Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
CulturePOP Photocomix: Akim Funk Buddha
Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at Hip-Hop performer Akim Funk Buddha.
I've been speaking with Akim for months. He had a unique concept in mind. For his CP profile, he wanted to photographically illustrate and explain the origins of a hip-hop theater piece he had dreamed up. He excitedly explained to me something about a time traveling boom box and a way to mix modern and ancient cultures and create understanding. At first, I didn't fully grasp his high-concepts, but I knew they were going to challenge me and force me to up my game.
Eventually, Akim drew up storyboards for his Urban Tea Ceremony idea and it all made sense to me and off we went.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-22-1.comic
I'm particularly proud of this installment because of the challenges it presented me. In the middle portion of the piece I got to play with sequential visual narrative and tell the story through just images and layout and no text. I also had to develop techniques for having the same performer play multiple roles and make it convincing.
Catch Akim at an urban dance/experimental hip-hop event this sunday - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181244615250328
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
I've been speaking with Akim for months. He had a unique concept in mind. For his CP profile, he wanted to photographically illustrate and explain the origins of a hip-hop theater piece he had dreamed up. He excitedly explained to me something about a time traveling boom box and a way to mix modern and ancient cultures and create understanding. At first, I didn't fully grasp his high-concepts, but I knew they were going to challenge me and force me to up my game.
Eventually, Akim drew up storyboards for his Urban Tea Ceremony idea and it all made sense to me and off we went.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-22-1.comic
I'm particularly proud of this installment because of the challenges it presented me. In the middle portion of the piece I got to play with sequential visual narrative and tell the story through just images and layout and no text. I also had to develop techniques for having the same performer play multiple roles and make it convincing.
Catch Akim at an urban dance/experimental hip-hop event this sunday - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181244615250328
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at NYC indie recording artist Jihae.
Jihae's song, Fig Leaf is the focus of the piece. We delve in to the her process of songwriting, where the concepts came from and then dissect what the lyrics mean.
This profile gave me the opportunity to experiment a bit with a different approach with combing Jihae's handwritten lyrics with the imagery, further melding words and pictures.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-21-1.comic
After reading the profile, please give a listen to the song, Fig Leaf - http://www.facebook.com/Jihaemusic?v=app_19935916616
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Jihae's song, Fig Leaf is the focus of the piece. We delve in to the her process of songwriting, where the concepts came from and then dissect what the lyrics mean.
This profile gave me the opportunity to experiment a bit with a different approach with combing Jihae's handwritten lyrics with the imagery, further melding words and pictures.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-21-1.comic
After reading the profile, please give a listen to the song, Fig Leaf - http://www.facebook.com/Jihaemusic?v=app_19935916616
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Jihae - CulturePOP preview
I spent a rainy day in Tribeca last week with lovely and talented singer/songwriter Jihae. Check her out at Jihae.net and look for my Photocomix profile on her next Tuesday.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Going Home Again With Steve Buscemi
Posting the photo of Steve Buscemi yesterday, I couldn't help but remember the remarkable morning Anthony LaSala and I spent with him when we were profiling him for our book, The Brooklynites.
It wasn't easy getting him, which made the circumstances of the actual session all the more special.
Buscemi was (and is) one of our favorite actors and someone I always wanted to photograph. We attempted to contact him through a variety of different ways, starting with contacting his publicist, who immediately informed us that Steve wouldn’t have time and couldn’t do it. We knew he was obviously very busy, but from everything we’d read about him we also strongly felt he would be into our project if he heard about it directly.
I had an idea. My then 15 year-old cousin went to camp with Steve’s son the year before, and they were still IM buddies. I called my little cousin and she got me Steve’s home address from her friend. Anthony and I debated back and fourth for a while as to whether contacting him this way would be appropriate, and finally I decided to take a shot. I figured, the worst-case scenario would be Steve Buscemi getting a restraining order against us. I wrote him a very polite note and included a bunch of the pictures, so he’d see what the project was all about. We waited, and waited, but we never heard back. It was disappointing, because we really wanted him.
We moved on, and months later, when we worked with Terence Winter, at the time producer on The Soprano’s, (and now creator of HBO's Boardwalk Empire) we asked him if he knew any other interesting Brooklynites to recommend to us. He said, “How about my friend Steve?” We knew immediately who he was referring to. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, obviously. He gave us Steve’s personal assistant’s number and within a few weeks we found ourselves in East New York with Mr. Pink himself. We always ask potential subjects to chose a location to be photographed that means something to them. Steve picked the neighborhood where he grew up. We loved that he thought about our request and picked a pertinent local and that he made the time to go out of his way to do this for us.
