Maxigumee

Sloan's

2010-07-25T19:36:56Z

When I was little and my parents took me shopping at Sloan's furniture store, I came along only begrudgingly. The store's intense clutter sent shivers up my spine and and the unheated, dimly lit, cavernous space made me long to be back at home. Who knew what could be lurking behind the broken down wardrobes and mountains of filthy knickknacks? After spending what would seem like an eternity picking out just the right piece of rickety furniture, my parents would finally leave and I would breathe a sigh of relief. Now, when I return to Sloan's more than ten years later, I go far less reluctantly. As I've accrued a taste for vintage furniture and one-of-a-kind pieces, it has morphed from an obsessive child's nightmare into a veritable cave of wonders. Every time I enter the nearly unmarked four-story brick building in Buffalo's dilapidated East Side, I have to control the urge to poop my pants from excitement. I could spend hours in this store and never get bored. I would say that going in there is like embarking on a treasure hunt except that everything in there is like gold to me. As I sift through piles of old animal skins and rows of framed photographs, the mental list of Things-I-Want-To-Buy becomes overwhelmingly overloaded. The last time I visited, I pretty much wanted to walk away with the entire store hitched onto the back of my car. Due to my continuous lack of money, though, this was impossible. I did walk away with a pretty snazzy green chair from the 50s, an old American Flag, and a few other fun things, though.]]>

Concrete Central

2010-06-23T19:26:49Z

Last Saturday, my father took Russell and I on a car ride through two Buffalo neighborhoods: The Hydraulics and The Valley. Nearby, we stumbled across a pretty amazing public park. The park, hidden at the end of a residential block, overlooked the water and was surrounded by railroad bridges, factories, and grain elevators. It resembled a sculpture park with industrial structures instead of Jeff Koons sculptures. I pretty much pooped my pants when I saw it. I'm pretty convinced that it has to be one of Buffalo's best kept secrets. I was so in love with the park that the very next day, I had Russell, Kat, and Kat's sister Erin come back there with me to do a little photo shoot. In addition to exploring the park (I still have yet to learn its name), we ventured across a railroad bridge and into one of the surrounding complexes, Concrete Central. I had never been inside one of Buffalo's industrial buildings before and it was pretty amazing. The entire first floor was covered almost completely with graffiti. A fair distance away from any houses or people, it was a secluded little paradise for picture taking.]]>

Kaisertown

2010-06-14T00:19:29Z

I'm home in Buffalo for the month of June to take a French course at Buffalo State College. While I've been here, I've been making good on my resolution to ride my bike. A lot. I ride my bike to school every morning and I've been trying my best to attend Buffalo's weekly (and AMAZING) midnight bike ride every Sunday. Last Thursday, Aaron and I went on a little exploratory jaunt to Kaisertown, which is quickly becoming my favorite Buffalo neighborhood. I took some photos of the area last summer, but this time, we journeyed off of the main drag to check out some of the houses. I'm a little bit in love with these homes, many of which are covered in pastel-colored shingles and sport perfectly manicured squares of grass in front.]]>

