My Four Eyed Fantasy

This Blog Has Moved!

2010-01-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well, my fine friends, it's the end of an era over here at emilyshur.blogspot.com. As I discussed in previous posts, my website and blog have been redesigned, and as of today, relaunched. My new site, still at emilyshur.com, has lots of new work. You can now see the beginnings of my cell phone tower project, Nature Calls. You can see a body of work from Japan titled Shizenkan (which translates to "one's own perspective on nature" in English). You can see other new fine art images as well as all of my commercial work.

My Four Eyed Fantasy now has a new home at www.emilyshur.com/blog. I will no longer be updating this blog here. From now on, please go to the new blog, bookmark it, subscribe to it, love it. I'm still working out some wordpress kinks and teaching myself the ins and outs, so things might look and feel a bit strange for a little while. I have imported the entire archive of this blog over yonder, so all of the old goodies are there and hopefully you will find new goodies as well. Thank you so much for reading, and happy new year.

Reunited and It Feels So Good

2009-12-29T17:57:00.001-08:00

Me...in My Bathroom on 5th St.

My Parents and Zoe

Lunch With My Grandma

Uptown on A Rainy Night

Bianca on Halloween

Two Dogs in The Bronx

Hank...Pretty Sure We Were at Kiev

My Living Room on 5th St.

A Kid Peeing on The Street

A Diner in New Jersey
All Images © Emily Shur

A long time ago, I had a camera that I loved. It was the Nikon 35Ti, and we were best buddies. I bought it sometime in mid-late 90's, not sure exactly when, and at the time, it was a pretty big purchase for me. It was an expensive point and shoot, made for serious amateurs and professionals who didn't want to lug around an SLR everywhere they went but still wanted that same image quality. I had the camera for years, and it was stolen from my assistant's car in Spanish Harlem, along with a whole bunch of other equipment and my purse, on September 10, 2001. When life changed forever the next day, I had no camera to document what was happening around me. This was definitely one of the hardest things to accept about 9/11 for me. At that point, Nikon was no longer making the 35Ti, and I never acquired the camera again after it was stolen. I made a claim with my insurance company for that camera and my Mamiya RZ kit and whatever other stuff I lost. With that money I bought the Mamiya 7 that I still shoot with all the time today.

So, the other night I was at a holiday party talking to a friend about cameras of yesteryear we have loved and lost. The 35Ti was that camera for me. The husband overheard my conversation and then went and bought me one on Ebay! It arrived a few days later, and I was completely surprised. Here I am, so many years later, able to enjoy this camera again. Then I thought it would be interesting to post some of the pictures I took with my original 35Ti. I've scanned 10 images, and above is a trip down my memory lane.

I chose these images specifically because of when they were shot. These were all made when I was around 21 years old, about 12 years ago. This is pre-9/11 New York. This is before I was ever paid to take a picture, before marriage, way before I moved to LA, before I ever went to Japan, before I fell in love with 4x5, before The Baroness. I look back on this time with very fond memories, but in reality I know there were problems just like any time in life. When all of my camera equipment was stolen back in September of 2001, I was most upset about losing the Nikon 35Ti. I think we feel connections to cameras based on our experiences with them, specifically what images those cameras captured. Sort of a "They were there when..." I will always associate this camera with the beginning of my life in New York. Just like I will always associate my Wista with my husband and the time we have spent driving around together, shooting cell phone towers and strange landscapes. I will always associate my Mamiya 7 with photographing in Japan, even though I've shot so many important images with that camera as I've had it so long at this point.

Anyway, one more year down. Sometimes it's good to look back. Now, I'm gonna look forward. See you in 2010.

In Case You Were Wondering

2009-12-23T18:12:00.001-08:00

To everyone who bought my print on collect.give, your money really did go to The Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research...

========= GENERAL INFORMATION =========

Merchant : Fisher Center For Alzheimers Research

Date/Time : 22-Dec-2009 01:50:46 PM

Transaction ID : 2765070787

========= ORDER INFORMATION =========

Invoice Number :

Description :

Total : US $800.00

Payment Method : Visa

==== BILLING INFORMATION ===

Customer ID :

First Name : Emily

Last Name : Shur

I made the donation in memory of my grandma, Ruth Shur.

Happy holidays to everyone. I'm very excited about some new and exciting things that are coming in the wee beginnings of 2010. One of those things is a freshly redesigned website and blog (I guess that's two things). I'll share once everything is complete.

An Interesting Person

2009-12-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

In October, I photographed James Spader for Esquire. It's now out in the January 2010 issue. This was the most nervous I've been before a shoot in a long time. Here's what ran.:

And here's an outtake...one of my favorites:

All Images © Emily Shur

UPDATE: After being asked why I was so nervous about this shoot in particular, I thought to elaborate. There are some subjects that I feel walk onto a set and expect a certain level of talent, professionalism, and confidence from the people around them. These people usually make me a little nervous because I know I have to bring the A Game. This is not to say I don't always bring the A Game on every shoot...blah, blah, blah...but there are times when I know that the subject is not going to want to fuck around. I kind of had this feeling going into the James Spader shoot. I'm a huge fan of his, and I wanted to make a picture of him that made sense. I wanted it to be weird and kind of creepy, yet flattering and sophisticated.