It was there, in East New York, where something special happened. Anthony wrote an essay about the experience for the book, which I'll run below, along with my photos.
Words by Anthony LaSala . Pictures by Seth Kushner
On the 3rd floor of 606 Liberty Avenue we have stepped through a wormhole. It is located in the middle of a small apartment sitting above a deli. Steve Buscemi is with us. It’s the morning of October 20th.
I’m not asleep.
A few minutes earlier Buscemi is standing on a street corner, in front of the home and school in which he spent the first eight years of his life. He’s traveled back to the middle of East New York to see us. We are conducting an interview and a photo shoot. It’s early. Sleep still drifts inside his body. But even through this 9AM haze, you can tell this spot is special to him. He’s looking at these corners and slabs of concrete like mislaid photographs found hidden in the pages of an old book.
And then Chance, a well-known personality on the streets of Brooklyn, leans its head out of a top-floor window.
From the apartment above us, the very apartment Buscemi grew up in, a man looks in on our actions.
“I’m Steve, I used to live here as a kid,” says the actor to the face staring down at us. “Do you mind if we come up?”
Soon after, I’m climbing a crooked white staircase dressed in slanted sunlight so dramatic it’s sucker-punching my early morning eyes, making them tear. As I push down on the backbones of the napping, cranky steps, they let out measured bellows. If I was dreaming, this might be my mind imagining some bizarre ascent into heaven side by side with Steve Buscemi.
But I’m not asleep.
I’m following a man named Michael Rosario as he leads us towards a four-room dwelling on top of a deli. He turns to Buscemi as we go up.
“This is strange. I was just watching one of your movies,” he says. “The one where you are flying.”
“I’m not sure which one that is,” says Buscemi.
“You know, the one with the plane,” says Rosario. “It was just on the T.V.”
“Con Air?” asks Buscemi as we near the top.
“Yeaaaah! Con Air! That was a great film!”
Rosario and his family now live in the residence. It’s a typical Brooklyn home, lived in and comfortable. Photographs on walls. Coffee tables and carpets. But as we stand inside the place, after a mere three minutes, we are undoubtedly in Buscemi’s old apartment. It’s the early 1960’s.
“It was actually in this kitchen where I first started performing,” he says. “This is where I got my start. I entertained my parents and my brothers and my relatives right in here.”
The eyes of Steve Buscemi are a gift. On enormous silver screens they are twin focal points - chameleon pools of anything, everything. Two coals stoking the souls of imaginary characters, giving them life, grit, compassion, reality. Today they are a million times more powerful. Today they are revealing genuine tales. Moments stored and stowed for years and clamoring into the air like heat rising through an old Brooklyn radiator.
He criss-crosses slowly through rooms and the stories continue as we followed him through doorways and decades.
The times his father climbed through the top of a hallway closet, below a skylight, to unlatch the front entrance when keys were forgotten.
The day his mother’s apron caught fire in the kitchen. “Mom, you’re on fire,” he calmly told her. Disaster was averted.
The time he was hit by a bus across the street from his home – his padded winter clothes saving him like modern armor. The city’s settlement money later providing him with a way to go to acting school.
How he slept in the same room as his brothers, the same house as his cousins. How his uncle had a chicken coop in the backyard. His family was all here - until they slipped off to other places.
“One by one they all moved to Long Island. We were the holdouts until we left. My grandmother actually lived here for a long time after we were gone. I used to visit her here.”
We were on our way down the crooked stairs soon after that. Back down the white passageway. Back into the streets of East New York and a 2005 morning. As we left Steve Buscemi on the corner of Liberty Avenue he lit up a cigarette. He was still looking up at the buildings above him, still casting those eyes – those compelling eyes – through the air like butterfly nets, searching for his cobwebbed, vanished memories. Smoke filling his lungs. The early 1960’s still drifting inside his body.
It wasn't easy getting him, which made the circumstances of the actual session all the more special.
Buscemi was (and is) one of our favorite actors and someone I always wanted to photograph. We attempted to contact him through a variety of different ways, starting with contacting his publicist, who immediately informed us that Steve wouldn’t have time and couldn’t do it. We knew he was obviously very busy, but from everything we’d read about him we also strongly felt he would be into our project if he heard about it directly.
I had an idea. My then 15 year-old cousin went to camp with Steve’s son the year before, and they were still IM buddies. I called my little cousin and she got me Steve’s home address from her friend. Anthony and I debated back and fourth for a while as to whether contacting him this way would be appropriate, and finally I decided to take a shot. I figured, the worst-case scenario would be Steve Buscemi getting a restraining order against us. I wrote him a very polite note and included a bunch of the pictures, so he’d see what the project was all about. We waited, and waited, but we never heard back. It was disappointing, because we really wanted him.
