DECEMBER 2005/JANUARY
2006
What
can I say? 2005 has been such a great year that I'm almost speechless. Almost.
Here are a few highlights:
• Was
asked to autograph one of my published photos by someone I was not
directly related to
(and she was a
cute girl, to boot!).
• Was asked to shoot a wedding and its reception based solely on
my sonic photography portfolio and "artistic abilities."
• Was asked to teach a class in Rock photography at the Museum
of Photographic Arts in San Diego even though I have no teaching credential,
no formal schooling in rock photography and no real knowledge of the
history of photographic arts (until now, of course).
• Had a sucessful run curating a second installment of the TINAP sonic
photography exhibition intently with no corporate sponsors and no budget
and nearly collapsed from exhaustion after it was all over because of
it.
• Took San Diego mayoral candidate Jim Bell's portrait for the ballot.
He still lost.
• Had more photos published in major publications than any year previous
and got paid for it.
•
Had
more photos on album covers and album artwork than any year previous and got
paid for it.
• Blew most of my money made from jobs on an overpriced digital camera.
• On three different occasions, I was offered "assistant photographer"
help by people whom I am not directly related to (and all
three were
cute
girls,
to boot!).
• Took more than 10,000 digital photos in the calendar year. This translates
to a little over a roll of 27 exposure 35mm film per day.
• Had my first photo shoot inside of a girls bathroom (although, sadly,
no girls were actually present [yawn!]... just THE LOCUST in
their black-and-white supremacist costumes [double yawn!]).
Speaking
of THE LOCUST and girls, press pages have appeared on
the EPITAPH website
for both THE
LOCUST and SOME
GIRLS that feature press photos that I took. The
new SOME GIRLS record, Heaven's Pregnant
Teens,
even holds a photo in its album artwork. The album will be released
on January 24, 2006.
So what does 2006
have in store for THE TITANIUM EXPOSURE? We shall see...
but until then, come out to Gelato
Vero Caffe at 3753 India Street in San
Diego on February 1, 2006 (between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.),
for the opening of a collaborative art show between me
and MATTT MONSTER, who you may recognize from
various musics (MR.
AND MRS. TRIBUTE TO UGLINESS, HIDE AND GO FREAK, GHOST
SHIP, STRIPMALL SEIZURES, etc.). As it turnes out,
MATTT is a closet cartoonist and I believe he is putting the finishing touches
on his first comic as I write this. I'll be showing a multitude of portraits
that I have been taking over the past six months. Some of these portraits
will be of musicians and artists, but the focus will be more on the aesthetic
of production than the fame or stature of the subject. You can see a sample
of what I've got in store for you in the TE
PORTRAITS GALLERY.
Also, I just
bought a new truck so I'm back in business! I will come to you! Call me up
and throw down some ideas and I'll filter them through my artistic muscle
(which we shall not specify any further). Seriously, I'm all ears.
NOVEMBER 2005
After selling
my truck at the end of October, I still had to find a
way to fulfill my obligation to take some much needed press photos of YEAR
FUTURE at their studio in Los
Angeles in early November. This would be for their forthcoming European tour
with a major pit-stop at THE MARS
VOLTA-curated ALL
TOMORROWS PARTIES in East
Sussex (United Kingdom). I really wanted to help them out so i took the train
up and spent the necessary time and effort to produce some quality images.
Besides being naturally photogenic, the band was a total pleasure to work with.
There must have been a flair for trains in the air because just across the
way from their studio was a train yard, and we managed to hop
on a steaming locomotive and take
a few shots while the conductor was
still on his
lunch
break. I came to the table with some photoshop montage ideas, but you know
what, it wasn't necessary. The train provided an uncommon industrial setting
while the train tracks supplied diminishing points that were both literal and
figurative (at least when thinking of the band's name). Well, the results are
in. Selections can be found on the YEAR
FUTURE and GSL websites
as well as right here in the TE
PROMO/PUBLICITY GALLERY.