Now, I'm not professing to be the authority on celebrity portraiture, but there are some things I've learned in the past ten years that have helped me feel slightly more prepared and confident going into a shoot that I'm nervous about. There's a skill that good portrait photographers possess, and that skill is the ability to read someone upon first meeting. We have to pick up on subtle things pretty much immediately that you might not normally pick up on if you weren't trying to engage the person or get something out of them. It can't come off as insincere. We have to be endearing and trustworthy. We have to project that we know what we're doing and what we want, even if we don't all the time. I think I am pretty good at figuring people out fairly quickly. Some things I look for first are their desire to experiment and how patient they might be. Do they want to spend time making this right, or is it better for me to make it quick and stay on their good side? Should I push it and ask them to do something outside of their comfort zone or stay in the comfort zone because they seem to like what's going on?

I imagined James Spader as being similar in real life to some his on screen personas. I'm not sure if I was right or wrong, but one thing I did take away about from the shoot was that he wanted to have purpose within the photographs. He didn't want to make crappy pictures, and he didn't want to just get it over with. We discussed every set up beforehand. I think that people who take what they do seriously respond well when we as photographers let them know that we take what we do seriously. I left the shoot with the utmost respect for Mr. James Spader. Plus, we share a love of Top Chef. Food is sometimes really is the great equalizer.

Sad

2009-12-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

All Images © Larry Sultan

Very sad today to hear about Larry Sultan passing away at the age of 63. Above are a couple well known images from Pictures From Home and The Valley, two monumental bodies of work that have affected and influenced so many contemporary photographers. I love his work. I am very sorry to hear about someone so talented dying way too young.

Big Baby

2009-12-10T09:43:00.001-08:00

Big Baby © Emily Shur

One of many strange sights I saw and photographed in Arizona over Thanksgiving. There will be more soon. I'm not sure what to do with these pictures...I actually shot quite a bit over the course of that trip. I also actually like a lot of the pictures. Now, what becomes of them? Do they get lumped into the ever growing Emily Archive of interesting but singular images? If they did, is that doing them an injustice? I guess that answer comes from the question, "Why do I take these pictures?" If the purpose is to make an epic statement about Arizona, then I probably would keep them separate and go back to Arizona and continue shooting. However, that is not the purpose. The pictures are for me, but I am still not sure where they will ultimately end up.

Pretty Lady

2009-12-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

All Images © Emily Shur

I thought it might be time to post a few pictures from my day job. Seems like it's been a while. Above are a few images from my recent shoot with the talented and beautiful Anika Noni Rose. Anika is the voice of Disney's first African-American princess (hence the last shot in princess garb) in The Princess and the Frog which opens this Friday. You can also check out my words of wisdom on celebrity portraiture along with a couple photos in the December issue of PDN as part of their cover story, "Tips for Making the Most of a Celebrity Shoot". It's true that not all celeb shoots are easy. One might say the above shoot was not the easiest I've ever had, but ultimately when you remain calm and let your pictures do the talking everything usually works out just fine.

collect.give.org

2009-12-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

Today marks the launch of collect.give, an idea conceived by photographer and nice person Kevin Miyazaki. Six photographers selling limited edition prints, and all profits benefit a charity of the photographers' choosing. Mine is the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research in honor of my grandmother.

The participating photographers are myself, John Loomis, Kevin Miyazaki, Susana Raab, Dalton Rooney, and Allision V. Smith. The prints are all super affordable, but the editions are small so hurry up!

UPDATE: My edition has sold out. Thanks to everyone who bought prints and supported a great cause.

The Big Reveal

2009-12-01T11:10:00.001-08:00

Me and a Tree © The Husband

The project I have been working on for the last half a year is tentatively titled "Fake Plastic Trees", and the above shot is of your truly working hard this past holiday weekend. It's interesting how things naturally evolve. What started as a way to keep my mind off of things that were bothering me, has now become a project I actually love and care about.

A quick history of me for any new readers: I never shoot in project form. I shoot situations and places as I see them, and then I edit the work into groups of images that illustrate some sort of emotional connection I feel or felt with the subject matter. My husband sensed some boredom and dissatisfaction with the state of my work, both personally and professionally, and suggested I start a project in efforts to push myself out of the rut. After many vetoed suggestions, I considered one idea he had which was shooting the very odd cell phone towers (that seem to be everywhere in Southern California) disguised as trees. This one appealed to me because I could incorporate the subject matter into how I normally like to shoot. So, it was different for me, but not too different.

The technical stuff: As of now, I have shot about 30 or so cell phone towers. Everything is 4x5, color neg. It's pretty much straight up classic landscape photography. Some are sweeping and some are more detail oriented. Over time, the project has evolved into a study of the possible future landscape. It's raised questions for me that involve what the future will look like and what technology has meant for my generation specifically. When I was a kid, there was no Internet, no cell phones, no digital photography. My generation has seen technology explode into the basic necessity it is today.

