Picture of the Week #114 "Iconic Ed Ruscha"

Picture of the Week #114 "Iconic Ed Ruscha" Los Angeles, California USA 2009 Signed and Stamped

Ed Ruscha, art star, and I have known each other for probably 30 or more years. One night at a mutual friends dinner I grabbed this shot of him. I thought it was more interesting to montage his image with one of his iconic Standard Station paintings in the background. I should probably send a print to him, although the last thing he needs is another image of his highly published works. The next time I see him I'll ask if he would like one.

Picture of the Week #113 "Concourse Migration"

Picture of the Week #113 "Concourse Migration" Santa Monica, California 2010 / 2011 Signed and Cut Out

This is a commission that I just completed for a friend and W/F Classic Cars in Santa Monica, California. His collection of 23 cars includes this beautiful 1956 Mercedes Benz Gull Wing Coupe. The concept was E.T. meets a flock of gull wings. The doors are opened to varying degrees to simulate the flapping wings of Sea Gulls. The back ground image is ten feet high by fifteen feet wide. Then, there are three cut outs coming out of the image on the sides creating a 3D effect. Jack Duganne the photoshop master, helped me on the computer work which included almost 100 layers and weeks of manipulation to finally get the full effect that I wanted. I believe this takes photography in a new direction.

Picture of the Week #112 "Crossing the Line"

Picture of the Week #112 "Crossing the Line" Beijing / Peking, China 1980 Signed and Stamped

When I was in China over 30 years ago, I was scouting locations and working on the budget for a film I was supposed to direct hopefully with Ingrid Bergman in the starring role, titled "The Footprints of the Pheasant in the Snow". The American title was "Memories". Sadly she became sick and the film financing disappeared. I remained in China as a guest of the Shanghai Art Council. The above images were actually a composite of the famous Mao poster that I brought back home and a photo of General Huong who assisted the Beijing Film Studio in some capacity that I never could figure out. Anyway, last week I attended the Photo LA show in Santa Monica and was very impressed particularly by the Chinese photographers. This prompted me to run home and go through my archives and to create this image. I titled it "Crossing Over" as Communism seems to be falling by the wayside to Capitalism. I hope this picture symbolizes that step in a simple, yet graphic interpretation.

Bonus - Venice Carnival

Bonus image - Venice Carnivale Venice, Italy 2002 Signed and Stamped

This is a teaser for what I hope to accomplish when I go to this years Carnivale in March. Although the Festival starts in February I decided to just catch the last five or six days. My primary reason is to get full figure images of people Masquerading in 18th Century costumes for life size cut outs. Plus, it would be great to have some more incredible images from one of my favorite places.

Picture of the Week #111 "Proud Masai Woman"

Picture of the Week #111 "Proud Masai Woman" Masai Mara, Kenya 1997 Signed and Stamped

From our honeymoon safari and our visit to a Masai village, I encountered this proud woman of an undetermined age. She stoically posed for my camera and asked for nothing but respect with her unwavering look. Below the frame her breast was exposed, but she did nothing to conceal it. After a few clicks of my shutter I smiled and thanked her. She smiled back and nodded her acceptance of being a tourist attraction with dignity.

Picture of the Week #110 "Needs $$$"

Picture of the Week #110 "Needs $$$" Santa Monica, California USA 2010 Signed and Stamped

There are very few places on earth as colorful and bizarre as Venice Beach and the south end of Santa Monica. There must be some sort of magnet that draws all the crazies to congregate. I love it as you can't miss the photo ops wherever you turn. My goal this year is to carry my big Canon camera and start shooting in RAW and find those images that bring a smile to our face and yet at the same time express the desperation of the times. It's a sad but yet funny commentary as we enter 2011.