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Portraits of Anna
Anna, a brilliant mathematician and alluring model came in for some portraits earlier this month. We shot in three locations within my studio’s building, a balcony, stairwell and hallway. I kept it simple with a single light/ beauty dish supported on a large rolling boom stand.
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fast faces.
these portraits are from a headshot booth i set up and ran during a biomedical convention a few years back. about a thousand people stopped by over three days for a quick and easy portrait. I was recently scrolling through the folder containing all the images and was mesmerized by how each face shape morphed into the next. You don’t realize how bizarrely different yet the same we all appear until you see something like this.
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Sofia
I was driving around North Philly last fall and caught a glimpse of this striking spot. The contrast of the colorful decaying leaves against the rusted metal and industrial facade was the perfect setting for some moody fashion oriented portraits. I sent my model, Sofia, a snapshot of the location and she told me had the perfect dress to match the tone. The building is owned by Verizon and I had a feeling that putting in a request to shoot on their property would be either ignored or denied. So Instead of asking for permission upfront, I figured we’d ask for forgiveness later. I set up two lights on rolling boom stands, one equipped with a beauty dish and the other I honestly can’t remember ( i really need to start documenting my behind the scenes setup) There was no opening in the fence so we had to lift everything and everyone over. I figured we’d have a few minutes to work before someone came out to yell at us and at most i’d get to fire off a few test shots. After and hour and a half of shooting various set-ups in different spots we wrapped without incident. I love discovering random locations to shoot. If and when I come across some place interesting I generally take a picture, write down where it is and upload it to a folder on my computer. I’ve got about fifty places I still haven’t gotten to yet. Any volunteers wanna step in?
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Sculpting Biceps and Light
The time, dedication and discipline it must take to transform yourself into this bulging mass of muscles is nothing short of impressive. I like noodles and cake way too much to ever stand a chance at achieving such a goal. Fitness shoots are fun though because you really get to play with light and shadow in an incredibly interesting way. William here is a champion when it come to sculpting biceps but I train and sculpt light.
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March For Our Lives
A selection of images from the Philadelphia March For Our Lives protest/ march held on 3.24.18.
Philadelphia March For Our Lives 
Philadelphia March For Our Lives 
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Philadelphia March For Our Lives 
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Philadelphia March For Our Lives 
Philadelphia March For Our Lives
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E-A-G-L-E-S(eagles) and the belligerent birds
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dnc and the innocent shuffle
of the one thousand three hundred and ninety five photos i shot today at the dnc protests this is my favorite. a little girl playing in fdr park in south philly directly across from where the convention was about to kick off. detached from the anger, violent rhetoric and divisiveness she found joy. we as humans experience this type of blissful innocence for such a short time. it’s a time of peace, love and happiness. i want to help create a world where my nine month old daughter can revel in this for as long as possible. i didn’t feel that love and happiness today. from the moment i arrived i felt anger, hate and rivalry. obama says we can do better. i agree. we say black lives matter and want food not bombs, a higher living wage, equality between the sexes and last but never least LGBTQ rights. but we can’t unite behind a candidate that can bring us closer those goals. i fear this lack of unity will lead to the election of a president that will make my daughters life more difficult. yours too. please think hard on this.
2016 DNC little girl -
Tatiana From Armenia
earlier today i took my students the self dubbed “village photo crew” on a photo walk to the open kitchen sculpture garden in kensington. when we arrived at the intersection of lehigh avenue and american street i noticed a woman wearing a brightly colored overgarment. she clashed with her surroundings and caught my eye not because of what she was wearing but because she was clipping plants from the landscaping outside of a rite aid. i’m a strong proponent of guerrilla gardening and the re-allocation/ propagation of city plants but rarely do i see others participating in this exercise. i walked over and asked if i could take a few pictures of her. she gracefully took my hand and introduced herself as tatiana from armenia. when i asked why she was taking the cuttings she peacefully said she was going to place them on her altar to allah. she then said she would be happy to pose as she’s often asked which she attributed to her “historic look”
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Pope
As you may have heard the Pope came to Philly this weekend.
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Xavier’s 7th Birthday Bash
If there’s one thing I love about summer in the city, it’s the unbearable heat paired with the oppressive humidity. I find it both cleanses the body and the mind. Another thing I love, is bearing witness to how others cope. Most adults shy away from the heat and duck indoors to bathe in reconditioned air. But not kids. Kids love the summer sun. It represents a freedom from homework, a freedom from boredom and a freedom from bedtimes. Living in North Philadelphia, I revel in the creative ways kids find to keep cool during these sweltering summer days. From splashing around in the mist of a corner hydrant to lounging in the back of a plastic lined water filled pickup truck, they always find a way. I was sitting around my apartment last Sunday and decided to head out in search of something photogenic. I didn’t have any set plan on where to go but if you want to find kids playing in water all you have to do is follow the blocks long stream that ultimately leads to a hydrant. After only riding for a few minutes I hit the jackpot. There was a gushing hydrant, a grill smoldering, music blaring, a jumpy house and kids swimming in not one but TWO gigantic inflatable pools. It was the quintessential summer in the city scene. I hopped off my bike and walked on over to the adults to ask if it would be ok to get some shots. This usually goes one of two ways. Either I’m met with side eye and apprehension or open arms. This group was very welcoming. I didn’t even have to dive too far deep into my usual pitch. They saw the camera and welcomed me in to document their celebration which I found out was in honor of Xavier’s 7th birthday. The highlight for me was an impromptu yet clearly choreographed performance of the Electric Slide. I was beyond blown away by this. I’m so sick of the Cupid Shuffle. It was refreshing to partake in a throwback from my teenage bar mitzvah circuit years. As the jumpy house started to deflate and the shade covered the once glistening pool water I took my last shots packed up and hopped on my bike. As I waved goodbye one of the kids ran over and asked me to come back next week but this time with my bathing suit.