I'm not dead

2010-05-21T12:19:57Z

For the one person that actually reads this blog (AKA my mom), you can sleep soundly. I have not died. I have just not really had the time/interest/patience for blogging over the past few months. For a while, I had this sort of superstitious/OCD thing where I would have to update my blog at least once a month. This year, I couldn't even do that. I'm embarrassed to say that my New Year's resolutions are still completely visible on the main page of this blog. So, because people have had to stare at those for the last five months, let's just start with those. I've actually done amazingly well with my resolutions so far, at least with the ones that matter most to me. First off, I did get my bike fixed and I did ride it! In fact, I've been riding it to and from work every day. Check that off my list of things to do! I also purchased a point-and-shoot camera, something I've been wanting to do ever since my old one broke nearly three years ago. I used to take SO many photographs, but that's just so difficult to do when you have to carry around an enormous DSLR with you everywhere you go. My new Canon G11 is much better for that. I've been making much more conscious attempts to give myself some relaxation time. Sometimes, this can hinder at my ability to do school work, because any time I relax is also simultaneously procrastination time. But still. It's progress. I've been cooking! A little bit. I am sadly not gifted at all in the kitchen, but fortunately for me, I live with somebody who is (Shannon!). From time to time, I will buy food for both Shannon and myself and she will cook it for both of us. Through this process, I've been able to learn to cook. Like one thing. But, still. Again, progress. Out of all of my resolutions for this year, though, the most important thing to me has been changing my problem with focusing and paying attention. And so far, I've been extremely active in trying to change this. At the beginning of the year, I started seeing a therapist, something I've continued to do on a weekly basis. I've also started to see a psychiatrist. Up until this point, I'd been a bit hesitant about taking medication. First off, because drugs in general just terrify me. Secondly, I'm terrified of doctors and getting the labwork required for medication would require me to see one. Thirdly, I just wasn't sure if I actually wanted to change. Luckily, I got over all of these things. Through working with both my therapist and psychiatrist, I (we) have come to the conclusion that a lot of my difficulty focusing stems from my obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety problems. Trust me, it's really difficult to sit down and read a book when you have the nagging urge to reread the same page over and over again. Or clean your entire apartment instead. I'm not going to say that I'm one-hundred percent better, but since I started taking the medication and working with my therapist, I've been feeling a lot more calm. I'm also worrying a lot less. I still have anxiety, but it has overall been significantly diminished. I'm still having trouble focusing and being completely lucid, but I feel like I've at least started to make a change. And that's important. My summer break started last week and it's been kind of bitter sweet. I'm so happy that I am finally done with all of the projects and papers that had been piling up the entire semester. Still, I really enjoyed all of my classes this year and I'm sad that I won't be able to continue going to them. Right now, I'm just letting my mind and body unwind a bit before I go home for June to take a French course to prepare for grad school. The entire grad school process (including applying and taking the GRE) has sort of been at the back of my mind until now. What with that and the six (OMG) classes I'm taking this fall, I'm really happy to have a break right now. Let's hope I can keep up on this blogging thing now that I have (some) free time.

Palindrome

2010-04-03T13:01:18Z

Last weekend, I did a shoot with my friend Lauren who was in need of a lookbook for her art direction portfolio. Lauren, who essentially planned out the entire look and theme of the shoot, chose to shoot the clothing line of Pratt fashion student, Hannah Peyser. Drawing inspiration from the line's name, Palindrome, Lauren opted for a sophisticated, mysterious feeling. Lauren, who is basically a twenty-one year old girl scout, was incredibly prepared for this shoot, and it was wonderful working with somebody who knew precisely what she wanted, right down to the lighting and the types of poses. We originally planned to shoot the images with a grey backdrop, but after testing it for several minutes, I quickly rolled it up and exchanged it for a black one. I'd never shot with a black backdrop before, but I think the results are pretty stunning. Model: Yasemin Kececioglu Art Direction: Lauren Festine Hair: Tracy Pairis Makeup: Lauren Festine Assistant: Abbey Powell Clothing: Palindrome]]>

The Powder Room (Fall 2010)

2010-04-03T12:44:27Z

A few weeks ago, I shot The Powder Room's second lookbook, for their Fall/Winter 2010 Collection. The Powder Room consists of two Pratt Fashion students, Meredith Applebaum and Spencer Richardson, who are both graduating this year. In accordance to the church lady inspiration of this particular collection, we decided to shoot in Webster Hall, an old church turned concert venue in Manhattan. Model: Alexis Greaux Hair: Jachelle Whiting Makeup: Nina S. Park]]>

Alexandria

2010-02-16T15:50:56Z

I did this shoot a few weeks ago with the lovely stylist, Dennine Dyer. Wanting to try out something a little bit different, Dennine chose to shoot in the studio this time around. The inspiration for the shoot was "Russian Winter" attire.]]> Here's a photograph of the entire photo shoot crew: Styling: Dennine Dyer Hair/Makeup: Tracy Paris Styling Assistants: Martin Maynard and Ni'ma Ford Photography Assistant: Elaina Jean Schwennsen

Snow Day!

