The Occasional Photo Blog

Vertical

2012-01-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Another panorama: Central Park a few years ago.

Anime USA

2012-01-17T00:50:00.001-08:00

2012-01-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

The tofu hut

2011-12-09T12:37:00.001-08:00

2011-12-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to report that one of my photographs was recently featured on the front page of the 7th Berlin Biennale's website! Curated by Tomas Rafa.

Self Portrait with Dutch Belted Cow

2011-11-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

Yet more from Occupy Portland (post-eviction)

2011-11-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

A tense standoff with police on SW Main Street yesterday after the eviction of Chapman and Lownsdale Parks. The protesters ultimately decided to peacefully and temporarily relocate to Pioneer Courthouse Square.

A few more from Occupy Portland

2011-10-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Occupy Portland - Day 2

2011-10-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

Occupy Portland

2011-10-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

The Vanderbilt Republic - Contemporary Utopias Parts 1 and 2

2011-09-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

A short, somewhat overdue announcement--I've recently begun a series of articles for The Vanderbilt Republic (a site founded by a group of creative people engaging in socially conscious work). The first two are already online, and the third should be up sometime in the next few weeks.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the links to Contemporary Utopias I: The Photographic Legacy and Contemporary Utopias II: The Temporary and the Postmodern.

2011-09-08T21:45:00.001-07:00

Rose's Pawn Shop, live at Mississippi Studios

2011-08-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

Into the wild

2011-08-04T23:22:00.000-07:00

One from the vault

2011-07-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is probably the first picture I took that I was honestly proud of. It's on one of my first rolls of film. I shot it soon after I started down the long, dark path of photography, and around the time I started taking classes (during my very first class, actually, which was Advanced B/W Darkroom--I somehow convinced the photo dept. that I knew what I was doing in the darkroom, based on having read a book on it. And I was actually one of the better students in that class. For better or worse, I'm an autodidact at heart.)

About the photo: it was taken with my trusty Pentax K-1000 that a friend had given me, and a brand new 28mm lens that I bought to replace the 50mm that was already on it (for around $30). I took it at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade--truly a camera convention if there ever was one. A few friends were going, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to hang with them in one of my favorite places on the planet. I shot a couple of rolls of film while I was there, just so I would have something new to print during class the next week. If I hadn't been taking that class, I doubt if I would have even bothered bringing my camera back then. There's a lesson there somewhere but it's probably almost as cliche as photographing the Mermaid Parade, and I'm way too tired to try and figure it out at the moment.

More from the archives to come...

conference speaker, July 2011

2011-07-15T12:00:00.001-07:00

Eugene, Oregon June 2011

2011-06-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Audience, Wonder Ballroom, June 2011

2011-06-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

Having fun with my cellphone camera. Which I really have no idea how to use.

Zombie walk

2011-05-31T01:05:00.001-07:00

Steampunk

2011-05-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

An update and an online tearsheet

2011-05-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind as usual on posting new photos, and I'll have some up on the blog soon-ish. In the meantime, here's a photo of mine on Time.com. (Only slightly cropped!) I've always liked this photo and I'm really glad that it found a home on Time Magazine's website. (And yes, BT's Twitter feed is as unbelievably awesome as they say it is.)

More fun with the Ansco Pix Panoramic Camera

2011-03-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Austin, Texas 2011

2011-03-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

SXSW 2011 update #2: Sixth Street

2011-03-21T23:23:00.001-07:00

SXSW 2011 update #1: Total Unicorn = total domination

2011-03-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

On the fence

2011-03-08T00:37:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure about this one, but it's holding my interest at the moment. I'm even debating making a decent scan of it. Yet another instance of me crouching down in the middle of the sidewalk to take a picture.

One thing that I realized when taking pictures on the street was that the odder I was acting, the more people ignored the guy with the camera acting odd. It's counterintuitive, but it works--at least in NYC, anyway, where it's fairly commonplace to see someone acting bizarrely in public.

I like to give my photos nicknames, and for what it's worth, this one's nicknamed "the mod squad."

