Oct 08

Introducing My First Book: Stevens Pass

For the first time, I’m publishing a book of photographs to share directly with the public, and it is available right now. Titled simply Stevens Pass, this limited-edition coffee table book (only 2500 copies) is a collection of images from Stevens Pass , an homage to one of Washington’s favorite ski destinations and a celebration of the resort’s 70 seasons of operation. I learned to ski at Stevens Pass 30 years ago and have been... read more ›
681 reads
Oct 07

Visual Artist Rankings. Who is #1?

I was surprised to recently learn that, just like Hollywood celebs have their kooky mathematical rankings on "box office power" or whatever, visual artists are also apparently not immune to a ranking system. Over at Artfacts.Net, they seem to have a reasonably sophisticated algorithm that ranks heavy hitting visual artists. Andy Warhol is #1. There are two photographers in the top 20. Can you guess them? Click the 'continue reading' link below to find out... read more ›
1.4K reads
Jun 16

The Caffeine Is Kicking In

So I've been mostly off caffeine for about 2 years now. Surely I dig into that go-fast java juice every once in a while when I "need" a kick in the arse, but mostly I'm off it.Until today that is... Yowza. You'll have to join me in starting off our week with some inspirational speedlinks. Portfolio reviews, iPhone tips, graffiti art, anti-graffit art, staying home with your kids, and, of course, terrorists. It's ala carte.... read more ›
408 reads
May 28

We Are Independant, Yet We Are Somehow The Same

Why does so much of our work look so much alike, even when we strive for it to look so different?Given yesterday's discussion I had to investigate. In less than 5 minutes last night, for no apparent reason, I was able to find about 20 of my images that look, feel, appear, strangely similar to nearly 20 images in the 2008 PDN Photo Annual. Thus, even in the face of working on new, experimental stuff,... read more ›
396 reads
May 09

Some Experimental Work: Celebrity, Maps, and Sensor Bloom

I thought I'd share some experimental work I shot recently that was inspired loosely by the notion of celebrity, the video Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (directed by the very talented Patrick Daughters), and sensor bloom as art.For the right brainers amongst us, consider this stuff on the merits of the peculiar, cold, distanced aesthetic united with the white-hot lights. For the left brainers, consider what's happening with the camera sensor (blooming) to achieve... read more ›
500 reads
May 30

Chase Jarvis RAW: Ninjas

This behind-the-scenes video details of one of my recent photo shoots involving crazy stunt men, hot and scantily-clad stunt women, smoke machines, weapons, trampolines, and a dilapidated warehouse.Hopefully, you’re familiar with ChaseJarvis FRAMES, our concept of showing not just the hero shots, but EVERY image from a shoot sewn together into a short movie. If you found any merit in that, then you can think of this new concept as its kissing cousin. We’re... read more ›
769 reads
Mar 11

Don’t Listen To Doubters. I’m Guessing Banksy Didn’t.

I'm not shy about my liking the UK graffiti artist Banksy (see my earlier post here if you missed it). All you artists out there should take a lesson from this: one of his graffiti, stencil style paintings sold last month at a Sotheby's auction for 102,000 British Pounds, or around $200,000 USD, a new high price for a piece of his art. Read the BBC article here. Why I'm bringing this up is to... read more ›
347 reads
Feb 20

The Dichotomy of the Photographic Portrait.

Portrait Not as View of the Soul, But as Personal Advertising?What is the relationship between portrait as collaboration and portrait as unbiased recording? If the eyes are windows to the soul, and if in advance of a portrait sitting you’ve basically had the windows washed and lined up all the furniture inside and put on your favorite clothes for an open house, are the photos that result from that sitting any less “real” than a... read more ›
823 reads
Jan 16

Graffiti, Street-, and Public-Performance Art: Why It Matters

As as investment, I own a small commercial building not far from our studio in Seattle's historic Greenlake neighborhood. It's a quaint brick building from the 1920's with tons of character and charm and I've intentionally filled it with tenants with creative businesses: architects, 3-D designers, filmmakers, etc. You get the picture.It got vandalized today. Tagged. Basically spray paint for the sake of spray paint on bricks and metalwork. I admit, when my friend Marc... read more ›
1.3K reads