Graphic Novelists - Day 35

One of my favorite locations for shoots is Floyd Bennett Field, an abandoned airfield in Brooklyn. When cartoonist Tom Hart told me he'd like to do his shoot somewhere "abandoned and demolished," I immediately knew just the place.
Tom is perhaps best know as the creator of the Hutch Owen. That last book came out in 2002. From then on, wanting to "surprise himself more," he dedicated himself to the quickness and lightness of comic strips, by doing Hutch Owen as a strip for 4 years, and finished that early this year. Tom is now developing a strip called called Ali's House, with his friend and ex-student, Margo Dabaie, which they sold to King Features and will be launched early next year

CAMBA - Day 5

I trudged out early on a rainy morning today to midtown, where I had the pleasure of photographing former NYC Mayor, Ed Koch. When Koch was mayor, he helped to make it possible for CAMBA (the agency I;m doing this project for) to exist.
With only a few moments to get the shot, I quickly set up my lighting and made the portrait below.

Graphic Novelists - Day 34

Walking in to the Rodeo Bar in Kips's Bay to meet Jimmy Palmiotti, one can't help but think that Jonah Hex - the old west bad ass that Jimmy and co-writer Justin Gray write each month for DC Comics - would feel right at home.
Aside from inking literally tons of books, co-founding Black Bull Media and Marvel Knights, Jimmy seemingly writes almost more books per month than most people read. His more recent works include; Jonah Hex, Doc Walloper (with Ed Burns), and Back To Brooklyn (with Garth Ennis) which is being released today. Jimmy also recently wrote an animated film, Dead Space, which will be released on DVD next month.

CAMBA - Day 4

Continuing my project on Flatbush, Brooklyn, I photographed Shirley Walker in her home hair salon, and Ed Powell of the Umma group.

CAMBA - Day 3

I headed back to Flatbush the other day, to shoot Karate instructors Dameion & William Cross, and Youth Council president Marlii-I Marin.

Graphic Novelists - Day 33

I met cartoonist Ben Katchor at his office at Parsons yesterday. The view from the window behind Ben's desk provided the prefect backdrop of old New York City, helping to capture the flavor of his book, The Jew of New York. Check out Ben's various Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer books, as well as his monthly strip in Metropolis Magazine.

Graphic Novelists - Day 32

Back on the Graphic Novelists track this afternoon, I met up with Michael Kupperman at his Crown Heights home. Upon arrival, I was happy to discover that his surrounding perfectly fit my concept of tying the location in with his work.
For those not familiar with Michael's work, check out his book,
Snake 'n'Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret, and his Fantagraphics series, Tales Designed to Thrizzle.

CAMBA - Day 2

Friday, I did the second shoot for a new project, which I recently hinted at. Now that's it's been finalized, I can talk about it. Several months ago I was contacted by an organization called CAMBA, a non-profit Brooklyn based agency that provides services that connect people with opportunities to enhance their quality of life. They had seen my book, The Brooklyites, and thought I might want to work on something with them. They were right, and the first thing that came to mind was to produce a photo book which they would be able to use to promote their organization. The concept is to photograph some of the interesting people who are involved with CAMBA, as well as residents of Flatbush, the section of Brooklyn where CAMBA started. I will be teaming up with my Brooklynites co-author, Anthony Lasala, who will be writing the text, and designer, John DaPonte, who will be handling the design and packaging.

The first shoot was with singer/songwriter Maya Azucena, which I posted a couple of weeks back. The photo below, is of Graig Grant aka "muMs," who you may remember from his role of Poet on the HBO prison drama OZ.