We moved on, and months later, when we worked with Terence Winter, at the time producer on The Soprano’s, (and now creator of HBO's Boardwalk Empire) we asked him if he knew any other interesting Brooklynites to recommend to us. He said, “How about my friend Steve?” We knew immediately who he was referring to. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, obviously. He gave us Steve’s personal assistant’s number and within a few weeks we found ourselves in East New York with Mr. Pink himself. We always ask potential subjects to chose a location to be photographed that means something to them. Steve picked the neighborhood where he grew up. We loved that he thought about our request and picked a pertinent local and that he made the time to go out of his way to do this for us.
It was there, in East New York, where something special happened. Anthony wrote an essay about the experience for the book, which I'll run below, along with my photos.
Words by Anthony LaSala . Pictures by Seth Kushner
On the 3rd floor of 606 Liberty Avenue we have stepped through a wormhole. It is located in the middle of a small apartment sitting above a deli. Steve Buscemi is with us. It’s the morning of October 20th.
I’m not asleep.
A few minutes earlier Buscemi is standing on a street corner, in front of the home and school in which he spent the first eight years of his life. He’s traveled back to the middle of East New York to see us. We are conducting an interview and a photo shoot. It’s early. Sleep still drifts inside his body. But even through this 9AM haze, you can tell this spot is special to him. He’s looking at these corners and slabs of concrete like mislaid photographs found hidden in the pages of an old book.
And then Chance, a well-known personality on the streets of Brooklyn, leans its head out of a top-floor window.
From the apartment above us, the very apartment Buscemi grew up in, a man looks in on our actions.
“I’m Steve, I used to live here as a kid,” says the actor to the face staring down at us. “Do you mind if we come up?”
Soon after, I’m climbing a crooked white staircase dressed in slanted sunlight so dramatic it’s sucker-punching my early morning eyes, making them tear. As I push down on the backbones of the napping, cranky steps, they let out measured bellows. If I was dreaming, this might be my mind imagining some bizarre ascent into heaven side by side with Steve Buscemi.
But I’m not asleep.
I’m following a man named Michael Rosario as he leads us towards a four-room dwelling on top of a deli. He turns to Buscemi as we go up.
“This is strange. I was just watching one of your movies,” he says. “The one where you are flying.”
“I’m not sure which one that is,” says Buscemi.
“You know, the one with the plane,” says Rosario. “It was just on the T.V.”
“Con Air?” asks Buscemi as we near the top.
“Yeaaaah! Con Air! That was a great film!”
Rosario and his family now live in the residence. It’s a typical Brooklyn home, lived in and comfortable. Photographs on walls. Coffee tables and carpets. But as we stand inside the place, after a mere three minutes, we are undoubtedly in Buscemi’s old apartment. It’s the early 1960’s.
“It was actually in this kitchen where I first started performing,” he says. “This is where I got my start. I entertained my parents and my brothers and my relatives right in here.”
The eyes of Steve Buscemi are a gift. On enormous silver screens they are twin focal points - chameleon pools of anything, everything. Two coals stoking the souls of imaginary characters, giving them life, grit, compassion, reality. Today they are a million times more powerful. Today they are revealing genuine tales. Moments stored and stowed for years and clamoring into the air like heat rising through an old Brooklyn radiator.
He criss-crosses slowly through rooms and the stories continue as we followed him through doorways and decades.
The times his father climbed through the top of a hallway closet, below a skylight, to unlatch the front entrance when keys were forgotten.
The day his mother’s apron caught fire in the kitchen. “Mom, you’re on fire,” he calmly told her. Disaster was averted.
The time he was hit by a bus across the street from his home – his padded winter clothes saving him like modern armor. The city’s settlement money later providing him with a way to go to acting school.
How he slept in the same room as his brothers, the same house as his cousins. How his uncle had a chicken coop in the backyard. His family was all here - until they slipped off to other places.
“One by one they all moved to Long Island. We were the holdouts until we left. My grandmother actually lived here for a long time after we were gone. I used to visit her here.”
We were on our way down the crooked stairs soon after that. Back down the white passageway. Back into the streets of East New York and a 2005 morning. As we left Steve Buscemi on the corner of Liberty Avenue he lit up a cigarette. He was still looking up at the buildings above him, still casting those eyes – those compelling eyes – through the air like butterfly nets, searching for his cobwebbed, vanished memories. Smoke filling his lungs. The early 1960’s still drifting inside his body.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Steve Buscemi & Terence Winter Brooklynites portraits
HBO's Boardwalk Empire was a big winner at this past Sunday's Golden Globes. I thought the awards for the compelling and well wrought show was a good excuse for me to show my portraits of series star Steve Buscemi and series creator Terence Winter. Both were shot several years back for my book, The Brooklynites. Buscemi was shot East New York in front of the church he attended as a child, and Winter in Bensonhurst at L&B Spumoni Gardens.
Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at Dave Franzese, who along with Mark Miller is one half of the dynamic graphic design duo called Dark Igloo.
While the focus of this piece is on Dave, his business partner and friend, Mark takes on a strong supporting role, as does their home, which as you can see is a sort of headquarters/club house where the partners do their striking and often ironic work. Spending the day with the two at the Dark Igloo HQ inspired me to showcase how their lifestyle and surroundings feed the work, and vice versa.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-20-1.comic
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Leaping Tall Building coming from powerHouse book in '12
Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner ink a deal with powerHouse Books to publish Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comic Books.
Brooklyn, NY (January 10, 2011) - Due out in Spring of 2012, Leaping Tall Buildings takes the comic book journalism essays and portraiture found on Graphic NYC
The book’s synergistic photo and profile approach will document the pioneers and masters of the print comic, all the way through to the burgeoning digital age.
"One thing we've found in talking to everyone—from Joe Simon, who created Captain America, to Jules Feiffer, to Art Speigelman and postmodernists like Paul Pope, and all the way up through Marvel CCO Joe Quesada or even newer talent like Kevin Colden—is that you can actually trace the development of the comic book through their personal experiences, be it on newsprint or an iPad," Irving notes. "Beyond that, though, is that meeting all of these folks has been a helluva’ ride, especially since a few of them are personal heroes of ours."
“There have been so many memorable experiences. Hanging out on a Hell’s Kitchen rooftop with Frank Miller, in a Gotham alley with Denny O'Neil and in front of NYC’s Flatiron Building (The home of The Daily Bugle in the Spider-Man films) with Brian Michael Bendis has been a blast,” says photographer Kushner.
The deal with powerHouse comes as Graphic NYC wraps its second year online, and also caps an interesting year for the GNYC duo of Seth Kushner and Christopher Irving. 2010 saw the publication of Seth's online photo-based webcomix series, CulturePOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on Act-I-Vate.com, as well as the print birth of Christopher’s Graphic NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years from IDW.
"On a personal note," Irving adds, "it was the toughest year of my life: my father, Elliott Irving, passed away in late July as I was wrapping production on the Dean book. Neither Graphic NYC nor Leaping could have happened without his support. As far as I'm concerned, honoring him means making Leaping Tall Buildings worthy of sitting on my bookshelf next to the copy of Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes that he gave me when I was twelve."
"The signing of this contract is the accumulation of three years of work, (so far!)" says Kushner. "It's been a long road since that cold January day in 2008 when cartoonist Dean Haspiel and I had a conversation about a potential 'photo book on comics creators' at the now-defunct Rocketship Comics in Brooklyn. From there, Dean began hooking me up with other cartoonists to photograph, and then, a few months later, he connected me with Chris and that team-up begets our upcoming book.”
“From the first book pitch through the development of the site,” Irving elaborates, “Seth and I have let Graphic NYC organically grow into an accessible and unique view of comics history that can be dug by both comic book readers and those new to the world of comics and graphic novels.”
“We knew powerHouse was the right publisher to bring our dream to fruition when we saw they were as excited by the project as we were," Kushner says, "and we’re confident that with pH publishing and with Random House’s distribution, the book will be a success."
Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner are both represented by Barry Goldblatt Literary.
Contact:
Christopher Irving
christopherlirving@gmail.com
804.852.7757
Seth Kushner
seth@sethkushner.com
718.490.5928
Christopher Irving started as an Associate Editor of the Eisner award-winning Comic Book Artist Magazine, and has since written about comics for New York Magazine, Comics Buyer’s Guide, and Alter Ego. Irving wrote and edited Graphic NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years this year, as well as Hermes Press’ upcoming release The First Movie Superheroes, which documents the history of the superheroes of the 1940s movie serial. Leaping Tall Buildings will be Irving’s fifth book on comics.
Seth Kushner’s photographic portraits have appeared in such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, L'Uomo Vogue and others. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. Currently, he is working on CulturePOP, his photocomix series on ACT-I-VATE.com. Seth resides in Brooklyn with his wife and son, and way too many comics. www.SethKushner.com
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Jonathan Ames
I had the opportunity to photograph author Jonathan Ames again recently. I had initially met and photographed Jonathan several years back for my Brooklynites book. That first shoot took place on a snow covered school yard on Wykoff St. in Brooklyn. The next time I shot Jonathan was in his home for Edible Brooklyn Magazine, when the mag was interviewing him about the items in his refrigerator, which turned out to be very few!
