Brooklynites on Bloomberg

Months after The Brooklynites media blitz, we've been mentioned on Bloomberg's list of Brooklyn books. Laurie Munchnick writes-

``The Brooklynites,'' by Seth Kushner and Anthony LaSala, features photos of people, not rooms, and makes a good case for the borough's vitality. There are famous faces here, and people notable for their roles in the neighborhood -- the owners of Peter Luger Steakhouse; the sea lion trainer from Coney Island's aquarium -- as well as an assortment of grandmothers, deli workers, writers and musicians.

Each portrait is accompanied by a quote from its subject, like novelist Jonathan Lethem, who says Brooklyn is ``a mongrel place of sorts. It mixes old and modern in a haphazard way. It represents a tiny microcosm of the world -- a functional utopia.''

Or as printer Mike Smollar puts it, ``Brooklyn is Brooklyn. There's no place like it in the world. And when you travel to other places in the world you realize that. They got nothin'.'' (PowerHouse Books, $35.)

Check it out the full article here-

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aIz3Kxr2UXnw&refer=muse

Also, I was interviewed by Charlie Pellett, host of "Bloomberg New York". Listen to me weighing in on Brooklyn's cache, the Atlantic Yards and Marty Markowitz's possible run for mayor on Monday between 7-8PM ET.
Bloomberg Radio can be heard on XM channel 129 or SIRIUS channel 130, on plain, old radio In New York City, tune to 1130 on the AM dial, or on Bloomberg. com.

Graphic Novelists Day 6 - part 2

Yesterday brought me back to Gowanus to shoot artist Leland Purvis, who was quite the spry subject. His extremely clever online strip Vulcan & Vishnu provided me with inspiration for the shot below.

Graphic Novelists Day 6 - part 1

Today I had the pleasure of working with cartoonist Jason Little, who's wonderful book Shutterbug Follies is a must read. In keeping with the concept of shooting each subject in an environment which relates to his work, I shot Jason in the darkroom at my high school, Abraham Lincoln (thanks, Carlos!). The enlargers in the background, are the very ones I first learned to print on, back in 1988.

Graphic Novelists Day 5

Earlier today, Martin and I met artist Michel Fiffe at the fascinating place where he works when he's not making comics. After experiencing a bout a visual overload from all of the puppets, Dave McKean-esq masks and dragons, I managed to have a successful session with Michel.
Check out Michel's wild online comic Panorama.

Graphic Novelists Day 4

Moving along on the project, I shot artist Tim Hamilton today with his dogs in Ft. Greene Park.


I think this is a good time to discuss the locations of these portraits. My concept is to photograph each artist in a place that somehow pertains to their work. Tim, for example, did an online comic called Pet Sitter, which takes place in Ft. Greene Park and features dogs. Simon Fraser did a comic called Lily Mackenzie, which has a retro sci-fi look, as most of his work does, so we decided to have him on the boardwalk in Coney Island with the rocket behind him. So, as you see, none of the locations are arbitrary. I have a feeling that picking the right locale for each subject might end up being the most challenging part of this project.

New Agent

I've had several different reps over the years, and for a variety of reasons, none of them ever worked out. Recently though, I've entered into a partnership with my old and trusted friend, Jason Smollar. Jason will be acting as my very own Ari Gold, as he represents me primarily for advertising work. I believe Jason's law degree and industry connections make him a good and qualified representative for me and I very much look forward to working with him. He can be reached at jason@sethkushner.com.

NYC Graphic Novelists Day 3

The project is moving along quickly. I had a great session with Bob Fingerman yesterday. I also started reading his book Beg the Question last night and it's great - thanks for the book, Bob!

NYC Graphic Novelists Day 2

Lots of buzz has started to generate on the comic books sites about my new project. Today I moved forward by shooting two more subjects. I shot Mike Cavallaro in Gowanus and Simon Fraser in Coney Island. Both are great guys and supremely talented artists. Check out a preview of the shoot as well as some behind-the-scenes shots taken by my good buddy and collaborator, Martin Cuevas.



More soon....

