Do you remember?

I have a 1998 L'Uuomo Vogue magazine "Fashion in Portraits," with an image by Paolo Roversi on the cover that I always keep visible, and nearby my workspace at home. It moves with me no matter where I end up, and always elevates itself among the creative clutter of my workspace. My office/digital darkroom at home is in the laundry room, yep, right there with the washer and dryer, and the distinct aroma of those dirty clothes that never, ever go away. I often like to close the door to be "contained" when I'm in there. This works well for me in the Winter, but the Summer requires a little more commitment from me.

I use to spend a little fortune buying fashion magazines, principally for the inspiration and the work of favorite photographers whose, "eye" and "lighting" meant something special to me. I was delivering some photos last week, and as I was leaving I asked if I could borrow a magazine to take with me downstairs while I had a coffee. There were two tables stacked with at least 60 magazines. I did what I think we all do now when at the magazine store. I took a quick look through the piles, said "thank you," and left empty handed. Do you remember when you would spend money on a magazine that you really could not afford, borrow it with no intention of ever returning it, or just plain out steal it? Nowadays, maybe once or twice every six months I actually fork over the cash and buy a magazine that has some honesty, timelessness, and visually thought-provoking photo work. Do you remember the movie "The Steppford (sp) Wives (models)"? All the women in the movie were turned into "Barbies" looking, talking, acting the same.

This image is from some work done with Sophia, Luc Knowlan, Francis Tremblay(www.soyeztetu.com ), and Philip Gingras. The team created this really wonderful bounty of curls, and the styling and makeup were right on target (I know you can't see it, but....). Sophia really "worked it" for us, and I am very thankful to her, and Luc & Philip because they exceeded my expectations that day. I have the "clean" shots somewhere, but it is because of how the light hit her extended hand here that it became one of my favorites from the day.

Again, it is because of those honesty, timelessness, and visually thought-provoking elements that I keep that old magazine of mine always nearby. It is one of my anchors, and it gives me a much needed grounding. I've re-committed myself to get these elements more fully present again in my work, so that I don't start or stop casually "flipping" myself, and do my part to reduce the "flipping" of those who I get the opportunity to photograph. And yes I'm going to need a little help from my friends to accomplish this, but "Yes we can."