2010-02-16T01:48:59Z

Had my first New York snow day last Wednesday. I was at the Met with Shannon on Tuesday when the closings were announced. The sky was clear and the air wasn't too cold, not exactly the perfect weather for snow. All of the weathermen seemed pretty sure that this SNOWPOCALYPSE was going to happen, though, even when there was hardly a sprinkling on the ground at midnight. As a fun snow day surprise, Angela signed out a projector from school and we spent the night in the living room watching movies projected onto a big white sheet. When we woke up, there still wasn't all that much snow. Maybe two or three inches at most. As the day progressed however, the flakes got bigger and the snow got heavier until, when I stepped outside in the afternoon, the entire neighborhood looked like a magical fairy snow forest. The Brooklyn Winter Wonderland was so beautiful that I immediately rushed back in and got my camera and my three roommates and went on a little adventure around the block.]]>

Resolutions 2010!

2010-01-03T16:51:10Z

1. Look at more art. Go to more galleries. This past semester was so jam-packed that I had little time to do anything aside from schoolwork. While school is definitely top-priority, this still caused me to miss out on a lot of cultural things around New York. This semester, my schedule is (hopefully) going to be a little less hectic, so I'd like to devote some time each week to exploring museums and galleries. 2. Take more pictures. Every year I have a resolution that says something like this and every year I don't really make anything of it. Still, I'd like to try again this year. I should really train myself to bring my camera more places. I don't think it'd be that hard. I just need to get over being that person with the big, awkward camera. 3. More me time. More relaxation. Whenever I get too much relaxation and me-time, I resolve to DO MORE THINGS, but I think there should definitely be a good balance. Last semester was hectic as hell and I didn't really have much time to do anything aside from freak out and try to get my brain in order. If I did do anything "relaxing" it would be in a procrastinatory state and I'd just be anxious about all of the work I had to do. So. Less procrastination and more serious play time. Maybe go to that meditation class at Pratt that I've been wanting to take. 4. Try to work on being more attentive. Same as last year. My brain tends to be all over the place and I can never really, truly be completely focused and lucid. Shannon makes fun of me all the time for being blank-eyed and unresponsive in the middle of conversations. I really, really, really, really want to change this. So much. 5. Work on some personal photography (or art) projects. Because I recently switched my major to Art History, I'm not taking many photo classes next semester. I feel like this will be really good for me. Last semester, I took like four photo classes and I found it really difficult to work on my own personal projects. Hopefully, I'll have a bit more free time to devote to working on some things of my own. 6. Actually cook something real. I think this can only be done after I learn to have some patience and I fix my whole ADD problem. Every time I'm in the kitchen and try to cook something besides pasta, I just give up and end up throwing things in frustration. I need to at least try to enjoy cooking. Plus, my father got me a pretty sweet cookbook for Christmas and it'd be rude to not use it. 7. Write more. I don't think this will really be a problem, because I'm taking four art history classes this semester. Still, I feel like the lack of writing in my life has started to make my brain disintegrate faster. I'd also like to at least attempt to write on this blog more. 8. Get my bike fixed. Ride it. 9. Save money for: a pretty rug, a point-and-shoot camera, paying Russell back. 10. Have a happy, healthy, fantastic and amazing year!

Checklist 2009!