Since then, Jonathan has become a true documentor of today's Brooklyn with his HBO series Board To Death, so I was happy to be able to photograph him in front of the borough's famed Williamsburg Bank Tower.
The photos were for an upcoming feature in Heeb Magazine.
Since then, Jonathan has become a true documentor of today's Brooklyn with his HBO series Board To Death, so I was happy to be able to photograph him in front of the borough's famed Williamsburg Bank Tower.
The photos were for an upcoming feature in Heeb Magazine.
CulturePOP Photocomix: Tim Hall
Happy New Year to all!
Today marks the first new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters of 2011. This week, I profile writer/author Tim Hall.
Tim is the author of the novels, Half Empty and Full of It, two short story collections, Triumph of the Womb and One Damn Thing After Another, and non-fiction essay collection, How America Died. Additionally, Uplift The Positivicals, a freeform column of stories rendered as text images can be seen on ACT-I-VATE.com. Recently, Tim launched UndiePress.com, "a collaborative and curated site where writers can build their own audiences."
With this series, I very much appreciate when the subject wants to be involved to the point where they’re a collaborator. As per my usual process, I met with Tim before our shoot and recorded an interview, then later transcribed and sent it to him to edit. Tim’s a great writer, so what I received back was a whole new piece which was heads and tails better than the original, with perfect beats and a narrative thread which had the whole piece working in a way I never expected. I was thrilled.
In the Photocomix 'Exile,' Tim reminisces on growing up in NYC, running the bar newspaper The Hangover in the 90's, family alcoholism, leaving NYC and his desire to return.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-19-1.comic
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Today marks the first new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters of 2011. This week, I profile writer/author Tim Hall.
Tim is the author of the novels, Half Empty and Full of It, two short story collections, Triumph of the Womb and One Damn Thing After Another, and non-fiction essay collection, How America Died. Additionally, Uplift The Positivicals, a freeform column of stories rendered as text images can be seen on ACT-I-VATE.com. Recently, Tim launched UndiePress.com, "a collaborative and curated site where writers can build their own audiences."
With this series, I very much appreciate when the subject wants to be involved to the point where they’re a collaborator. As per my usual process, I met with Tim before our shoot and recorded an interview, then later transcribed and sent it to him to edit. Tim’s a great writer, so what I received back was a whole new piece which was heads and tails better than the original, with perfect beats and a narrative thread which had the whole piece working in a way I never expected. I was thrilled.
In the Photocomix 'Exile,' Tim reminisces on growing up in NYC, running the bar newspaper The Hangover in the 90's, family alcoholism, leaving NYC and his desire to return.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-19-1.comic
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Heeb Storytelling: The Live Comics Edition at Joe's Pub
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Talking CulturePOP Photocomix with Tim
A very in-depth interview with me on making Photocomix went up live yesterday at Tim O'Shea's Talking With Tim-
http://talkingwithtim.com/wordpress/2010/12/22/seth-kushner-on-culturepop/
I ramble on (maybe too much!) about how the series came about, how subjects are chosen, and I give some behind-the-scenes info on individual installments.
http://talkingwithtim.com/wordpress/2010/12/22/seth-kushner-on-culturepop/
http://talkingwithtim.com/wordpress/2010/12/22/seth-kushner-on-culturepop/
I ramble on (maybe too much!) about how the series came about, how subjects are chosen, and I give some behind-the-scenes info on individual installments.
http://talkingwithtim.com/wordpress/2010/12/22/seth-kushner-on-culturepop/
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Live CulturePOP Reading at Heeb Storytelling: Live Comics Edition
I'm very excited to be a part of a very cool event this Tuesday where my CulturePOP subject, Rachel Kramer Bussel will read my Photocomix profile on here. Also, I'm honored to share the bill with the likes of Al Jaffee, Paul Pope, Dean Haspiel, etc.
Details below-
Heeb Storytelling: Live Comics Edition a night of irreverent entertainment—graphic novel-style—curated by Heeb’s comics editor Jeff Newelt.
get tix: http://bit.ly/HeebJoesComi
Eight extraordinary comics creators project their smart, funny and sexy comics on a big screen, accompanied by a soundtrack and shenanigans. Featuring legendary MAD artist Al Jaffee + Paul Pope, Molly Crabapple, Dean Haspiel, Sarah Glidden, Josh Neufeld, Cynthia Von Buhler, Jeff Newelt, Rachel Kramer Bussel, and Seth Kushner.
Early bird prize! First 10 people in the door get free copies of the rare Heeb "Love" issue with cover by Robert & Aline Crumb!
