Publications
The G/S/D
2019ISBN: 978-1-38-803692-8, 978-1-38-811910-2, 978-1-38-811911-9
The G/S/D is a practical methodology workbook for project journaling and self-tasking. Year 2019 was published and made available to the public. Refinement of The G/S/D has been made in subsequent years for internal studio use.
Smush/Bound
2018
A creator is always observing. A glimmer of light can spark an entire book. This project started easily: a telephoto lens on a dented baby blue Mitsubishi.
Oh the shapes! Metal and light coalescing in socially acceptable procrastinatory perversion. Time to open our eyes and begin hunting for similarity. Play the game.
Soon you realize there are ethics (and danger) in photographing someone else’s property, especially in Los Angeles. Be quick. Be respectful. No license places, etc. Don’t photograph in a salvage yard or body repair shop because that’s obscene. But also, hunt in affluent neighborhoods. So that’s what I did and found hundreds of subjects.
However, a pattern started showing itself. Initially, it was fun to just hunt for these metallic malformations and capture them at blue or golden hour, but I began to realize something. Something that should have been obvious, but was made abundantly clear: the cars with dents and dings and cracks bound with literal tape and rope were all older models. I’d see some vehicles throughout the year with the same dent. Regulars, but not locals. Likely owned by those who make the city run behind the scenes: housekeepers, dishwashers, and gardeners. Honest people making a living.
Some epiphanies aren’t flattering. Though it was not my intention, I stumbled into exploitation. Privilege is slow and insidious.
So I took a hard shift into only photographing luxury autos, imagining that they had just enough to get that ninety-nine thousand dollar sportster, but not enough to fix their mistresses mishap with a light pole. Whatever you have to tell yourself to keep finding the beauty in a dent.
BOUND
This city is held together with caution tape, rope, and chains. Repairs take time, as evidence of a precarious telephone pole wrapped in caution tape for three years. Bound acts as a companion to my realizations from the Smush series.