Molly Crabapple

I recently had a shoot with another of my favorite subjects, artist/burlesque performer/model Molly Crabapple. I've shot with Molly several times now and I always enjoy the collaboration and what we create together. The image below is an outtake from the shoot, which was for an upcoming issue of Heeb Magazine.

Maya Azucena

I did a shoot last week with one of my favorite subjects, singer/songwriter Maya Azucena. This was the first shoot for a new project I'm starting. More info soon.

Graphic Novelists - Supplemental

A few times on the project I've played around with concepts to create something 'extra' just for fun, which I've given to the artists to use on their blogs, etc.

The image below was inspired by Mike Dawson's book, Freddy & Me, about Mike's love of Freddie Mercury and Queen. The image is a direct riff of the iconic album cover of Queen II.



Tim Hamilton is adapting a particular Ray Bradbury novel (which involves flames) for a not-yet-anounced into a Graphic Novel for Hill & Wang.

Graphic Novelists - Day 30

Nope, I'm not shooting dental ads - that's cartoonist Raina Telgemeier in the photo below. This situation is a direct play off of Raina's very enjoyable web comic, SMILE (A Dental Drama). Raina describes it as "the true story of how my mouth got messed up, and then fixed."
Also check out Raina's young adult series, The Babysitters Club, from Scholastic.
Thanks to my dentist of nearly 20 years, Dr. Jack Sherman for giving us the run of his office!

The Beat

Heidi MacDonald over at Publishers Weekly's The Beat did a nice write-up on my NYC Graphic Novelists projects. See it here.

Graphic Novelists - Day 29

Art Spiegelman is someone I've always wanted to photograph, so I was thrilled when he agreed to be a part of my new project. We had been shooting on Art's Soho roof deck for a little while when he grabbed a piece of chalk and began drawing on the side of a neighboring building. As soon as he was done and sat under it, I knew immediately it was THE shot.
I first read Art's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, Maus back when I was in college, in the early 90's, and since then my copy's been passed around to just about every member of my family. Also great are The Wild Party: The Lost Classic by Joseph Moncure March and In the Shadow of No Towers.

Christina Minasian

I recently did a shoot with Christina Minasian, creative director of the fashion line, Pensey. The line is NY-based and was started by Christina, a celebrity stylist and former buyer.

Graphic Novelists - Day 28

Yesterday, I shot Christine Norrie - my 30th subject for the project! After reading Christine's books Cheat and Breaking Up, it occurred to me that she's doing a modern-day take on romance comics. Inspired by her work, and by classic romance comic imagery, I set-up the photo seen below.
Christine gave me a preview of an upcoming project she's illustrating for DC Comics, and it looks really great.

Graphic Novelists - Day 27

It's easy to tell from reading Peter Kuper's latest book, Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz, that the Crysler Building is his favorite NYC structure. I met Peter in Grand Central Station this afternoon and we scouted the area until finding the angle seen in the photo below.
Aside from co-founding World War 3 Illustrated in 1980, and doing Spy Vs. Spy for Mad Magazine for the past 11 years, Peter has put out a number of great books, including; Speechless, The Metamorphosis and The System.

Graphic Novelists - Day 26

I arrived extremely sweaty at Dash Shaw's Bed Sty home on Sunday morning. At only 24, Dash is certainly the youngest creator in my book. Check out his beautifully designed 720 page graphic novel Bottomless Belly Button, and preview his next book, Body World online at his site.

Graphic Novelists - Day 25

I spent Friday morning at the Park Slope home of cartoonist Mike Dawson. His book, Freddie & Me, made my recent flight to San Diego almost seem to breeze by. Mike has crafted a comix memoir about his how his love of Freddie Mercury and Queen ties into the seminal moments of his life.
The concept for the photo below came easily.

Morgan Spurlock

My portrait of director Morgan Spurlock is in the current issue of YRB Magazine. The image below is the one that ran, rather than the one I posted a few weeks back.