**FREE** raffle tickets! 5 winners get *supersets* of graphic novels (each set includes Sarah Glidden's How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less; Bill Ayers "To Teach"; Josh Neufeld's A.D. New Orleans After The Deluge; Royal Flush Magazine 7; AL JAFFEE's MAD LIFE, and TRIBES: The Dog Years (http://tribesthecomic.com/) **
“Comics aren’t just for schmendricks anymore,” said Jeff Newelt
Tuesday, December 21, 7p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Doors 6pm)
Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC
$15 (reservations required for table seating)
Call theater: (212) 539-8778 or buy tickets at http://bit.ly/HeebJoesComi
http://www.heebmagazine.co
Storytellers include:
MOLLY CRABAPPLE www.mollycrabapple.com international artstress / impressaria (Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, Puppet Makers)
AL JAFFEE www.facebook.com/AlJaffee - legendary creator of the MAD Magazine “Fold-in” and “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions;”
PAUL POPE comics destroyer, designer for DKNY, Diesel screenprints www.pulphope.blogspot.com (Batman Year100, THB)
DEAN HASPIEL www.deanhaspiel.com (artist, American Splendor; Emmy Award-winning cartoonist on HBO’s BORED TO DEATH)
SARAH GLIDDEN www.smallnoises.com (How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less)
CYNTHIA VON BUHLER www.cynthiavonbuhler.com award-winning artist / children's book illustrator (EVELYN EVELYN),
JOSH NEUFELD www.joshcomix.com (artist, American Splendor; creator of “Best American Comics”-winning graphic novel documentary A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge (www.smithmag.net/afterthed
JEFF NEWELT AKA JAHFURRY www.twitter.com/jahfurry (The Pekar Project www.smithmag.net/pekarproj
RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL www.rachelkramerbussel.com erotic book editor/cupcake connoisseur
SETH KUSHNER www.sethkushner.com creator of CulturePOP photocomix www.activatecomix.com/104-
MISS LASKO-GROSS www.misslaskogross.com/ creator off the graphic novels ESCAPE FROM SPECIAL and A MESS OF EVERYTHING
CulturePOP Photocomix: Reggie Watts
CulturePOP" Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters is back today with an all new installment on comedian/musician Reggie Watts.
I recently spent an interesting day with Reggie Watts trolling around Williamsburg, Brooklyn and seeing first-hand how he comes up with his patented improvisational material. Seeing how Reggie operates off-stage gave me even more appreciation for Reggie the performer, and hopefully this piece will help to give viewers some insight into the mind of this unique talent.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-18-1.comic
This particular piece was somewhat experimental for me, in that I needed to come up with a way to merge Reggie's words and my photos in a way which would somehow portray his abilities, which is something clearly evident in video and much more difficult in still imagery. Dean Haspiel edited the piece with me, as always, and chimed in with some good suggestions. To finalize it though, I turned to Jeff Newelt, whose familiarity with Reggie made him the perfect person to push me to really "activate the energy" (his words!) of the piece and move in a very psychedelic direction. Jeff and Dean provided the one/two editing punch I needed to make this one fire on all cylinders!
Reggie was recently named by GQ Magazine as one of their Men of the Year, and in the accompanying tribute written by Conan O'Brien, Conan writes, "You couldn't invent a Reggie Watts if you wanted to." You know Conan means it because when he embarked on his comedy tour last spring, it was Reggie who he picked as his opening act.
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
I recently spent an interesting day with Reggie Watts trolling around Williamsburg, Brooklyn and seeing first-hand how he comes up with his patented improvisational material. Seeing how Reggie operates off-stage gave me even more appreciation for Reggie the performer, and hopefully this piece will help to give viewers some insight into the mind of this unique talent.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-18-1.comic
This particular piece was somewhat experimental for me, in that I needed to come up with a way to merge Reggie's words and my photos in a way which would somehow portray his abilities, which is something clearly evident in video and much more difficult in still imagery. Dean Haspiel edited the piece with me, as always, and chimed in with some good suggestions. To finalize it though, I turned to Jeff Newelt, whose familiarity with Reggie made him the perfect person to push me to really "activate the energy" (his words!) of the piece and move in a very psychedelic direction. Jeff and Dean provided the one/two editing punch I needed to make this one fire on all cylinders!
Reggie was recently named by GQ Magazine as one of their Men of the Year, and in the accompanying tribute written by Conan O'Brien, Conan writes, "You couldn't invent a Reggie Watts if you wanted to." You know Conan means it because when he embarked on his comedy tour last spring, it was Reggie who he picked as his opening act.