Using the phone as an example: When I was little we had a rotary phone on the wall. Then we got a push button phone, and I think after that a cordless push button phone. Next came call waiting. Woah. In high school and college, I had a pager. Yes, seriously. I can't quite remember when I got my first cell phone. I think it was sometime in college, maybe about half way through. Today cell phones are essentially small computers that fit in our pockets. I haven't had a land line or "home phone" in about five years. I, along with millions of others, completely rely on my cell phone and am pretty lost without it. And now we are at the point where our landscape is having to accommodate and change for our compulsions. I never paid much attention to these cell phone towers before I started shooting them. There was one near my house I saw all the time, but that was about it. I now spot new ones almost everyday. What was non-existent to me six months ago, is now something I can't help but notice everywhere I go. Pretty interesting.

So, that's that. I'm still working on it. I plan to put together an edit of the best of what I have so far, and make those all pretty before I show any to anyone. The goal is a gallery show. Hopefully 2010 will be my year.

I Give Thanks For....

2009-11-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

All Images © Emily Shur 2009

...my last few remaining boxes of 4x5 Polaroid. Happy Thanksgiving.

A Very Large Hole

2009-11-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

My Two © Emily Shur

So, we made it and have seen what we came to see - The Grand Canyon. The Shurs are not a very adventurous people, so we kind of skirted the rim and saw the grandest of cracks from many different vantage points. It is big and beautiful and I doubt we scratched the surface, but as it has been in many family vacations of the past, we got the gist.

The past week has been an exercise in faith for me. I lost out on a few work things, any one of which would have made my day, week, month, or year. All of which I was anxiously waiting by the phone/computer to hear about. Alas, it wasn't in the cards for me on any of those specific opportunities, and as always, there is no choice but to keep marching on. Sometimes it's hard to keep brushing things off, especially when you may not feel that the good in the universe is balancing out with the not so good. My friend Nina wrote something a week or so ago that stuck with me (not to mention she used a picture of mine to illustrate her thoughts!). I agree with her that life, photographic and otherwise, so often boils down to someone taking a chance on you. One person believing in you. And so often, that one person is all you need.

The trip we are taking this week is my and the husband's 60th birthday gift to my parents. So here I am, spending the week with the parents - two people that have always believed in me, the husband - someone who took a chance on me, and The Baroness - the one in whose eyes, I can do no wrong. Yeah, it's pretty cold here in Grand Canyon, Arizona, and I had a shitty previous week, but there are bigger things out there than individual disappointments....like very, very big holes in the ground to stand around and look at with your peoples.

I Honestly Don't Think We're Going To Find The Grand Canyon On This Road.

2009-11-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

Vacation, 1983

This coming Monday, we are packing up the Family Truckster (The Prius) and heading to The Grand Canyon for a week of good ol' American family fun. My parents are meeting us there, so it will be a full on Griswold-esque vacation complete with dog (The Baroness, not Dinky). Hopefully no one will get tied to the rear bumper.

Like many photographers, the desert is appealing to me, and I'm excited to spend some time getting my Misrach on.

Miike Snow

2009-11-16T18:54:00.001-08:00

A little over a month ago, the husband and I woke up at 5am to record and shoot a Transmissions session with Miike Snow. They wanted to do it at their house in the hills as the sun came up. Above are a couple portraits I took of them. Below is a shot of the actual session, and here is where you can download the music for freeeeeee. It's good. I also recommend browsing through the Transmissions archive. The husband knows what he's doing.

All Images © Emily Shur

All Flakked Up

2009-11-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

Today's Flak Photo © Emily Shur

Coming to you from the Salt Lake City airport this Friday the 13th, to share with you my picture on today's Flak Photo! I love this photo. Thank you so much to Andy Adams at Flak Photo for his continual support and exposure of my work. Another big thanks to Elizabeth Avedon for her post today as well. Their compliments mean so much to me. Stuff like this makes me happy. Time to go home now.

For My Mom

2009-11-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

Pink Convertible, 2009 © Emily Shur

Today is my mom's birthday and a big birthday at that. I thought this would be a good excuse to post a picture I took last weekend while out shooting more for my project. This picture has nothing to do with the project itself, but it was too good to pass up so I shot a couple of impromptu sheets of film. My mom loves pink and is very young at heart, so this image is my little tribute to her.

My Network Television Debut

2009-11-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

Me and Tina Fey....like peas and carrots

My Bust cover of Amy Poehler was hanging in Liz Lemon's office on last night's episode of 30 Rock! This is one of my all time favorite shoots and all time favorite subjects. The original is here:

Amy Poehler © Emily Shur

Devo at The Fonda

2009-11-05T18:21:00.001-08:00

Last night the husband and I got to see Devo perform Freedom of Choice in its' entirety, front to back, at The Fonda. Pretty cool. It sounded surprisingly good; like no time had passed or taken any sort of toll on the musical abilities of the band. And how cool is Mark Mothersbaugh...I mean, seriously.

Anyway, they played a few videos before the show, one of which was Whip It, and it got me to thinking about my generation...MTV, technology, people's vision of what the future will be, how it will look, how wrong we usually are, stuff like that. The project I have been working on is kind of loosely related to these concepts, and I actually now have a good beginning of an artist statement going on in my head.

