wandering into the photograph, Bruce helped me make an image that transcends the useless flow of sex imagery that fuels our sexual obsession with porn. There's an emptiness, a loneliness in his expression that represents the ugliness behind the industry. It represents the countless amount of men who masturbate in secrecy to Stoya's sex scenes, behind closed doors, away from their daily lives. I'm not a stranger to porn, but as a photographer, I'm happy to make an image that speaks to the ugly truths behind the beautiful facades. At first, I was bummed I didn't land the high end hotel room; in the end it couldn't have worked out better.

Here's a slideshow of the outtakes:

STOYA Photographs by Michael T. Regan

Felix the Painter

2008-11-13T14:13:00.009-05:00

Mike Newall penned a wonderful story on painter Felix Giordano in this week's City Paper.

"Felix is painting again. He peels off his blankets, switches on the lamp and warms his hands by the electric heater he keeps close to the spot on the floor where his bedding lies. Then, he sits with his black faded sketchbook in his lap and draws until sunlight fills the small cramped bedroom he rents in a crumbling building at the end of a narrow alley off Washington Avenue."

Felix is having an opening tomorrow night (November 14th) at Connie's Ric Rac from 6-8pm. There will be beer and pizza.

Connie's Ric Rac:
S 9th street Between Washington & Federal

Primer Magazine

2008-11-11T15:51:00.003-05:00

The following posts contain six portraits of Philadelphia artists (accompanied by a Q&A) photographed for Primer magazine. They represent different areas of the Philadelphia community and each artist speaks of why they chose to live here.

Primer is published by The Philadelphia City Paper

BAJ Design, known for the fabulous design of two.one.five.magazine, developed the layout and put the whole thing together from scratch.

Michael M Koehler took the cover photo atop the Divine Lorraine Hotel and did a great job shooting the neighborhoods.

Brian McTear

2008-11-11T15:40:00.002-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR PRIMER MAGAZINE

Brian McTear of Bitter, Bitter Weeks is a producer, Songwriter - Oh, and the guy in the middle of everything that goes on in Philly Rock.

Q&A by M.J. Fine for Primer Magazine

Q: What makes the city's music scene so fertile?

A: Philadelphia is blessed with cheap living and the proximity to many places on the East Coast. Those two reasons alone make it an ideal place for musicians, particularly ones who hope to tour. The bands that are here can stay at it longer and as a result, their music is better, they make more friends with time and the whole thing just keeps growing.
Q: How has the scene evolved from when you started out?

A: There weren't as many national/international artists when I first moved here in 1996. I think it didn't occur to many people that they could be more than a popular local band. ... Now I feel like every time I go see a show, there's someone on the bill I've never heard of and they are great.
Q: Who do you think is inexplicably overlooked?

A: East Hundred, but I think that will change very soon. For some reason this band has sounded and looked like famous icons (to me, at least) for years now. I was really excited to work with them late in the spring and think people will really like what they did.
Q: What's the best thing about making music here:

A: The people are honest, hardworking and all around great. There's no generic Philadelphia indie sound. Everyone wants to make something new, to be themselves.

Zoe Strauss

2008-11-11T15:27:00.006-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR PRIMER MAGAZINE

For photographer Zoe Strauss, knowing Philly and loving Philly are the same thing.

Q&A by Molly Eichel for Primer Magazine

Q: What makes Philly so great?

A: There are a billion different things. It's a very comfortable city, its a livable city.It's rich in cultural history, which you canb see in your day-to-day life.

Q: Your portraits are so candid, catching. Do you think you could be doing the same kind of work in a different city?

A: It's a combination of both - it's my cative interest and its the people in the city. In terms of the (photography that's) made in Philadelphia, I'm pretty familiar with the neighborhoods or I've lived in the neighborhoods where I make most of the portraits.

Q: Have you ever though of relocating?

A: In the last year or so I've traveled a lot, but I have no interest in relocating. As a matter of fact, I have an active interest in staying.

Q: What's a must-see or must-do for an artist just starting out in Philly?

A: The number one thing is, go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, that's at the top of the list. It has a beautiful, spectacular collection and building. It's integral to the fabric of the city. There's a definite reason Rocky chose to run up those steps. Second, I would say just to get to know where you live. Don't isolate yourself, there's amazing things, no matter where you are.

Jay McCarroll

2008-11-11T14:07:00.007-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR PRIMER MAGAZINE

Project Runway's Jay McCarroll fancies Philly for its DIY aesthetic - But enough with the porn mustaches

Q&A by Felicia D'Ambrosio for Primer Magazine

Q: Where do you see the most shocking fashion sensibilities in the city?