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Live CulturePOP Reading at In The Flesh Reading Series
After 5+ years, over 200 readers, countless cupcakes and sexy moments, In The Flesh Reading Series is ending. Join us for a free, festive, sexy, cupcake-filled last hurrah, with erotica, memoir, burlesque and 500 free cupcakes to celebrate! Featuring erotic writer Laura Antoniou (The Marketplace series), memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performers GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco) and Stormy Leather (Webster Hall, The Box), photographer and photocomic CulutrePOP creator Seth Kushner, memoirist Stephen Markley (Publish This Book), In The Flesh alum and famed letter writer Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Love of Letters), Lambda Literary Award winner Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and romance novelist Kama Spice (Sehra's Honor). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Giveaways include copies of SexIs Magazine and 500 cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.
FREE, 21+
Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome Street, NYC (F/V 2nd Avenue, look for pink awning)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
My Appearance on Comic Book Club
Jeff Newelt, Seth Kushner and Mike Geszel apear at Comic Book Club, A Live Pop Culture Talk Show
w/Pete LePage, Justin Tyler, and Alex Zalben
***FOURTH ANNIVERSARY SPECTACULAR***
With Prizes, Free Food, and Drinks!
NOTE: This is out LAST SHOW EVER at the current PIT location! After that, we’ll be taking a short break while the theater moves, and then will come back with ALL NEW shows in 2011!
Tuesday, December 14th @ 8:00pm
@ The Peoples Improv Theater
154 West 29th Street, 2nd Fl.
[Between 6th and 7th Aves.]
Special Guests:
- Jeff Newelt aka JahFurry (comics editor SMITH, Heeb, Royal Flush; editor Pekar Project – Mike Geszel (SoulCraft Comics) writer, TRIBES: The Dog Years
- Seth Kushner, creator of CulturePOP photocomix, photographer, and editor
Also?
You could win a $25 Gift card to Midtown Comics!
PLUS
FREE COMICS!
Tickets: $5
Online: ThePIT-NYC.com
Phone: 1-800-838-3006
Questions? 212-563-7488
AND AS ALWAYS…
The show is sponsored in part by Midtown Comics
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Graphic NYC site update - Frank Miller
Frank Miller Part 1: Dames, Dark Knights, Devils, and Heroes
It was about two months ago when our Graphic NYC project finally took Christopher and I to Hell's Kitchen to meet Frank Miller. Back when I was nine, and first developing my weekly comics habit, Miller and Stan Lee were the first names I knew in comics.
I had met and photographed Frank before, on the same day I got dumped by a girlfriend, back in 2002. It was a memorable day.
Arranging this recent session took some doing. Over the past two years, Frank's been busy directing movies (The Spirit) and commercials (Gucci Guilt) and who knows what else, so he's been difficult to nail down. But, we're making a book on the history of American comics, so giving up on Frank was never an option.
I had met and photographed Frank before, on the same day I got dumped by a girlfriend, back in 2002. It was a memorable day.
Arranging this recent session took some doing. Over the past two years, Frank's been busy directing movies (The Spirit) and commercials (Gucci Guilt) and who knows what else, so he's been difficult to nail down. But, we're making a book on the history of American comics, so giving up on Frank was never an option.
Our day at Frank Miller's place was a great one for the project. Christopher had an epic interview with the creator in his studio, while I was serenaded by Frank's girlfriend, Kim while she played the piano in the living room.
There were two parts to my shoot. The first was in Frank's studio, and the second were on his balcony, overlooking Hell's Kitchen. The same Hell's Kitchen Frank had his Daredevil bounding over water towers and through alleys during his legendary run one the character. It was perfect.
Frank Miller Part 2: On Pastiche, Directing and the Future
Frank was a great subject, as he was for me back in '02. I like to think my photos of him are revealing. He gave me a mixture of patented Miller mugging, and some real vulnerability.
A note about my photos used in the profile: In attempting to keep Graphic NYC fresh, I decided, starting with this profile, to create an "opening piece," utilizing my portrait, Chris's title and a piece of the creator's art. I want it to feel more like a magazine profile and less like a blog. I've also began running pull quotes over the additional photos. It's an experiment which I think works, and will continue in the future.
See part 1 of the profile here - http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/12/frank-miller-
part-1-dames-dark-knights.html
See part 2 of the profile here - http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/12/frank-miller-part-2-on-pastiche.html
part-1-dames-dark-knights.html
See part 2 of the profile here - http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/12/frank-miller-part-2-on-pastiche.html
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Matthew O'Brien - CulturePOP Preview
I met author Matthew O'Brien a few years back when he gave my wife and I a tour of the drainage tunnels under Las Vegas. He had written a book about his experiences, Beneath The Neon, and I was covering him for an airline magazine. The mag ran one photo out of the many I shot, so I recently had the notion of turning the shoot into Photocomix. I got back in touch with Matt, he was game and we did an interview.