Before last night, I never realized how random and creative the video for Whip It is. The dude ranch, the cross eyed Asian lady, the Norman Rockwell color palette. Awesome. I really enjoy color when it looks this way. It seems everyone, including myself, has been on a muted, sort of pastel kick lately. I love a soft and subtle image, but last night I remembered how much I love bold color as well.

Some Rough Scans - Japan, Part 2

2009-11-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

19. Takao...you can't really tell here, but there are two butterflies in this picture

20. Cemetery, again, not sure exactly where I was

21. Chiba

22. Minami Senju

23. Takao

24. Takao

25. Rikugien Garden

26. Tokyo

27. Rikugien Garden

28. Arakawa Yuenchi, Tokyo

29. Kurihama Port

30. Takao

31. Lake Chuzenji, Nikko

32. Nakano

33. Nakano

34. Takao

35. Spider Web, Takao

36. Shibuya

37. Takao

38. Takao

39. Shibuya

All Images © Emily Shur 2009

Here is round two, again in no particular order. I'm not in love with all of these, but I thought I'd post everything I scanned in hopes of getting some feedback. You never know what people will respond to. Well, at least I don't. Thanks very much to everyone who commented on the previous "rough scans" post. To make things a bit easier in terms of commenting, I numbered these images as well as the images in part one.

Photo of the Day: The Baroness - Halloween Edition

2009-10-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Cave Dog © Emily Shur 2009

The Baroness is all ready for Halloween. This year she decided to get in touch with her animalistic side and go as a cavewoman. She's going for a sexy barbarian kind of thing. She is woman. Hear her roar.

Some Rough Scans - Japan, Part 1

2009-10-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

1. Rikugien Garden, Tokyo

2. Nikko

3. Nikko

4. Nikko

5. The View From My Room, Tokyo

6. Cemetery, not exactly sure where I was...

7. Takao

8. Rikugien Garden, Tokyo

9. Arakawa Yuenchi, Tokyo

10. Ferry Ride From Kurihama

11. Ferry Ride from Kurihama

12. Nikko

13. Shibuya

14. Nakano

15. Takao

16. Tokyo

17. Takao

18. My Room, Tokyo

All Images © Emily Shur 2009

Here are a whole bunch of randoms, in no particular order, from my most recent trip to Japan, and when I say rough scans, I really do mean rough. I'll post another batch soon. Right now these are my favorites. Comments are welcomed and appreciated.

You Can't Fade Me

2009-10-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Evidence © Emily Shur

I know it's been a while, but sometimes actual life gets in the way of internet life. I will soon post some rough scans of the pictures I made in Japan. I scanned 35 selects and will probably get rid of half of those. Maybe some of you kind folk can give me your opinions once I get those up. My jet lag was pretty bad last week. I couldn't seem to get to bed before 3 or 4am, and then waking up at a normal hour felt like someone was ripping me out of a sweet, sweet coma.

The past two days brought shoots that I will discuss at greater length another time, but what I wanted to write about today was the concept of holding it together when things start to go wrong on a job...one thing after another after another. Over time, I've learned to have grace under pressure, but I wasn't always so good at that. It's taken many years and many photographic catastrophes to get me to the place I am in now; this peaceful and focused place that I am in now. I have had my fair share of screaming at labs, screaming at rental houses, screaming at taxi drivers, screaming at people who work at airlines and car rental companies. I mean, I was young and I lived in New York. Enough said. At a certain point, I realized that getting so worked up over things gone wrong does nothing but take my focus away from what is most important - the photography.

Yesterday I had a shoot that was extremely time sensitive. We had to be on time (which means early), we had to be ready on time (early), and we had 10 minutes to shoot. Everything was running along schedule. I was supposed to be at Warner Brothers at 3:30pm to set up, so I was eating lunch in my living room around 2pm when a large metal drain pipe from our upstairs shower crashed through the kitchen ceiling, bringing with it a whole bunch of mess. There was black dirty water, wood particles, and rusty metal all over the walls, the cabinets, and the floor. There was a nice layer of crap over our countertop and stove and everything that was on the countertop and stove. It looked like a horror movie. I had to leave to go to the shoot. I blocked off the kitchen so that The Baroness couldn't get in and got in the car. I decided I wasn't going to think about it until after the shoot. We were on schedule, setting up in our allotted space when one of my assistants came up to me and just shook his head. "They gave us the wrong power cords." he said. So there we were, with four Broncolor packs and four Profoto power cords on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank with about 30 minutes to go before our shoot and no way to turn our lights on. I'm not going to bore you with the amazingly crafty details of our solution to the problem, but I will say that our subjects never knew that anything was wrong. We shot them on time, for a pleasant 10 minutes, and I was so proud of myself for holding it together. I came home. I cleaned the kitchen. I went out to dinner with the husband and had a martini.

The Surreal World

2009-10-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

Bowlingual Voice (Dog Translator) at Tokyu Hands © Emily Shur

I got back to LA on Friday morning. The husband and The Baroness picked me up from the airport, and I was so so so happy to see both of them. The Baroness was her usually sleepy self, only looking up briefly from her car nap as if to say, "Oh hey...I know you...I'm gonna go back to sleep now." If I had bought the Bowlingual Voice (pictured above) I'd know for sure what she was trying to communicate. Damn you, two hundred dollar dog translator! Shouldn't dog translation be affordable for everyone?