Also new to the promo gallery is a photo of UCSD new and experimental music
performance professor CHARLES
CURTIS. Besides studying for well over a decade
under the tutelage of legendary avant-garde composer LA
MONTE YOUNG (a.k.a. the godfather of minimalism,
let
alone a solid influence on such luminaries as THE VELVET UNDERGROUND and YOKO
ONO), he has also played with members of art rock bands such as TELEVISION,
PERE UBU, BONGWATER and PUBLIC IMAGE
LTD. In November and December he will be holding a series of concerts
in New York City.
Last but not least, I finally got my hands on a copy of the HAIR
POLICE '01-'02 DVD.
They used a few of my photos that I took of them way back in 2002 when they
played Scolari's Office here in San Diego on the so-called "Freedom
From tour"
(they were the only band on the bill that had a record out with the label).
HP's Mike
Connell
was
on
a
recent
tour
standing
in
for
Aaron
Dilloway
in
WOLF EYES and they just happened to be playing on the same
bill as CHRIS CORSANO/PAUL FLAHERTY/SPENCER YEH at the Casbar.
Yeh is the one who put it out, so I ended
up getting a copy from him. And what can I say? Both YEH and the DVD were
a pure
delight!
I was so enamored, that I'm going to post a photo this week of him shredding
on
double-bowed
violin. You're going to love it.
Oh and one more thing... I just found out that ALTERNATIVE
PRESS ran a
label profile on 31G Records in their December 2005 issue and they used
not one but two of my photos of Justin Pearson and Allysia Edwards (check pages
42 and 68).
OCTOBER 2005
I'm very
happy and proud to announce that I've recently been asked to teach a class
in rock and roll photography at the MUSEUM
OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS in
San Diego's Balboa Park. The
program is outlined by two sessions that will focus on concert photography,
studio
photography, and a bit of post-production
work with Photoshop CS. Here is an easy way to find out some of my
trade secrets while you'll be given the chance to pioneer a
few of your own. Class doesn't begin until next spring so you've got plenty
of time to prepare all the questions on technique and craftsmanship that you've
been dying to ask. CLICK
HERE for more information and how to enroll.
Photos have been
running amok in the SAN
DIEGO READER (Quintron, Art Fag Records/Club, Castanets)
and Portland, Oregon's WILLAMETTE
WEEK (Davana) and the PORTLAND MERCURY (XBXRX). Also, multiple
photos will be included in a forthcoming
WORKFORCE DVD. WORKFORCE is
the art performance brainchild of MATT LORENZ, who is also
known as the inventor of the ENERGY
LANGUAGE. He has provided visual stimuli for various sonic
works (i.e., Physics, Aspects of Physics, Pinback)
and is also associated with such masterful exposés as the KILLER
WHALE COPYRIGHT EXPERIMENT. Well,
all that
and
he's
been a
skate rat comrade of mine previous to our being acosted by the entrophic
curse of nature. Be on the lookout for this fantacular DVD at an unspecified
modern
art facility
in
the near
future.
In the meantime,
preoccupy
yourself
with
a few WORKFORCE shots in the TE
live performance gallery.
Ah yes, there
are also some new offstage photos up of JACK ROSE and DMONSTRATIONS
in the promo photo gallery that'll knock your socks off. The TE portrait
gallery is soon to be updated as well so check back soon!
SEPTEMBER 2005
So the album
artwork just 
keeps
flowing ... the latest CD from DOVE YELLOW SWANS (a.k.a., YELLOW SWANS, D YELLOW SWANS,
or other "D" words followed by YELLOW
SWANS)
contains a photo that I took of them playing live at the Che Cafe earlier
on this year. The record is called Live During War Crimes and I am
totally thrilled to be part of it. This is not only becuase their electro-noise
rocks like
no
one's biznass,
but
also
because
the
cover
art is by
neo-Marc Bolan torchbearer DEVENDRA BANHART.