Sean, drawing in his room

2011-02-27T15:47:00.001-08:00

Saturday night at the Slabtown Bender

2011-02-16T22:26:00.001-08:00

Anime USA 2010

2011-02-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

At a suburban mall

2011-02-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

Ohioan live at Mississippi Studios

2011-01-14T23:21:00.000-08:00

2011-01-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

T-Mode 2010 continued

2011-01-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

New year, new book cover

2011-01-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

The front cover of Jeff's first book, soon to be published by BlazeVOX Books. It's a wraparound, and the photo winds its way around the back cover.

I took it on the way either to or from the ICP darkroom one night (I can't quite remember) with my trusty Ansco Pix Panorama camera. Take a gander at the full image, if you'd like.

On the runway

2010-12-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

A couple of pictures from a ThinkGeek.com holiday fashion show and fundraiser that I was recently invited to photograph. Good people, good food, and a good cause. Plus--lightsabers!

HumanKind opening reception

2010-12-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to meeting up with some friends at the opening reception for HumanKind on Friday, December 17, 2010, 7:00pm at the powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn, NY. Lots of amazing photographers participating in the show and there will be a ton of great work on display. Including several pictures from my series "The Communitarians."

Update: you can now view a slideshow of the winning entries on Vimeo.

T-Mode 2010 continued

2010-11-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

T-Mode 2010

2010-11-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

(One day late, I realize...things have been a mite bit hectic here at The Occasional Photo Blog, Inc.)

SIxth Avenue, April 2010

2010-09-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

After the reenactment

2010-09-02T20:43:00.001-07:00

The Solid Sound Festival - Wilco, etc.

2010-08-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

The photos from the Solid Sound Festival last weekend are up! All 50 or so in the final edit are on my PhotoShelter site, where you can view them as a Solid Sound Slideshow. Eventually I'll edit through them further and add the best two or three into the "Live Music" gallery. That's the plan, anyway. We'll see how long it takes me.

So, you ask, how was the festival? Incredible--it superceded my very high expectations in every way. Definitely the highlight of the summer for me. More than once I found myself thinking, this is what music festivals should be like. So many good things to say about the festival, I don't know where to begin--so instead of rambling on about how phenomenally great it was, I'll just link to these articles and let you read more about it:

New York Times
NPR
The Hartford Courant
Rural Intelligence

And while you're at it, you should really download the Numero Group's Saturday night DJ set.

2010-08-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Portrait Show at Rayko Gallery July 28-Sept 10, 2010

2010-07-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

One of my photos is in the upcoming (Por)trait Revealed group show at Rayko Photo in San Francisco, along with some amazing work by some great photographers. If you're in town, you should head on over. The opening's this Wednesday, July 28, from 6-8pm.

Still life with microphones

2010-06-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day 2009

2010-05-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures during a trip to the Vietnam War Memorial with my good friend Sean and his parents last year. It's not that I'm feeling particularly patriotic today or anything, but I thought I'd update the blog, and the holiday provided a nice, timely excuse to post these pix.

Austin, Texas 2010

2010-05-29T14:39:00.001-07:00

Anime USA 2009

2010-05-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Earth Day 2010

2010-05-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Despite forecasts of thunderstorms, it was sunny and warm on the National Mall during this year's Earth Day climate rally. Since it was the 40th anniversary, there was a much larger crowd than last year, and some big names on the marquee as well, including Avatar director James Cameron. I duly rubbed the elbows of, among others, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker and television personality Dhani Jones, who jokingly (?) accused me of trying to sneak a peak at the paper his speech was printed out on (I wasn't - I swear.) But the highlight of the day was getting to meet legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. When it came picture-taking time, I was so nervous I could barely focus the camera. And, objectively speaking, the picture isn't all that great--it's probably not really interesting to anyone other than me. At one point in Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes writes about a photograph that only holds significance for him--and it's the only photograph that he discusses that isn't reproduced in the book. But since I'm not Roland Barthes, here's my picture of Bob Weir, along with a few others from the day.