Reflecting on my trip, I had a great time...a lonely and sometimes difficult great time. Since I speak zero Japanese, I opened my mouth so few times while I was there. I think it very well may be the least I have ever spoken in a full week. However, I think I balanced that out with an increase in pointing and smiling - two things that are not an overwhelming part of my normal repertoire. At times it did get hard to have no one to talk to, no one to eat with, and no one to share experiences with.

I've never travelled alone like this before. I definitely did things on my own that I would not have done if someone else was taking the trip with me. Many days I planned my activities solely around picture taking, which definitely wouldn't translate into "fun" for most other people. So, in that regard, I was appreciative to not have anyone else on my conscience. I wasn't responsible for anyone else's enjoyment, thus enabling me to do only what I wanted. Before I left for Japan, I made a long list of places I wanted to photograph...some in the city, some outside of the city. I knew the list was too long to get through in one week, but I figured it was better to have too much to do than not enough. I prioritized the list for photographic purposes, but not everything was a winner. There were days that were very rewarding and some that were less amazing. On the two hour ride from my hotel in Shibuya to the airport, I was kicking myself for going to certain areas and not going to others. Though in reality, there was no way for me to know what was going to work and what wasn't. I had to go in order to know. There's always next time, and the list is still long.

Time to go pick up my film.

Salacuse

2009-10-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from my riveting travelogue to let you know about my very very good friend Matt's new blog, Nineteen Eighty Snore. His blog is a lot like hanging out with him...some photo talk, some Youtube, some carefully collected tv clips, and lots of laughing. I just watched the video of him in the audience at The Wendy Williams Show and just about peed my pants.

Brog Post

2009-10-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

So Hot Right Now © Emily Shur

Seeing as how attention to detail is a cornerstone of society here, it always amuses me to see how the English language is applied. You'd think there would be some sort of fact checking going on, just to make sure that words are spelled correctly and used appropriately, but as far as I can tell there's not. I saw the above store front yesterday in Daikanyama. Today at the train station I saw a woman with a baby in a stroller, and her diaper bag had a huge pot leaf on it and plainly said "Marijuana". I mean, really? The last time I was here with the husband, we ate at a very nice and kind of fancy Chinese restaurant where "robster" was on the menu.

Today I went to Nikko which involved a 30 minute subway ride to a 2 hour train ride to a 1 hour bus ride up and down a mountain. It was beautiful, almost too beautiful for my photographic purposes, but beautiful nonetheless. Every area looked just like a postcard, and I couldn't help but take pictures. At a certain point I decided to walk instead of taking the bus. I photographed some cows in a pasture and found a walking trail. I was all by myself in nature, scenic autumn leaves everywhere, barely any cars. I was having a good stroll, and then a decent sized snake slithered right across my path. I thought, "This is officially no longer awesome." I wanted the bus real bad at that moment so I picked up the pace. I still had to walk about 15 minutes all by myself on this road, all through a layer of dried fallen leaves that I was positive was home to a thousand more snakes. I found the bus stop and stood on a tree stump until it arrived.

I think I'm pretty much done at the moment. Tomorrow is my last day and night here, and I am really ready to go home. The only conversations I've had in the last week other than ordering food or asking for directions were a couple 5 minute talks with the husband. My body is pretty exhausted, my back not used to carrying bags and cameras all day everyday, and my feet and legs are very sore. I know...wah, wah, poor me...but I'm allowed to vent.

The Natural World, A Foreign Place

2009-10-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

I can't be sure, but it looks dangerous... © Emily Shur

I just got back to my hotel after a three hour long journey back from who knows where. I started out at about 8:30 this morning on a train to Kurihama, a seaside spot that I read was a good day trip from Tokyo. It's past the more commonly visited Kamakura, which the husband and I journeyed to on our honeymoon three and a half years ago. At Kurihama, I walked to the ferry terminal and took a lovely ferry ride to somewhere else...somewhere across some body of water. I thought I knew where I was going, but in reality I may or may not have wound up at my planned destination. I got off the ferry and found a cartoon-ish map of what a Westerner would assume was an amusement park, but was actually a map of the surrounding area. I wandered around for hours. It was warm, but pleasant. I had some very acceptable sashimi at a place appropriately name Fish. I didn't shoot as much today as I did yesterday, but what pictures I did take, I think I will like.

Something that struck me both yesterday and today were the impressive and frightening spiders and spider webs all over the place. I tried to shoot some yesterday. They're kind of tough...the light needs to hit the web at the right angle. Also, it would help to be able to get close, but with the rangefinder that's not happening. I shot the above with the G10 (utilizing the zoom). This one was in someone's front yard. Of course because I'm so neurotic, now anytime so much as a stray hair falls on my arm, I frantically brush off what I'm sure is a giant Emily-killing spider.

I think I am natured out at the moment and will hit up a few spots on my to-shoot list in the city tomorrow.

Also, please check out my shizz on Lipsticktracez, an awesome online magazine/blog run by fellow photographer Reggie Casagrande.