Issued
by Sweedish label RELEASE
THE BATS, the
CD compiles some prime slices of sonic mayhem culled from previous rarities
released on SCRATCH AND SNIFF ENTERTAINMENT, HUNG
LIKE A HORSE and COLLECTIVE
JYRK. Check the TE album art gallery to
view the layout.
I just found out that there is a profile
page for SLEEPING PEOPLE and a press
page for the PEPPERMINTS on their respective label websites.
Since these are press photos, pretty much anyone is allowed to reprint them
in his or her publication
without prior consent (please be advised that these same permissions do not
necessarily apply to every photo in my press/publicity photo gallery—so
please, write me FIRST if you are at all in doubt). But for crying out loud,
let me know if/when you do. It's
always
pleasing
to
hear
how
and
when
my photos
are
reaching
the
masses.
Oh
yeah, I also just posted
a new publicity photo of HAWNAY
TROOF that'll make
you want to give/get a blumpie to a loved one while reading Tiger
Beat magazine.
Or
maybe that's just me.
AUGUST 2005
The new website
has launched! (Obviously!) Finally, you can view all the great sonic photos that
I've been working on in an orderly fashion. Apologies to those of you who
like to recieve your information in a dirty, gritty, tossed and hungover "rock
and
roll"
way.
For
you steadfast grimelovers, I've decided to preserve the old photo archives. Unfortunately
for you, though, due to the irratic nature of the freewebs.com host, I'm leaving
those
sites
in
the
dust
and
will
only
be
posting new photos on this new website. Speaking of, I've posted a number of
exclusive
photos
in the "live" gallery and have created a few brand new galleries to view as a
result
of
some
new projects that have come my way. I've divided a few into an "album art" gallery
and
a
"portraits"
gallery and have added on completely new galleries for "fashion/product"
photography
and "digital imaging." The latter will be a service available to bands who bring
ideas to the table that just aren't possible through a direct reflection of reality.
Some examples of this might be album artword by 
CRADLE OF FILTH, BJORK,
or perhaps
any photographic images that HIPIGNOSIS has been credited
with. I realize that the examples I have in this gallery now doesn't quite
reach the
level of artistry
and manipulation that many of those albums have achieved, but I have been working
with Photoshop for over 10 years now so I feel confident enough to tackle just
about any project that someone wants to throw my way.
The debut self-titled
album by SLEEPING PEOPLE arrives
this month and they'll probably be touring behind it soon. Go to the Casbah
for their record-release party on Saturday, August 20th and give them the
support
that they deserve. I spent way too many hours taking photos of pots and pans
for the cover and I have to say that the results are about as delightful
as photos
of pots
and pans can get. No really, some of the studio lit photos caused the pots
and
pans
to have a golden tinge, sort of the color of cymbals, which was interesting
because the band originally approached me in need of some photos for Drummer
Brandon Relf's Turkish Cymbals sponsorship. He needed some professional photos
done so that he could appear in ads for the company. One of these days I'm
sure we'll get around to that.
Last but not least,
I was wrought with woe when I heard that the HOT
SNAKES were going to break
up and this month's show at the Casbah was going to be their last show in
San Diego, if not ever. Although it is sad news to many, I totally support
them in their decision and am glad and proud to have been given the opportunity
to take photos of such a fine band (NOTE TO OTHER GREAT BANDS: offstage photos
are a BIG part of how people will remember you as a group. Think about that).
Some bands just
don't know when to call it quits and I have to
say that it is comforting to know that they aren't going to beat a dead horse
well beyond retirement and membership dropoff causing a new generation to
rise up and "reunite" to play JEHU songs. I admit
that it would be particularly punishing if the band's offspring
were to sing the lyrics: Fucking is your crime/Junior is your punishment/It
happens
all
the time (from "Caress"); or, perhaps even worse: Your
kids are fucking in your garbage/They're waiting for your jobs (from
"Spikes to You"). Do I even need to mention "I Hate The Kids"?
