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.

Graphic Novelists Day 14

I spent Sunday morning in the Lower East Side with Miss Lasko-Gross and Kevin Colden.
Miss's portrait is meant to invoke her wonderful book, Escape From Special.
Kevin's portrait is based on his disturbing tale, Fishtown, which is available to read online now, and will be collected as a book in November.





Thanks to Martin for another behind-the-scenes photo, and to Kevin for holding my second flash unit.

Milo Ventimiglia

I had a quick shoot last weekend with actor Milo Ventimiglia from Heroes.
People assume I must love Heroes just because I love comics. I enjoy the show sometimes, but love is a strong word. I love the Tim Sale artwork that appears, but everything else is kinda' hit or miss for me. I appreciate all of the homages like "Kirby Plaza," and the way the subtitles on the screen are arranged like word balloons, etc. But there's something that prevents me from connecting with it in the way that I do with Lost and certainly Battlestar Galactica. The funny thing is, my wife loves the show, and she has little interest in superheroes. I guess the "genius" of the show, and a big reason why it's successful, is that the producers have managed to turn comic book concepts into a network soap opera about people with superpowers. I'll DVR it and watch it when it returns, but personally, I'd rather read comics.
In any case, check out my pensive-looking shot of Milo Ventimiglia-

Graphic Novelists Day 13

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the lovely Sunset Park home of Jessica Abel and Matt Madden. Jessica's book, La Perdida is essential to any comix library, and reading Matt's book, 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style is an incredibly entertaining learning experience. The couple showed me an advance copy of their upcoming textbook, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, and it's a beautifully done guide to everything involved with making comics.

Graphic Novelists Day 12

Back on the project, I met up with Gabrielle Bell in Greenpoint on Monday. Gabrielle's Lucky, is a beautifully simple auto-bio book and is the inspiration for the shot below-

Neil Gaiman

This past weekend I had the opportunity to photograph one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman. During college, I became obsessed with his Vertigo series, The Sandman, and later loved his novels Neverwhere, American Gods and others. Meeting up with him deep in the bowels of the Javits Center was a surreal experience, Martin said, and I agree with him. I'm very happy to have this portrait of Mr. Gaiman to add to my body of work. The photo will be used in an ad for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Thanks to Charles Brownstein for making it happen!

Fandom

I spent the entire weekend at the NY Comic-Con, and aside from shooting B-roll for the NYC Graphic Novelist project, I (with Martin's help) managed to create a new series which I'm calling "Fandom." I've long been fascinated by the fans who attend cons in elaborate, home-made costumes and I've finally taken the time to explore it.

Check out a sampling below and to see the entire series, please click HERE.

Graphic Novelists Day 11

After reading and being inspired by Nick Bertozzi's book, The Salon, I knew the location for his portrait had to be a painter's studio. Thanks to artist Keith Mayerson for the use of his Chelsea apartment.

Graphic Novelists Day 10

Had a lovely time in Bed Stuy today with Nikki Cook. Check out her online comix Sack of Puppies and the adults only Dripping Wet.
I look forward to her upcoming book, Dogs Day End with Brian Wood.

Graphic Novelists Day 9

Woke up early today to meet Brian Wood at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, a location used recently in Brian's excellent book DMZ.
This was a tough one to decide on a location for, since DMZ so effectively uses so many real NYC locations. I was originally going to ask Brian to shoot at Great Lakes, the Park Slope bar where Megan worked in Local, (my wife's favorite book) but having just read the 4th DMZ trade, I was inspired by the spot we ultimately used.

Graphic Novelists Day 8

Today the project brought me to Williamsburg to photograph artist Dan Goldman. Check out Dan's book Shooting War and his online comic Kelly.



Thanks for the behind-the-scenes shot, Martin!

Graphic Novelists Day 7

I'm back from vacation and moving forward with the new project. Yesterday's session was with one of my favorite subjects, Molly Crabapple. This was my third time shooting Molly, and I think most successful. Thanks to Joi at Lucky Cheng's for allowing us to use the space. Check out Molly's and John Leavitt's delightful online strip, Backstage.

Many more of shoots coming up in the next few days.

Toren

Last fall, I worked on a long-term project for the Co-Op Branding agency. I was hired to create similar photos to those in The Brooklynites book of select Brooklyn subjects to be used to brand a new downtown Brooklyn development called Toren. Located at 150 Mrytle Avenue, Toren will be 38-story luxury condo with green design.
This was an extremely rewarding experience for me, as I got to work with very creative people on a cutting edge project. It was also very flattering since my book was used as the model for their sales brochure, which is actually a very cool looking, beautifully designed "magazine." I also had the opportunity to shoot a few of my favorite subjects from The Brooklynites again, as well as a few new subjects, who would have certainly been in my book if I had known them then.
Details about the building have been top secret until now, so I can finally show some of the work I've done-


Vahap Funk, co-owner/founder of Brooklyn Industries


Maya Azucena, singer/songwriter


Marisa Farina, publisher of Time Out New York


Karla Calderone, DJ


Grace Bonney, design critic


Dan Pippitone, stockbroker/co-owner Nobeltrading.com


Rob & Deanna Morea, trainer and dancer


John Kriskiewicz & Chris Bianchi


Benjamin Barrud, Christine Lin & Nomi, designers


Donald Capoccia, Joseph Ferrara & Brandon Baron, BFC Partners


Jeff Burke, Roger Duffy & Peter Fajak, Architects/SOM

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