2010-01-02T16:56:43Z

This is the checklist for my 2009 resolutions. As usual, my priorities and life has changed over the course of the year, so many of my resolutions, while not exactly fulfilled, are kind of irrelevant. I guess that's just as good as having them fulfilled. 1. Stop freaking out about everything. Kiiind of. When I wrote this resolution, I had just come from an extremely stressful semester that consisted of waking up at godawful early hours and commuting to FIT in Manhattan every day. In some ways, my reasons to freak out have considerably diminished. Still, this year was not without freak-out sessions and at times, the accumulated stress from my schedule was enough to have me shouting obscenities to myself on the street. Still, much better year than 2008 in terms of freaking out. 2. Remove the stick from my ass. No. But I've had less reason to worry about said stick this year. My anal-retentiveness has been jiving with my life much better in recent months. 3. Quit being all ADD. No. Not at all. I still struggle with my non-existant attention span every day and this really needs to stop. I keep planning on making an appointment with some kind of specialist, but I always keep forgetting about it and putting it off. 4. Do things. ANYTHING. Yes! I did lots of stuff this year! -- I just can't really remember what. 5. GET A JOB. Yes! I got two jobs, as a matter of fact! Over the summer, I worked at the J. Crew offshoot Madewell and this fall, I got an office assistant job in Pratt's Art History office. 6. Stop being a ridiculously passive doormat with an obsessive need to please people. Let's just ignore this one entirely. 2008 was obviously a pretty emo year for me. 7. Keep a journal No, but I don't really care. 8. Lay in the park more. No, but this past summer was so hot that I hardly ever wanted to step out of my air-conditioned room. I did lay in the park a few times during the spring, though, and that was nice. 9. Get the oven fixed. Yes! 10. Use the oven. Yes! 11. Cook new things. Kind of! I'm still absolutely terrible at cooking, but I've devised a new strategy. It is called Shannon. Shannon is my roommate who is uncommonly gifted at all things culinary. In an attempt to spice up my dinner repertoire, I've started buying food for me and ShannonI to eat together and letting Shannon help with [AKA do all of] the cooking! That way, we can both have delicious, mouth-watering dinners and the house doesn't need to be burned down! 12. Get an internship. Yes! I just finished a two-semester-long internship at Harper's Bazaar! And it was fantastic! 13. Get a driver's license. This will never happen. 14. Go on a trip away from the city. Not really. I did get away from the city, but it was usually for work-related things. Sometimes to assist on photo shoots and other times to help set up the art show I had in October. Still, any reason to get out of the city for a bit is okay by me! 15. Take more pictures. While I didn't exactly take more pictures in the carry-my-camera-around-everywhere way that I meant, I did take an unusually large amount of photographs this year. So that's good. 16. Think positively and make 2009 a fantastic year! I think so! 2009 definitely had its ups and downs, but for the most part, I've liked it a lot! I have three amazing roommates, a little kitty, and I'm back at the school I wanted to be at all along. I also had an art show and one of my photographs was put on a book cover! What more could I ask for?

Introducing Izzie

2009-12-12T22:11:38Z

So, I should probably be doing homework right now, but instead I'm procrastinating. Here are some pictures of the kitten that my roommates and I adopted in October. We've had her a few months now, but I haven't really had time to get photos of her online. I was a bit hesitant about getting a cat, because I'm allergic to most of them. Luckily, nothing about Izzie bothers me except for when she gets smelly after she eats a lot. Aside from that, she's pretty much the cutest thing ever. She's super energetic and super cuddly. I never used to understand it when people would show me photos of their cat or tell me stories about the madcap adventures that their cat has. But now I totally get it. For more cat adorableness, keep reading.]]> So, Izzie really likes to hide in things. Like closets and plastic bags. The other day, despite many failed attempts, she tried to fit her entire body into a small pot in our kitchen. Although she couldn't quite fit, that didn't stop Shannon and I from documenting it from every single angle. If you can tolerate high levels of kitty cuteness, check out these videos that Shannon took:

So, I got glasses.