From now on if i get a craving for them playing live, I'll just have to throw
on the
eroding yet kickass 1992 DRIVE LIKE JEHU video boot that
I've shown so many people. I can live with that.
JUNE/JULY 2005
Summer
has arrived and so has a new full-color, glossy postcard.
This time, it's of BUSINESS
LADY and
it's the first one that I've printed up from a studio
session. I'm pretty excited about them so I'm keeping them cheap at two for
a
buck postage
paid (please see the TE
POSTCARD PAGE for
ordering info). If you're a cheapskate or just plain
lazy, I'll be giving a few away at COMIC
CON this
year. So if you see me there, say hello and ask me for
one! My original idea for the postcard involved some
static-cling bear
head decals (the
kind that stick to smooth surfaces, but aren't really
sticky like stickers). The idea bears [sic] a similarity
to the the first VELVET UNDERGROUND record
that sports the peelable banana decal on its cover. Although
I opted to print the postcard as-is, there will be a
limited edition
original
print run that I'll be using the bear head decals on.
Check back in a few weeks for more information on this.
In related news, BUSINESS
LADY will be on a full US tour starting in late July and throughout
August. THE PEPPERMINTS are
also currently on tour in support of their sophomore jinx LP Jesüs Chryst so
go out and see 'em. Also, if you're a member of the working press
(or other media outlet), please help support them by running a
photo in your publication/website/etc. On the horizon is the debut
album by San Diego's SLEEPING
PEOPLE. I shot the pots and pans that graze their album
artwork and the layout is pretty neato in itself. TEMPORARY
RESIDENCE is releasing it and the album can be found in
stores on August 16th, 2005.
APRIL/MAY
2005
As
I noted in an earlier news post, the second installment of THIS IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPH: The Sound and Fury of San Diego Sonic Photography is
coming. The official date has been set for Saturday, May 28, and Sunday,
May 29, 2005 and it features a fresh crop of band photographers including RICH COOK, SEAN DEJECACION, JEFF WINTERBERG, ANTHONY MUSICK, DEREK PLANK, DARYL RYSDYK, JOSHUA WEINBERG, MARIA VANVILLE, NOA AZOULAY, ROBERT PARDUE, JEREMIAH GRIFFEY, CHRIS CAVALLO, LONNIE DEAN, ANTHONY BARENO, ANDREW CADDICK, ROB QUEENIN, GABE VEGA and
perhaps a few more (including myself). It'll be held at the same Voltaire
Consort Space (4862 Voltaire Street) in Ocean Beach and I anticipate
it to be a HUGE hit since last year's show shattered all previous attendance
records. Check out the TINAP2 website
for more info. 
I've got a few other press photos and album artwork that you should look out for. First of all, THE PEPPERMINTS are releasing their second album on the ANIMAL COLLECTIVE's PAW TRACKS imprint. It's called Jes¸s
Chryst and yours truly took the cover shot (and sequential
inner booklet shots) of the band posing as if they were
at "The Last Supper." The visual satire unfolds as a food fight and then some day-after decadence and debauchery that just falls short of getting slapped with a "PARENTAL ADVISORY" sticker.
There are also some press photos in the works for XBXRX, BUSINESS LADY and D YELLOW SWANS.
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005
Got
some new studio shots of THE LOCUST, SOME
GIRLS and THREE ONE G Records
crowd up in the PRESS
AND MEDIA PHOTO ARCHIVE that
you should most definitely check out. Also
got some live shots of BARR, MR. AND MRS TRIBUTE
TO UGLINESS, BUSINESS LADY, BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL and
others with many more waiting in the wings. Also,
if you're not already aware of it, it's GSL Records'
12 anneversary this year and they are celebrating
with a number of mailorder-only records and they've
also released an all-unsigned, california-based
band
comp called GOLDEN GROUPER. I've
got pictures of the DMONSTRATIONS and TENDER
BUTTONS in
the liners and am very impressed with many of the tracks within.
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