Graphic Novelists - Day 24

After returning Monday night from five days in San Diego on a bachelor party trip, I woke up exhausted but excited the next morning, because I had a shoot scheduled with Paul Pope.
Paul had the very cool idea to do the shoot at the Slipper Room and have his girlfriend and subject, Harvest Moon performing in the background.
Check out Paul's wonderful coffee table book, Pulp Hope, and follow up your viewing of The Dark Knight with Batman: Year One Hundred. Also, Heavy Liquid is coming back into print this fall.




Thanks to Veronica for taking the behind-the-scenes photos. Great job!


I'd aso like to take this opportunity to officially welcome aboard Christoper Irving (right) to the project. Chris will be writing all the text for the book. His work has been published in Comic Book Artist Magazine, and in his books, The Blue Beetle: His Many Lives from 1939 to Today, and Comics Introspective: Peter Bagge.We've been talking for months, but we didn't meet until right before the Pope shoot. Chris lives in Virginia, but was in town to conduct a bunch of interviews for the book.

Jonathan Groff

Check out the current issue of Time Out New York to see my portrait of stage actor Jonathan Groff. Jonathan starred in Spring Awakening on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony for it. He's about to open in Hair at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

The image on the left is the one used in the magazine. The right one is a piece I put together to play of his being in Hair, and inspired by 60's psychadelica and most specifically by Richard Avedon's portraits of the Beatles. It was originally supposed to run, until it was decided by the editors that the other better fit the layout.

Graphic Novelists - Day 23

After reading Alex Robinson's fantasitc new book, Too Cool to be Forgotten, I knew I had to photograph him in a high school classrooom. Read the book and you'll see what I mean. Also check out Alex's previous books, Box Office Poison and Tricked.
A point of interest - the classroom where Alex is sitting is the very same where I slept through Bio in the 10th grade.
Thanks to Carlos Molina for getting us into my old h.s to shoot.

Graphic Novelists - Day 22

I met up with fellow Bay Ridge resident Becky Cloonan this morning.
Becky's Eisner nominated collaboration with Brian Wood, DEMO, was just republished by Vertigo Comics. Volume 2 will hit this fall.
Beck showed me pages from her soon to be released self-published book, Pixu. It looks beautiful and can only be purchased at khepri.com or from Becky herself at one of her upcoming con appearances.

Graphic Novelists - Day 22

I did a re-shoot with Simon Fraser on Friday. Simon is best know as the co-creator of Nikolai Dante for the British Weekly Anthology, 2000AD.
Simon grew up in Scotland watching slide shows of his father's trip to the 1964 NYC World's Fair. From looking at Simon's work, I think those images seeped into his consciousness and helped to shape his aesthetic. So, it only made sense to shoot at the World's Fair grounds in Queens.
Check out Simon's wonderful online comic, Lilly Mackenzie and the Mines of Charybdis, at ACT-I-VATE.

A Great Day in Brooklyn

I was recently asked to be a part of a very special event. Community arts organization, Dope Swan organized to have a group photo taken by legendary photographer, Jamel Shabazz, of the people who make up what they're calling the "Brooklyn Renaissance era." It was called "A Great Day in Brooklyn," paying homage to Art Kane's iconic image of jazz aficionados, "A Great Day in Harlem." In addition to the photograph, the Brooklyn, Stand Up! project will consist of monthly arts programming in and around Brooklyn, an online archive of interviews of Brooklyn's self-made leaders, and a scholarship fund for Brooklyn students.

I was honored to be included with such Brooklyn luminaries as Mos Def, Michael K. Williams from HBO's "The Wire", Black Girls Rock! founder DJ Beverly Bond, Councilman Charles Barron and Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam artist Suheir Hammad.

Check out the image below. Please note, this is a snapshot taken over the photographer's shoulder, so it's not the final image. You can find me in the third row from the top, image right of center. I'm the guy in the blue shirt, standing next to my buddy, Anthony LaSala, who's looking up, for no apparent reason.


Photo: The Jamel Shabazz Photography Group

Format Mag article

One of my favorite sites, Format Mag, did and interview with me recently, and posted it this morning. I usually don't like how I come off in interviews, but all that Brooklynites press last year must have made me better, because I think I actually sound coherent and intelligent here.
Thanks to Carmel Hagen for asking good questions and writing a great piece, and to Leah Satlin, Daniel Eckler and everyone at Format for thinking of me.
See the article here.