Honorably Mentioned

2010-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

OK, it's been ages since the last update, I know, but rest assured, there are new photo-updates in the works. But first...a quick announcement of some good news! My series "The Communitarians" just received honorable mention for the 2009 New Documentarian Award for a Long-Term Project. I'm incredibly honored that my project was selected by the judges and I've been walking around feeling happy since I got the news.

Update #2...my shooting schedule should keep me busy through the summer, if all goes according to plan. I'll be working on both short-term and long-term projects, and I'll be hitting the road a little as well. Look for me wandering the streets from NYC to PDX...

Late for class

2010-02-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

On the sidelines

2010-02-18T09:40:00.001-08:00

Tikvah, in her clown costume

2009-12-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

2009-11-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

On the street

2009-11-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

more panoramas (Coney Island)

2009-11-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

Chicago 2009

2009-07-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

The Postmodern Condition

2009-07-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to this year's winners of the Grand Prix Paris Match du Photoreportage, Guillaume Chauvin and Rémi Hubert!
Their winning entry, which exposes the harsh conditions that their fellow students at Strasbourg University face, is tough and uncompromising, the kind of reportage that signifies at once a photography concerned with suffering while also revealing the photographers' deep-seated humanist values. Take a look at their incredibly well-done photo-essay here, and then continue reading below...
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From the British Journal of Photography:

Every year, Paris Match, which remains one of the last weekly magazine to give predominant space to photography, organises its ‘Grand Prix Paris Match du Photoreportage.’ This year, the prize, which comes with €5000 and ten pages in Paris Match, was awarded to two students attending Strasbourg’s university.

Guillaume Chauvin and Rémi Hubert won for a reportage chronicling the harsh difficulties some poor students encounter while studying at the Strasbourg university. Their images showed students living in basements or offering sex to pay their rents. Another image portrayed a young man falling asleep in a bus as he embarked on a two-hour commute to his university. The reportage can be seen on Paris Match's website here.

The trick? All of the images had been faked, the two winners announced as they received the coveted prize on 24 June. ‘We though it was a bit caricatural,’ says one of the students to Le Monde newspaper. ‘We thought it would never win.’

However, terms and conditions don’t forbid faked reportages – a situation that is likely to change next year. Already, Paris Match has withdrawn its cash prize, offering it, instead, to the two student’s university of decorative arts in Strasbourg. The weekly magazine, which is now warning readers that the images have been faked, has also announced that next year’s cash prize will be increased to €10,000 as a result of this year’s ‘fraud’.
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Regardless of whether you feel vindicated or outraged after seeing their photo-essay, it definitely leaves an impression--and in my opinion, it's an important commentary, not only on the photojournalism profession but also (and, it seems to me, predominantly) on viewer expectations about what photojournalism is or should be.

Pride, prejudice, zombies

2009-07-01T14:00:00.001-07:00

OK, this has nothing to do with photography, but I wanted to mention it anyway...a really cool book, and a brilliant concept. All the emphasis on well-bred country gentlemen and ladies that you've come to expect from Jane Austen with all the brain-eating gore that you've come to expect from zombies. Plus there's some sweet ninja action thrown in too.

New work

2009-06-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

I've been keeping busy shooting a lot of black-and-white film over the past couple of months (3 different projects and a workshop with Mary Ellen Mark) and I'm just now sorting through it all. The backlog is steadily growing...

Maybe I should look into how other photographers edit their work, but I have a feeling there's just no way to speed up the process.

Recorded music, for a change

2009-05-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

From the WFMU Record Fair a few years back. Going through some old photos...

Another concert, another concert photo

2009-05-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

I took this picture last Friday in a small all-ages club located in the middle of a strip mall in suburban Virginia. I went with a music photographer friend to hear a handful of bands play short back-to-back sets of screamo music--a new experience for me. Screamo is basically hardcore emo music. The screamo scene originated in San Diego but has amassed quite a large following on the East Coast, where most of the bands' influences were/are based. Even though the bands have only self-released their CDs or put them out on very small labels, the high school girls standing in front of me were gushing over the guys in the bands like they were the Jonas Brothers, and they knew all the words to the songs by heart. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the name of this band is This Time Never, which, incidentally, is a pretty cool name for a band.

