You're Invited

You're invited to my one man Photo Exhibit "Tripping with Stephen Verona" at DAP Studios Gallery 5660 Venice Boulevard, Culver City on Saturday August 22nd from 7:00 to 11:00 PM

Picture of the Week #37 "Chasing Rainbows"

Picture of the Week #37 "Chasing Rainbows" Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 1975 Signed and Stamped.

Believe it or not this picture came right out of the camera. There was no digital manipulation as the light was just perfect. It was originally shot in 1975 on 35mm transparency film and printed digitally in August of 2009.

Picture of the Week #36 "Window Washer of Vancouver"

Picture of the Week #36 "Window Washer of Vancouver #2" Vancouver, Canada 2005 Signed and Stamped.

This graphic image was one of a series of 12 that I took when visiting friends in Vancouver. I was tempted to show you more pictures from the series at once, but then decided against it, and to just tease you with one at a time. What I found unique was that the building changed colors as I walked beneath capturing the Window Washer from different angles. It was as if I had photographed different buildings. I continued on photographing other buildings but with out any Window Washers, and produced my one and only architectural series.

Picture of the Week #35 "Shy in Bhutan"

Picture of the Week #35 "Shy in Bhutan" Thimpu Bhutan 2000 Signed and Stamped

When our friends Alberto Lensi and Heidi Eckes took us to Bhutan, we had one of the most fabulous trips of our lives. Most of the people in Bhutan would pose for their picture to be taken, while this group were more camera shy. Perhaps there was more going on in their lives than the National dictum of "Happiness". The then 48 year old King had claimed that what he wanted for his nation was "happiness". And from the expression on most of the faces, he succeeded. This tiny Kingdom in the Himalayas is heaven. A must see for any traveler. The draw back is that they only allow 5,000 people a year in to visit. When we were there there were no traffic lights. No plastic. And virtually no crime. But I had remarkably fast internet connections as the phone lines were only put in ten years before. I'd go back in a second.

Picture of the Week #34 "Parade Rest"

Picture of the Week #34 "Parade Rest" Bangkok, Thailand 1989 Signed and Stamped

On my trip around the world I fell in love with Thailand. I photographed all the usual tourist sights of the temples and the floating markets, the people and of course the Monks. This is one of my favorites. The seated Buddhas are like soldiers watching their commanding officer walk by as they sit there at "Parade Rest".

Adios Amigo

Photographer Julius Schulman died today at 98. A great life, a great legacy. I took this at Xmas.

Picture of the Week #33 "Curled Up in Cadeques"

Picture of the Week #33 "Curled Up in Cadeques" Cadeques, Spain 1987 Signed and Stamped

I stayed in this picturesque port town in Northern Spain waiting to meet Salvador Dali at his home in nearby Port Lligat.

He was fairly ill at the time. We had met years earlier in New York when we attended the film "Toys in the Attic" with

Mia Farrow who was also his friend. We had on another occasion had lunch together in some top scale

restaurant on the east side of Manhattan. I distinctly remember him ordering a half of a grapefruit and

pouring sugar all over the top until the cherry adorning it could no longer be seen. Madame Gala his immortalized wife

grabbed his hand and guided it back down to the table. I also remember when we were at the film he kept banging his

walking stick on the floor. It was so arbitrary as the banging did not coincide with anything that was going on on the screen.

Sadly, I didn't see the great Surrealist Master again as he died two years later. I don't know if Port Lligat is where those great

Spanish soft shoes called Espadrilles come from, but notice all of the show boxes and the pair hanging above the boy sitting

in the door. It sure looks that way.