Look for Matthew O'Brien: Underworld soon at ACT-I-VATE.com.
Look for Matthew O'Brien: Underworld soon at ACT-I-VATE.com.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Graphic NYC site update.
Art Spiegelman: Still Movin' with Comix
Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus, Breakdowns and more finally gets the GRAPHIC NYC treatment. Yes, I did photograph him over two years ago, but Christopher recently sat down to interview him, so the two elements of our project have finally merged.
Terry Moore: 4 Color Portrait
CUBA: My Revolution exhibition and artist's talk
James Sturm: Modern Storytelling in a Period Setting
BIG announcement for this long-running project soon!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Neil Gaiman Sandman author photo
It was a year ago when I received a request from DC/Vertigo comics Executive Editor Karen Berger to use my portrait of author Neil Gaiman for the new tradepaperback editions of all 12 volumes of the acclaimed Sandman series. I was very excited by the request.
Sandman was a series I began reading when I was in college, and when I look back on my own work from that time, the influence it had on me is unmistakable. Also, while I never fell away from reading comics, it helped to make me excited about them again. I think the book had that effect on a lot of people.
The portrait of Neil was taken back in April '08, during an intermission of his reading for the CBLDF at NY Comic-Con. I only had five minutes. I'd long wanted to meet Neil, but given the time constrictions, I focused on getting the shot, hoping I'd get another chance to chat with him some time in the future.
The shoot took place "backstage" in the bowels of the Javits Center. The photo seen here was originally shot in front of a gray concrete wall - the only available option. It wasn't until over a year later when I found a background which felt right to me, and once layered and merged, I was finally able to deem it "finished."
I was told by Karen, "Neil loves the photo, but doesn't remember what it was taken for." That was no surprise to me, given the "environment" was changed.
In any case, I'm very proud to have my work associated with the great Neil Gaiman and his creation, The Sandman.
Sandman was a series I began reading when I was in college, and when I look back on my own work from that time, the influence it had on me is unmistakable. Also, while I never fell away from reading comics, it helped to make me excited about them again. I think the book had that effect on a lot of people.
The portrait of Neil was taken back in April '08, during an intermission of his reading for the CBLDF at NY Comic-Con. I only had five minutes. I'd long wanted to meet Neil, but given the time constrictions, I focused on getting the shot, hoping I'd get another chance to chat with him some time in the future.
The shoot took place "backstage" in the bowels of the Javits Center. The photo seen here was originally shot in front of a gray concrete wall - the only available option. It wasn't until over a year later when I found a background which felt right to me, and once layered and merged, I was finally able to deem it "finished."
I was told by Karen, "Neil loves the photo, but doesn't remember what it was taken for." That was no surprise to me, given the "environment" was changed.
In any case, I'm very proud to have my work associated with the great Neil Gaiman and his creation, The Sandman.
The New Yorker
I'm very pleased to announce a photo of mine appears in the Nov. 22 issue of The New Yorker Magazine. The portrait of fellow photographer Yana Toyber was initially shot back in 2005 for The Brooklynites and was one of my favorites from the book. The photo (page 117) is used to illustrate a fiction piece called Assimilation, by author E.L. Doctorow.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
CulturePOP Photocomix: Rachel Kramer Bussel
I was excited to work on Rachel's short story because I've been wanting to try my hand on a fictional work, rather than a "real-life profile." Since Rachel's writing feels so visual to me, this was the perfect opportunity for me to experiment.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-16-1.comic
I thank Rachel for trusting me to adapt her writing to comix script and then to photocomix. She trusted me to do it justice and gave me no interference or criticism.
In creating this big, experimental piece, I received help from a number of sources, so many thanks to -
Walshmetalworks.com for use of the bondage bed.
EdenFatasys.com for supplying the props.
Elena & Welland Scripps for posing.
Best Bondage Erotica 2011 is available now from Cleis Press - www.BestBondageErotica.com
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
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I first met Matthew O'Brien a few years back when he had written a book called Beneath The Neon, and I was sent to Las Vegas to cover him for an airline magazine. He gave my wife and I a tour of the drainage tunnels under Las Vegas and needless to say that experience was one of my more memorable assignments.
The mag ran one photo out of the many I shot, so I recently had the notion of turning the shoot into Photocomix. I got back in touch with Matt, he was game and we did an interview to create the text.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-17-1.comic
Learn more about Beneath The Neon and Matt's new creative nonfiction collection about the seedy side of Vegas, My Week At The Blue Angel at www.beneaththeneon.com.