Earth Day on the Mall 2009

2009-04-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Flaming Lips headlined the Earth Day festival on the National Mall this past weekend, so I packed up the camera bag and off I went. I'd wanted to see them perform live for ages, and they did not disappoint, to say the least. The Capitol Building in the background provided a nice surreal touch to what's in all likelihood the most postmodern rock concert experience available. Wayne Coyne, merry prankster extraordinaire, came out onstage with the giant hands on, surfed the crowd in a plastic bubble, and at some point, he was playing a crazy looking double-guitar, where the bottom guitar was some sort of modified "Guitar Hero" device. I have no idea how he played it--or even if he really was, for that matter. (Judge for yourself in the 3rd picture...) Highlights included an intense, gong-banging cover of Madonna's "Borderline" and the encore (and new official state rock song of Oklahoma) "Do You Realize?"

Other bands on the bill included Los Lobos (who encored with their incredible rendition of the Grateful Dead song "Bertha") and moe. It was fairly crowded, and of course there were plenty of college girls in hippie skirts with hula hoops. Because what would a neo-hippie gathering be without hula hoops? Or the secretary of labor, for that matter? It was like a mini-Coachella, with a lot more policy wonks and a lot less music, the kind of festival where every speaker loudly proclaimed "I am a member of the Green Generation!" despite actually being members of different generations, and the rare event where people could wander in and out of the Smithsonian during the long gaps between musical acts.

Indelible

2009-04-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

One of my pictures from the 2008 election was featured in "A Campaign for the Ages," a Web-exclusive slideshow on VanityFair.com. Many thanks to the amazing photo editors at Vanity Fair for including my picture in the slideshow. Hmm...my ego is actually getting a little bit bigger each time I look at it...not sure if that's a good thing, but anyway...

Vanity Fair: A Campaign for the Ages

Summer and Anya, January 2009

2009-03-26T20:04:00.001-07:00

Blitzen Trapper

2009-03-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

Live at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming exhibit at Rayko Photo

2009-02-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

One of my photos is headed out west for an all-expense-paid six-week trip to San Francisco....I'm envious. Anyway. Just a quick reminder that RayKo's 2nd Annual International Juried Plastic Camera Show opens this Thursday, February 26th. The opening reception is from 6-8pm so if you're in the area, swing by and check it out.

Top photo: Christophe Dillinger
Bottom photo: Aline Smithson

Jokerman

2009-02-18T10:48:00.001-08:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I've become overexcited, obsessive, single-minded and highly research-oriented...something that always seems to happen when I start a new project. This time around, I'll be collaborating with Ellen Blaschke, a good friend and an amazing photographer.

"Adults with Autism" on Time.com

2009-01-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this link for a while, but things got kinda busy...

You can see the picture (and read the article!) here:
Time.com: New Clues to Autism's Cause

Giving Bush the boot

2009-01-23T11:56:00.001-08:00

Outside the White House on Bush's final day in office...

Scenes from the National Mall - 2009 Inauguration

2009-01-22T18:03:00.001-08:00

Frenetic

2009-01-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

Yet another panorama

2008-12-10T20:24:00.001-08:00

I'm still hard at work editing this series. Expect more soon...

Pictures without people in them, for a change

2008-11-24T06:57:00.001-08:00

My Life as a Stuffed Deer Head

2008-11-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

President Obama

2008-11-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Rocktoberfest!

2008-10-10T18:23:00.001-07:00

Fleet Foxes

2008-10-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

live at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C.

James Nachtwey on documentary photography

2008-09-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

The video of Nachtwey's speech upon receiving the TED prize is well worth watching. Nachtwey discusses the reasons why he (along with so many documentary photographers) chose this crazy profession to begin with, and narrates a slideshow of images spanning his entire career and all four corners of the globe.