Greetings

2009-10-11T02:10:00.001-07:00

What The Baroness would look like if she was Japanese. © Emily Shur

It's my third night in Tokyo. I miss the husband and The Baroness terribly, but otherwise am doing pretty well. Today was a good picture day. Yesterday was a little random.

I'm not exactly sure when I turned into an old lady, but it must have happened sometime in the last six months (when I was here last) and then manifested itself into both of my knees yesterday. By the end of the day, I was hobbling around, clinging to every railing on every staircase for dear life. I bought some overpriced bath salts and some strange aerosol menthol spray (to be sprayed directly onto your sore muscles). Neither really did the trick, although the bath was relaxing and having numb knees was nice for 10 minutes. Today I bought some magical pills with a picture of a sore knee of the box, and those did the trick. Those magic beans enabled me to walk around Takao, a super cute town (probably not called a town here), all day, which was worth the trip. I think photographically, leaving the city is better for me. I have managed to take some pictures that I love in Tokyo in the past, and I'm sure I will take more, but they are usually chance sightings. The surrounding areas are more peaceful and have a certain aesthetic that you don't find in the city.

Today at the Takao train station something happened that I felt embodied Japanese culture at it's best. I had to pee, and I finally found the bathroom by following a woman who had a rolling suitcase. There were about 10 stalls in the bathroom, but they were all so small. Outside of big cities, the bathrooms get pretty real here. There's no toilet. It's essentially a urinal in the floor that you squat over hoping your aim is on point and if you're lucky, there's a bar you can hang on to help your balance. So, there's no way you're taking a suitcase into the stall with you unless you want some ricocheted urine on it. I would normally think that one would leave the suitcase right outside of their stall door, so you could kind of keep an eye on it, but there's no need for that here. The woman left her suitcase outside of the bathroom entirely, in the main train terminal, and then went into the bathroom. That's the kind of society this is. No one worries about leaving a full suitcase in a busy public place while they squat over a hole in the floor and relieve themselves. Enlightened.

Gifts

2009-10-08T08:14:00.001-07:00

The Baroness © Sergie Loobkoff

I alluded to some sweet birthday gifts the other day. The husband commissioned a friend to make the above drawing of The Baroness. I absolutely love it. It makes me laugh every time I look at it, mostly because she is deathly afraid of skateboards. I also just love her expression. It's so her. She always looks at me like that - half serious, half like she's smelling something bad. My other gift is slightly more extravagant. It involves me getting on a plane to Tokyo today. I'll be gone one week, and I'm going all by my lonesome. It's slightly nerve racking, mostly exciting, and I think will probably be a little lonely. I'm going specifically to shoot. Ok, there will be a little shopping, but mostly picture taking. I feel that I need to round out the body of work I have from Japan now...I need to get it out of my system. So, prepare yourselves for some lonesome, jet-lagged, and hopefully inspired posts from the other side of the world for the next week. Until then...

PS - I'm not quite sure what to say about Irving Penn right now. I was actually quite sad about his death yesterday. He is the reason I became a photographer, and in my mind, probably the greatest of all time. I'll have to get back to you on this one and what he meant to me and my work.

Coming Soon To Something Near You

2009-10-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

Four Eyed Fantasy teaser from Isacto on Vimeo.

So, who's curious?? Come on! I was considering doing a little project reveal, but the husband made a video and said I should prolong the suspense just a little bit longer. I feel there will be great disappointment once I actually do come clean on the subject matter, but hey, it's a fun game to play regardless. Each time I go out and shoot I come back with more and more pictures I like. The goal is to shoot this for the rest of the year and then hopefully have a decent body of work to show.

In other news, our good friend Ruben, has a little movie opening today called Zombieland. Sure, it's no Four Eyed Fantasy teaser video, but we all can't be that awesome. But seriously, congratulations to Ruben on his feature film directorial debut! We went to the premiere last week, and it was the real deal. Grauman's, Hollywood Blvd shut down, paparazzi, celebs (even Bill Mahr was there)...the whole nine. Go Rubie.

Thirty Three

2009-09-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

I went to the Getty. © Emily Shur

I saw Bon Iver play at Hollywood Forever Cemetery at 6am. © Emily Shur

I went to Big Bear and continued to work on my project. © The Husband

I spent my birthday at 'The Happiest Place On Earth'. © Emily Shur

I rode Space Mountain for the first time. © Emily Shur

Yesterday was my thirty-third birthday. My lovely Anna humored me and joined me for my first ever visit to Disneyland. I thought the combination of it being a weekday, school being in session, and Yom Kippur would make for a not so crowded day at the happiest place on earth, but apparently I was wrong. Regardless, it was fun, and more importantly, now I've done that. One more thing to be crossed off the imaginary list.

The birthday weekend was also quite fun and chock full of activity...something unusual for me. I went to The Getty and saw the Irving Penn exhibit. Thumbs up. I also woke up at 5:30am on Sunday and scooted with the husband to see Bon Iver perform outdoors at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Again, thumbs up. After that, we drove to Big Bear (another first for me) where I spent all day shooting in the name of my project. A third thumbs up thus making that one very successful and productive weekend.