2009-11-25T21:38:18Z

I've been wanting glasses for a super long time and recently, my eyesight got just slightly bad enough for me to get them! While I was at school this semester, I had my eye doctor order the glasses that I wanted so that they'd be ready for me when I came home for Thanksgiving. My mother, of course, loved them, but she's my mother. I like them, too, but over the past few days, I've been getting some weird reactions to my new glasses and it's making me kind of nervous. When I walked into the room with my new glasses on, my father laughed and then told me that I looked like Clark Kent. And then he told me that they were kind of "mannerist." When my sister saw my glasses she rolled her eyes and said, "uggh. You're such an artsy hipster" and then refused to talk to me while I was wearing them because "I can't take you seriously with those on. They're so queer." When my sister's friend Lena stopped by her house, she asked me if they were real and when I told her that they indeed were, she responded, "You look like a rapist." A little bit later, my sister and Lena continued discussing my glasses and came to the conclusion that I not only look like a rapist, but an un-fun rapist that is trying way too hard to look smart but is actually really stupid. My self esteem somewhat shattered from these reactions, I sent Shannon a camera phone picture of my new glasses to get her opinion. She said something along the lines of "I don't know, you just look different. I'd have to get used to it. It's not like you look BAD or anything." Which, of course, is secret code for "you look butt ugly but I'm just too nice to say it." So basically, I'm a mannerist, Clark Kent, queer, artsy, hipster rapist who is not fun and thinks he looks really smart but is secretly retarded. I really don't think they're that bad! I mean, I know that they look sliiiiightly pretentious and the whole Ray Ban wayfarer thing is both incredibly ubiquitous and kind of on its way out right now, but seriously. Are they really that bad? Let's find out....]]> am dumb as a post, they kind of make me look smarter.... Right? And here I am being a rapist. I don't really understand that one. Are they really rapist glasses? So, yeah. Not really sure. I still like them, but it would really help if other people did, too. Thoughts? [Edit: I realize that even though I have glasses, I am still blind enough to not notice that the only photo I flipped horizontally was the one with the book. I'm too lazy to change the rest, though.]

An addition to my endless list of phobias.