Graphic Novelists - Day 20

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting the Upper East Side home of comics legend Irwin Hasen. Mr. Hasen, now 90 years old, started out at DC Comics in the 1940's drawing the Justice Society of America, among other titles. In the mid 50's he accomplished his dream of working on a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip when he co-created Dondi, which he continued to work on until the late 1980's. I had a wonderful time with Mr. Hasen as he shared his stories of the golden age of the comic book industry with me.
About the photo below - When I started this project, I swore to myself to not do any "artist at the drafting table" shots, but it just seemed to fit with Mr. Hasen.

Graphic Novelists - Day 19

Late last night, I pushed through the tourists and theater crowds of Times Square to meet Howard Chaykin. The concept was to shoot Howard in the middle of all the chaos and LCD and neon, to give the impression of the futuristic elements seen in much of Howard's work. Coincidentally, Howard had theater tickets for his last night in town, so it worked out perfectly.
Howard's been incredibly prolific lately, doing art on runs of Wolverine, Punisher War Journal, War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle, and he's about to start writing Squadron Supreme. Most exciting though - Howard's seminal American Flagg is finally being collected by Image Comics! Volume 1 will be released in hardcover on 7/30.


Thanks to my wife, Terra, for staying out late on a school night to help out and take snapshots.

Jena Malone

I had a very interesting shoot with actress Jena Malone a few days ago. You may know Jena from her films Donnie Darko, Into the Wild and The Ruins.
Jena was a wonderful subject for me. I gave her almost no direction, aside from where to stand. She gave me what can best be described as a performance, with the cobblestone streets of D.U.M.B.O. as her stage. She danced, sang, climbed, jumped, and contorted her body in ways that every frame I shot was completely unique.
The photos will run in the fall fashion issue of YRB Magazine. Preview below-

Morgan Spurlock

I had a great session with director Morgan Spurlock the other day. Morgan's promoting his recent film Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? and the new season of his FX series 30 Days.
Morgan's 2004 film Super Size Me, turned me off to McDonalds forever.

The Hustle

My "Snake Man" photo (an outtake from The Brooklynites) is currently being featured in an exhibition called, The Hustle at the powerHouse Arena. The opening reception is tonight!

The powerHouse Arena and Juxtapoz are pleased invite you to the launch of

The Hustle

Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 28, from 6–9pm
The powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
For more information, please call 1-866-99-ARENA

Music by DJ Emz
Mural by HOST18
Drinks Courtesy of Union Beer

RSVP: sophie@powerhousebooks.com

Exhibition runs May 22–July 13, 2008
Gallery Hours:Weekdays: 10am–7pm, Weekends: 11am–7pm
A tribute to capitalism in action, The Hustle, is about the art of selling—anything. Selling sex, selling drugs, selling clothes, selling souls, selling dreams, selling schemes, selling anything ‘cause this is America, baby. Held in conjunction with the publication of powerHouse Magazine Issue 3, The powerHouse Arena will be transformed into a Hustler Wall of Fame, with a broad selection of artists contributing their vision of this iconic figure in America culture.

Contributing artists include:

Keiji Ando and Luke Behrends on Dick Cheney, the greatest hustler of our time
Vanessa Bahmani on Rokafella, b-girl extraordinaire
Carlos Batts on April Flores, the biggest beauty of them all
Juliana Beasley on Lapdancers, the ultimate tease
Peter Beste on Scarface, representing Texas Hip Hop since the 80s
Boogie on Chris Nieratko, the greatest American writer of the past twenty minutes
Nicola Cairns on Ewan McNaught, Edinburgh’s finest
Joe Conzo on Grandmaster Caz, hip-hop pioneer and lyricist extraordinaire
Rose Cromwell on Roberto, working the tourist circuit in Panama’s Caribbean islands
DJ Disco Wiz on DJ Disco Wiz, the first Latino hip-hop DJ
Tristan Eaton on J.C. Leyendecker, the greatest American illustrator of the 20th century
Amy Eckert on Ross Shelton, selling the American Dream one mobile home at a time
Ron English on Ronald McDonald
Derek Erdman on the Nigerian 491 Scam, damn those emails
Brian Finke on Bodybuilders, flexing for big bucks
GODLIS on Dee Dee Ramone, punk rock reigns supreme
Arlene Gottfried on Miguel Piñero, “the junkie Christ,” poet, playwright, and dramatist
Bobby Grossman on Glenn O’Brien, the Style Guy
Tomoaki Hata on Diana, Japanese nightclub personality and drag queen
Jamil GS on Kool Ace, former Nation of Islam member turned Atlanta pimp
Brian Kenny on Go-Go Boys
Ohyun Kwon on Ohyun Kwon, no reason to hustle.
Hilary Knox on the World’s Largest Gun Shoot
Seth Kushner on the Snake Man of Brooklyn
Greg LeFevre on Tupac, the greatest selling rapper of all time
Graham Letorney on Dumar Brown, writer and revolutionary
Slava Mogutin on Go-Go Boys, shaking what they mama gave them
Theresa Ortolani on Stuntmen, burning up the sets
Mark Peterson on the Charity Ball Circuit
Dustin Pittman on Andy Warhol, the world has never been the same
Ricky Powell on King Ad-Rock, the Beastie Boy in his 80s prime
QUIK on Playboy Centerfolds
Joseph Rodriguez on Spanish Harlem Drug Dealers
Sylvia Plachy on Guy Gonzales, original hustler on the Deuce
Stephen Schuster, on Vanessa Del Rio, the first lady of pornography
Udo Spreitzenbarth on Tracy Quan, Manhattan call girl turned novelist extraordinaire
Craig Wetherby on Ricky Powell, the WeeGee of hip hop
Geordie Wood on Clayton III, Central New York drug dealer

Graphic Novelists Day 18

I had a wonderful time yesterday at the Upper East Side home of Underground Comix legend, Kim Deitch. While music from a bygone era played in the background, I took Kim's portrait, as his immortalized creation, Waldo, looked on.
Kim's books, Alias the Cat, Shadowland and The Boulevard of Broken Dreams are all must-reads.

Graphic Novelists Day 17

Today brought me to the East Williamsburg home of cartoonist Lauren Weinstein. Lauren showed me pages from her upcoming book, Goddess of War and it looks beautiful. Meanwhile, check out Lauren's semiautobiographical coming-of-age book, Girl Stories.

Sunday in Brooklyn

I don't usually post about non-photo related aspects of my life, but I had such a great day yesterday, I thought I'd share the experience....and a few photos - it's still a photo blog, after all!
My mother-in-law has been in town visiting from the frozen tundra of Northern Minnesota. So for Mother's Day, Terra and I decided to share with her a few of the great things about our home, Brooklyn.
We started the day at the Brooklyn Flea in Ft. Greene, where I picked up a cool Linus figurine from 1966.
Our next stop was the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where we caught the last of the Cherry Blossoms.
Then, we met up with our friends Nora and Carlos and we hit the Brooklyn Museum, where we reveled in the eye-popping, candy-coated glory of the Murakami exhibition.
Finally, exhausted, we enjoyed a tasty Cajun dinner at NoNo Kitchen in Park Slope. Whew.

My work - out in the world

The ads I shot for the Toren development are up all over the city. I spotted some very large ones (below, left) at the actual site, and smaller ones (below, right) on 34th St. among other places.


My prints from The Brooklynites exhibition are now on display at Rice, in D.U.M.B.O. They've been up for a couple of months and will probably remain there for a while longer.

Graphic Novelists Day 16

I shot Josh Neufeld earlier today. I heard from others that Josh loves having stoop sales, so with that in mind he gathered some items that relate to his work (specifically A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge) and we set up a faux sale. Thanks to Leland Purvis for the idea.

Graphic Novelists Day 15

Yesterday I did a re-shoot with Leland Purvis. Several people who know Leland have told me that the earlier shoot didn't capture his personality accurately. I believe the latest attempt works better.