So far, thirty-three and I are getting along just fine. I got some amazing gifts (more on those later), and right now I feel extremely lucky and content in life and in love.

Last Night Was Fun

2009-09-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head © Emily Shur

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who showed up last night at the Pro'jekt LA show. I had an awesome time, mostly because so many friends came out and supported, once again reminding me that leaving the house can be fun. In honor of last night and the work shown, here are two new pictures I took of Natalie Portman's Shaved Head for packaging and publicity. No one will ever accuse them of not wearing enough color.

Penn at The Getty

2009-09-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

All Images © Irving Penn

Irving Penn: Small Trades recently opened at The Getty Center. From The Getty Center website:

Working in Paris, London, and New York in the early 1950s, photographer Irving Penn (American, born 1917) created masterful representations of skilled tradespeople dressed in work clothes and carrying the tools of their occupations. A neutral backdrop and natural light provided the stage on which his subjects could present themselves with dignity and pride. Penn revisited his Small Trades series over many decades, producing evermore-exacting prints, including platinum/palladium enlargements. In 2008 the J. Paul Getty Museum acquired the most comprehensive group of these images, carefully selected by the photographer—155 gelatin silver prints and 97 platinum/palladium prints—that will be exhibited in their entirety for the first time.

The exhibition begins with an overview of the Small Trades photographs Penn created in Paris, London, and New York in 1950 and 1951. The first gallery includes original gelatin silver prints, as well as French, British and American editions of Vogue magazine that published selections of the photographs from each city. Several galleries are devoted to the platinum/palladium prints that Penn began to make after several years of experimentation in the mid-1960s. One gallery presents Penn's photographs of one trade as found in each of the three cities. Another focuses on Penn's process, comparing gelatin silver prints and platinum/palladium prints side-by-side. Other groupings demonstrate Penn's use of tools to create elegant, balanced compositions; his fascination with the crisp uniforms associated with the Parisian restaurant trades; and his dynamic treatment of technological occupations in New York.

To me, studio portraits are some of the most challenging shoots. I've never been a huge fan of elaborate sets, too much furniture, or props that make no sense. When I shoot in the studio, my preference is to keep it simple. Good styling, good light, a good face, and (hopefully) a good moment equals success. The goal is to make something interesting out of nothing and to engage the subject. I'm excited to see this body of work.

In One Week

2009-09-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Calling all you Los Angelenos...next Thursday, September 24th will be a joyous occasion for music photography. My music work will be shown alongside my buddies Aaron Farley and Dan Monick. Also in the show are Piper Ferguson and Greg Watermann. Make sure you RSVP.

Photo of the Day: The Baroness

2009-09-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Material Girl, 2009 © Emily Shur

I always give you the face, but today I thought we could take a look at a lesser known (but just as cute) side of The Baroness. It's really all about the one leg sticking out in back. She loves it when I clean out my closet.

September 11th

2009-09-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

World Trade Center - Satellite Image by GeoEye

Last year, I wrote a little post about my personal experience on September 11th, 2001 and the days following. Today I marked the 8th anniversary of a day that completely changed my life with an allergy shot and a trip to Victoria's Secret. I took care of some work stuff, walked the dog, you know...normal shit. On this day, eight years ago, I was in Lower Manhattan running as fast as I could from the debris of the first tower after its' collapse. I saw the second plane hit. I saw people get trampled. I spent the night with a few close friends watching the news, smoking, drinking, and crying.

I noticed that a lot of movies opened today, and overall it seems as though the powers that be want to downgrade the negative connotation of "September 11th". Maybe it's that I'm in LA and not NY, and 9/11 just didn't have the impact that it had in NY anywhere else. Maybe it's that eight years have passed, and we should move on. Whatever the case, no matter how regular my day might have been today, I keep thinking back to eight years ago and how I felt then versus how I feel now. It's days like this, birthdays, and anniversaries of any kind that make you feel time. Time has definitely mellowed out the pain I felt that day and the months after. It's mellowed out my nightmares and general terrorism-related anxiety. So thank you, time, for all that. I hope we never feel anything like that ever again.

New Work

2009-09-10T10:07:00.001-07:00

All Images © Emily Shur

Here are some pictures from my shoot with Joel McHale a few weeks ago. The shoot was for Entertainment Weekly and is out now in the current issue. Also, I've updated the Musicians section on my site with new pictures of Willie Nelson, Eels, and Fool's Gold. Please enjoy.

Women in Labor

2009-09-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

This book cover was gently tossed onto my front lawn (thanks neighbors), and I thought made for a fitting Labor Day Weekend post. Apologies for the ghetto scan job, but it seemed appropriate.