Resolution by Erin Lambert

2008-09-19T09:54:00.001-07:00

My first book cover! If you only buy one chapbook of poems this year, this is the one!

Pre-order your copy here.

Silver Jews

2008-09-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

live at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C.

Yet another panorama

2008-09-10T22:37:00.001-07:00

Magnetoencephalography

2008-09-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

For the full report, and more photos: click here.

NYC cabdrivers probably hate me

2008-09-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Living out my T.J. Hooker fantasies...

That was then, this is now

2008-08-28T18:45:00.001-07:00

Watching Hillary Clinton speak at the Democratic National Convention on C-Span a couple of nights ago, I found myself flashing back to earlier in the year, when I covered her Super Tuesday celebration in NYC. It was fascinating to observe her campaign, then in full "regroup" mode and gearing up for the difficult months ahead...and it's interesting to look at the pictures now in retrospect, knowing how everything ultimately panned out. The one below it is of an Obama volunteer speaking to a small but enthusiastic crowd at a local campaign event at a downtown bar a few weeks prior to Super Tuesday.

Two and a half months to go...

Tikvah in her room

2008-08-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Party at the Pink Boa

2008-08-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

The World Future 2008 Conference

2008-08-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Sad As New York City

2008-07-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

Shoes and Tattoos

2008-06-01T08:41:00.001-07:00

Oryx and Topi - Oregon, 2007

2008-05-30T21:41:00.001-07:00

NYC panoramas, continued...

2008-05-27T21:09:00.001-07:00

Tapes n' Tapes live at the 930 Club

2008-05-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

One more from the archives

2008-04-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

For those of you who remember my earlier post about this project, here's the before-and-after of another forgotten picture. Making Buckminster Fuller proud, circa 1968.

One of the Chosen People

2008-03-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

Some good news! Three of the photos that I submitted to American Photography 24 were chosen to appear on the AI-AP web gallery disTRIBUTE this year. The photos are from the feature for German Geo that was published this past October ("Utopia im Wald"). Needless to say, I'm really excited about that (I'm in a state of disbelief, actually), and I'm also looking forward to the annual AI-AP Pub Party this November. It's supposed to be an incredible party, and it will be a great excuse to visit friends in NYC. It's been a big transition leaving NYC and moving to DC this past month, but I'm getting settled in, starting work on a couple of new projects (and of course continuing the older long-term projects), making the rounds, and generally getting my act together. Expect more new pictures soon...

Heavy Metal Drummer

2008-03-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from a recent death metal show at the Corpse Fortress, a group house in Silver Springs, MD that hosts metal and punk shows. A total of four bands performed in the basement that night.

99 Cents Only!

2008-03-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

The best use of an Andreas Gursky photo ever?

From the 99 Cent Stores' website: "Renowned photographer Andreas Gursky describes his famous '99 Cent' photo as aisles of brightly packaged merchandise fused into a perfectly ordered whole. This 11 by 7 foot photo has been displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art, as well as museums in Paris, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. It was taken in 1999 at the 99¢ Only Stores located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. This photograph recently sold for over $1,999,999!"

Personally, I really love the fact that Gursky let them use the photo. That's quite a way to give back.

Sean's zombie

2008-03-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

My good friend Sean Samoheyl had his work included in the WPA art auction in DC last week. I had the opportunity to crash the party and hang out with him and another Virginia artist and all-around good guy Warren Craghead. It was great seeing Sean's monster dolls on display in a museum setting -- his art's getting a lot of exposure these days, and he's currently planning to take his phenomenally amazing one-man puppet shows on tour this summer (he'll be opening for Kimya Dawson, of Juno fame). Sean gave me a hand-carved wooden Leica M6 a couple of years back, and it's one of my most prized possessions. Check out his website, and if you get a chance, go see him perform live--you will not be disappointed.

Fire + Hula Hoop = Fun

2008-02-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

Salsa dancing

2008-01-31T18:17:00.001-08:00