2009-11-24T22:19:25Z

Ever since 2009 became The Year For Planes To Crash, I have become more and more terrified of flying. When I went home in February for my grandfather's funeral, it was just days after the plane had gone down over Buffalo. When that flight landed, everybody on the plane started clapping, probably thankful that we didn't meet the same fate. After the Air France plane disappeared over the ocean a little later in the year, my paranoia regarding being in an airplane only escalated. Because, really, think about it. You are in a tiny little tube hurtling through the air at a million miles a second. There is no way you can get out and no way at all that you could possibly survive if you crashed. You are putting all of your trust into the experience of the pilot and the safety of the aircraft. That's just terrifying. When I went home again in June, I got so nervous every time the plane experienced any turbulence that I started praying in my head and bracing my body for impact. There was one moment, when the plane hit a particularly nasty bump and dipped quickly down for a moment, that I was almost certain that I was going to die. Since then, I've been completely put off by flying. Prior to this year, flying was my transportation of choice. It's quick, simple, and you get free food. Somebody once told me that the chances of dying in a car accident or a train collision are much higher than dying in a plane crash. Still, I feel that with the former two options, you at least have some chance of survival. This is why, when I booked my flight home for Thanksgiving, I started experiencing this dread, a feeling of impending doom, as if by clicking the "purchase" button for my flight, I had somehow sealed my fate: The Day That I Will Die. My brain obviously needs a lot of help. I'm a worry wort to the extreme and I have a huge tendency to psyche myself out and blow things way out of proportion by obsessively thinking about them. This is why, when I only had a week left until my flight home, I had the sudden urge to look up things like lists of celebrities that have died in plane crashes. On the way to the airport yesterday night, my nerves started freaking out even more. When I checked the time on my phone to make sure I was on time, it read "9:11." A normal person would not think twice about this. I, on the other hand, was like, "OH HELL SHIT. THIS IS A SIGN. I'M TOTALLY GOING TO DIE." If I'm going to die, I thought, there's no need to draw it out. It really didn't help that the toddler sitting in front of me kept singing Ring Around The Rosie with particular emphasis on the "We all fall down!" part. It was über creepy. Soon, we were underway. The rickety little plane pulled out from the gate and I could feel every little bump the wheels hit as we taxied our way up the runway. I could feel the wind rocking the wings of the plane as we moved steadily along the tarmac. I felt the engine turn on and the plane readying itself for liftoff. And then it stopped. After a few minutes, the captain came on the loudspeaker and said, "Sorry, folks, but we appear to be having some trouble with the computer on one of our engines. Unfortunately, this means that we have to go back to the terminal. We're going to have the tech guys come take a look at it and once they're done doing their little tech-guy magic, we should be off in the air." Okay, I'm sorry, but when there is an AIRPLANE ENGINE involved, I do not want to hear the phrases "trouble," "computer," and "tech-guy magic" coupled together. Ever. When we arrived back at the terminal and the crew had us waiting for a good forty five minutes, the captain came on the loudspeaker again to clear some things up. "Okay, folks. So it turns out that one of our ignitors is broken. We can still take off with just one, so after the tech guys check everything out and I sign some paperwork, we should be underway. I tried to get us another plane, but this is really the faster option." As soon as the captain said this, headlines began flashing in my mind. "HUGE MISCALCULATION BY PILOT LEADS TO VIOLENT PLANE CRASH!" "PLANE EXPLODES JUST SECONDS AFTER TAKEOFF!" "MASSIVE DEATH TOLL!" "THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!" I started texting my mother all of the information the pilot had said, partly to ease my nerves and partly so that she would know what to tell the reporters after the plane crashed. By this time, my heart was racing and I was about 80% certain that I was going to die if I didn't get off the plane. This was about the point when I tried to calm myself by becoming all philosophical. I began telling myself things like, "What is death, really? 'Tis but another stage of existence! It's only the beginning! In the grand scheme of things, it's not that important!" And then I decided that, "HELL NO! I don't want to die! GET ME OFF THIS PLANE!" I wondered if it would be way too obnoxious to request to get off an take another plane in the morning. That extra 20% of uncertainty keep me in place, though, and after another thirty minutes of "tech guy magic," the plane was all set and ready to go. We taxied down the runway, picked up some speed, and finally took off. The plane did not explode. It didn't even experience that much turbulence. The craziest thing that happened was when the guy sitting across the isle from me, apparently even more scared of flying than I, started shaking back and forth and clutching his head as we prepared for landing. It felt nice to not be so alone. I got off the plane in one piece and met my mother in the lobby. She had a hug and a a foot-long chicken finger sub waiting for me. Going home is so great.]]>

It's your last chance!

2009-11-12T04:58:39Z

The lovely people at The Washington Art Association have decided to extend my show up from the original end date of November 1 all the way up until this weekend! That means that you still have one more chance to hop on the Metro North or rent a Zip Car and get yourself to Connecticut for the weekend to see my show of photomontages! The scenery up there is beautiful this time of year so make a little day trip of it! And go look at some art! For more information about the show, check out the gallery's website here.]]>

The Powder Room Lookbook Preview

2009-11-09T01:06:27Z

So, I did a lookbook photoshoot this past friday for a clothing line called "The Powder Room." The line is designed by two Pratt fashion students, Meredith Robinson and Spencer Richardson. The shoot took place at 6pm, after I had been at work and in class the entire day. Still, the energy provided by Elaina (my wonderful assistant for the day), Carianne (our beautiful model), and everybody else involved was enough to keep me photographing for hours. I haven't finished editing all of the photos yet, but I started playing around in photoshop and ended up with these images. The final photos will be in color and feature the clothing a bit more prominently, but these are a sneak peak.]]>