New Project

Today I started production on my new project, tentatively called NYC Graphic Novelists. Anyone who knows me knows that my first love is comic books, so this project will be about the creators behind them. I plan to include 30 of the most important independent graphic novelists in NYC and create a series of portraits of them. Additionally, I will be filming interviews with them for a film and collecting pieces of their original work to go beside their portraits in a book and in an exhibition.

The first session went great. I started with Dean Haspiel, who has generously agreed to advise me on this project. Dean is someone whose work I've admired for years, so I'm thrilled to be working with him. Check out some of his books - American Splendor, Billy Dogma, The Quitter and The Alcoholic. We did the shoot on the rooftop of the Gowanus building which houses his studio, Deep Six.

I'll be posting more images and info on this project soon.

Maya Azucena

I've had the pleasuring of photographing Maya Azucena (see below) several times over the past two years. Maya is an incredibly talented and beautiful singer/songwriter who I initially met through The Brooklynites. I've seen Maya perform on a number of occasions, most recently when she graciously did a set at the launch party for my book at the powerHouse Arena last September.

Maya is having a free concert at BAM Café this upcoming Saturday night. Her singing is infectious and her voice is powerful, so I strongly recommend checking her out.

Sat. MARCH 1ST
10pm
BAM Café
30 Lafayette Ave,
Brooklyn NY 11217
(718) 636-4139
Special guest performers: Hassan Salaam, Jay Rodriguez and Chris Rob

Brooklyn Original

I first met Sal Ciprano last fall, when he came to the opening of The Brooklynites exhibition at Brooklyn Industries in Chelsea. Sal, a freelance writer, comic book letterer, cartoonist, photographer, and graphic designer, had just started up a very cool blog called Brooklyn Original. Last month Anthony and I sat down with Sal and had a long discussion about our book, The Brooklynites. See it here.

Molly Crabapple Show

Last week I went to the opening of Molly Crabapple's new show, Demimonde. Molly's an incredibly talented illustrator, as well as a burlesque dancer and model. I originally met her through The Brooklynites when she posed for the book. See on outtake from the shoot below.
Check out Molly's show at Arena Studios at 407 Broome St, st. 7A, through Arpil 4.

Edible Brooklyn

The good folks at Edible Brooklyn magazine used my image of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz from my book on the cover of the new issue-

John D'Apont Design

Check out the work of my good friend, fellow Brooklynite, and designer extraordinaire John D'Aponte-
www.johndaponte.com

Here's a frame of a shoot I did with John showcasing his clothing design-

New website

After months of work and thought, my new website has gone live today. Please have a look-

www.sethkushner.com

When I told my web designer I wanted to redesign my site I mentioned that the most important things were clean design and functionality. I wanted my site to be about showcasing my work, so we did away with anything that would detract. The current trend in web design seems to be keeping it simple, so I have no Flash intro page, and in fact, there's no intro at all - it opens right on the work.


Thanks to David Dawes, web designer extraordinaire, for all of his hard work and creativity. I look forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for looking.

Ladybug Mecca

I photographed an event the other night where Ladybug (formerly of Digable Planets) performed. Inspired by her set, I politely approached her and asked if I could take her portrait. She was incredibly gracious and accompanied me to the roof and braved the cold and wind to pose for me. The result-

The Brooklynites

Thanks to everyone who supported The Brooklynites last year. Having people actually purchase our book has been an incredible thrill for Anthony and me.

For whoever hasn't already seen it, check out Miana Grafals's very cool behind-the-scenes film-

Happy New Year!

Truthfully, I've always been a guy who's made fun of "Bloggers." But, it's a new year and I'm looking to try new things. The notion here is to create a forum for me to show the newest pieces I'm working on. I do update my main site fairly regularly, but here I can post my newest work informally. Coming off the success of my book, The Brooklynites, I'm going to be embarking on new projects this year and it would be greatly helpful to be able to get feedback instantly.

For now, I'd like to share a portrait I recently shot for my good friend Sami over at YRB Magazine. It's of Paul Budnitz, the creator of Kid Robot, one of my favorite stores in Soho. I love the vinyl doll trend and only wish I could afford to collect them more extensively.