A: Only South Street. Most poeple are very casual and chill, except for outsider who don't quite get it yet and are dressed like anime cartoons.I wore the weirdest outfit last night and no one cared - three items of plaid and I didn't even know i had yellow flip flops! Philly has a very DIY homemade aesthetic... People dress differently in the different neighborhoods. In a globalized world, no city has one solid style.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do in Philly?

A: I go out with my friend Jeremy and we go out to all the gay bard. I love driving down Kelly Drive with my music on, to Philadelphia University, where I work. Passyunk Avenue is lots of fun - and, um, yeah, the Cantina is amazing.

Q: What trends are overdone?

A: Mass consumerism will crush a trend. I love neon and I can't love it anymore 'cause everyone is wearing it. Its also revenge of the nerds right now. They are making art and music and pushing, pushing, pushing. Enough with the porn mustaches! Now nerds are in 'cause technology rules the world.

Q: Where do you go from here?

A: Oh, when Pete Wentz is a fashion designer, we are in a bad place stylistically. These people are not inspiring. We are in a really contrived place right now - who knows?

DJ Skeme Richards

2008-11-11T13:58:00.004-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR PRIMER MAGAZINE

DJ Skeme's got what you need.

Q&A by Deesha Dyer for Primer Magazine

Q: You're known around the world for being able to put your thing down, flip it and reverse it on the turntables. Why do you stay based in Philly?

A: The grass is never greener on the other side, and the same good/bad situations that exist here are everywhere, so I user the harsh reality of Philly's music scene to make me stronger.

Q: Does Philly actually have a DJ style?

A: Yes, Philly has its own style but seems to be getting lost with the amount of new DJs popping up everyday who aren't familiar and don't research Philly's history. When I got to the West Coast or Europe, people instantly know I'm from Philly because of that certain bounce we have.

Q: What can and can't you get away with here as a DJ?

A: If your on your A game and don't care about pissing people off because you're not playing what they want to hear, then you can get away with a lot. If you're worried about who's not going to like or book you, then you're not going t5o get away with anything because you've been robbed of your creativity and have become a human ipod. I'll give you a little of what you want and a lot of what you need.

Jose Garces

2008-11-11T13:46:00.005-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR PRIMER MAGAZINE

Philly's IT Restaurateur Jose Garces humbled Bobby Flay on national TV. Fusing Peruvian and Chinese cuisines should be a snap.

Q&A by Trey Popp for Primer Magazine

Q: Amada and Tinto have been huge successes for you, what inspired your latest restaurant here, Distrito?

A: I love the cuisine and culture of Mexico. It's something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I'm not Mexican - I'm Ecuadorian - but growing up in Chicago, there was a huge Mexican population, and tons of Mexican restaurants and taquerias, so its just been in me for awhile. It's an ancient cuisine, and the use of chilies, tortillas corn - there's just something really comforting about it.

Q: Why has Philadelphia served you so well as a place to pursue your passion?

A: It goes back to my days working with Stephen Starr. I Opened Alma de Cuba and El Vez, and during those 10 years, I noticed the tremendous amount of loyalty that Philadelphia diners had to the restaurants. I'll be honest: There was a point where I was about to leave... but the customer baser and their loyalty were really inspiring.

Q: What's next?

A: For our next show we're going to do an Asian - Latin concept that's been in my head for a few years. We're centralizing it on this idea of a Peruvian and Chinese mix... So we have itineraries in November to go to Lima and Cuzco, as well, and to try to see what we can bring back - see what we can uncover.

Jen Childs

2008-11-11T13:11:00.008-05:00

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR PRIMER MAGAZINE

Improve all-star Jennifer Childs on multitasking and the harshness of comedy

Q&A by Mark Cofta for Primer Magazine

Q: Does being an artistic director who also performs make your job easier, or more complicated?

A: There are times when it gets tricky - a pull between the entertainer side of myself and the producer side. It's a little complicated to jump around onstage in your underpants and then ask someone who's seen you do it to give you $50,000

Q: Many People Equate "Comedy" with "Lightweight." What say you?

A: I think most people who consider comedy lightweight have never tried to do it. It is unforgiving and demands specificity and fearlessness. You must bring everything you have to it - your utmost intelligence, your highest energy and your most personal vulnerability - or it will not work for you.

Q: How has Philadelphia theater changed since you were a UArts student?

A: Making a living as a theater artist here (in the late 80's) was not really an option for more than a select few. I left and when I came back in the early 90's, things were changing... More artists started staying in town and the community really blossomed - Philly became a destination and not just a rest stop on the way to New York.

Q: Much of 1812 productions' comedy is set locally. Does Philadelphia laugh at itself well?

A: It better - because that accent is really freakin' funny.