Some Rough Scans - Hawaii

2009-09-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

All Images © Emily Shur 2009

Progress

2009-09-02T12:34:00.001-07:00

Time to Take the Pictures © The Husband 2009

Unbeknownst to you, I have been hard at work on my project. And finally, after about two months of shooting, I actually took some pictures I like! This has been an interesting endeavor in that I've been able to choose the time of day that I photograph, and I'm not used to that. Usually, I shoot while traveling and just come upon things during my walks and drives. I rarely have the opportunity to revisit something so if it looks good, I shoot it then and there. If it doesn't look good at that moment, it doesn't get photographed. Now, I'm able to revisit, reshoot, and make conscious decisions about when I should take pictures. So far, I'm not very good at any of that. I'm glad I've kept with it though because my natural inclination is to stop doing something that's not working. My whole life, if I wasn't good at something essentially immediately, I would stop pursuing it. I'd get frustrated and think, "Fuck this." Not to get overly dramatic, but so far this year has been one big fat transition, and I really am trying to move forward, try new things, and become more of the photographer and artist I want to be. I think this will only help me in my photographic career as well as my personal sanity. So far, I've decided I'm no spontaneously combusted genius, but I'm fine with working hard and failing a little, so long as the end result is a win.

Wall Space Gallery Collectible | Edition 309

2009-08-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

Laundry, Tsukishima, Japan, 2009 © Emily Shur

Happy to announce that my Laundry, Tsukishima image is part of Wall Space Gallery's Collectible Edition 309. The Collectible is a "curated collection of new work from new artists at affordable prices". This all female edition features work from my friends Liz Kuball and Lane Collins, as well as great photographs from photographers such as Lydia Panas and Beatrix Reinhardt, among others. You can purchase the prints online. The prices are quite reasonable. Thanks very much to Crista for including me in this excellent group of women!

What a Long Strange Trip

2009-08-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

Willie Nelson at his home in Paia, Maui on August 25, 2009 © Emily Shur

Home sweet home. Fires, 95 degree weather, traffic...I missed you LA. I felt like I was gone for weeks, when in reality it was less than one. The husband and I just returned from Hawaii where he facilitated a show at Charley's in Maui with Band of Horses and Willie Nelson. Our first stop was Honolulu for a couple days where we had a good time actually. We went to Sunset Beach on the North Shore which was one of the nicest beaches I've ever been to...not too crowded with clean, beautiful water. We walked around touristy Waikiki, saw Inglorious Basterds which I highly recommend, and had some fruity drinks. Then, it was off to Maui for some work and play. I'm a huge fan of both Willie Nelson and Band of Horses (who might be the nicest group of guys ever) so I was excited to get the opportunity to photograph both of them. We drove to Willie's house for his shoot which lasted all of about three minutes. As usual, when photographing legends, there's a lot of discussion leading up to the actual picture, most of which does nothing but freak me out. Don't do this. Don't do that. Don't take too long. Don't say anything stupid. So, I managed to squeeze out the above shot on the 5D Mark II, as well as about 5-6 frames of 120 with the Mamiya 7, and 2 sheets of 4x5. I'm going to drop off my film today so we'll see how all that went. I did get a hug from Willie which made everything worthwhile.

I also shot some pictures for myself on the trip...about 12 rolls of 120 that I'm about to bring in for processing. I went into the trip after a few interesting meetings last week which made me think a lot about challenging myself while photographing. Admittedly, I've fallen into a predictable pattern with my personal/fine art work. I see potential pictures and think, "Yep, that's a picture I would take." These pictures are too easy, and it seems to me that Hawaii might be the epicenter of easy picture taking. I'm not gonna lie; I did take a sunset picture or two. You will find some photos of the ocean and the beach on my contact sheets. However, I did make a conscious effort to not bore myself (and potential viewers) with obvious Emily pictures. I'm not sure if I succeeded. Hawaii is a tough place for a landscape photographer to sway from shooting the majestic and beautiful. So, I did what I could.

Guess Where I Am...

2009-08-25T15:01:00.001-07:00

All Images © Emily Shur 2009

The answer is....Hawaii. Aloha. More pictures to come soon.

Me + 20x200 = A Good Investment

2009-08-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

Victoria's Peak, Hong Kong, 2008 © Emily Shur

Here it is. My contribution to 20x200. Buy it here. Enjoy! Tell your friends, your enemies, your mom, and your dad! Actually, buy one for your friend, your enemy, your mom, and your dad. Trust me, your enemy will love it.

Today was a good day all around...my own 20x200 edition and a super fun shoot with the lovely and hilarious Joel McHale for Entertainment Weekly. There was a goat involved...not much more to say than that.

Free at Last, Free at Last

2009-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

My home away from home, good ol' Stanley Mosk Courthouse

Three weeks and one achy back later, I am free at last. Man, I never thought that would end. You go in for what you think will be one day of sitting on your ass reading a book and wind up in a three week legal debacle. It was actually a fairly interesting process and did have some emotional impact on me. The case was gender discrimination - a female firefighter suing the Los Angeles Fire Department. There were lots of bits and pieces within that general accusation that I don't need to bore you with, but the interesting part was the verdict. We did not award the plaintiff any money when I'm fairly certain a good part of the jury went into the case kind of assuming some wrongdoing took place (on the part of the LAFD). Everyone hears stories of fire departments being boys' clubs, and I for one, initially thought, "Ok lady, prove your case and you got my vote. My guess is you won't have a problem proving anything." In reality, there was no proof. There was no evidence; no testimony other than hers to corroborate what she was saying. As a woman also working in a male dominated industry, I was all ready to believe her, but in reality, there wasn't much to believe.

It was a sad story. She got injured and will never be able to do anything active or physical for a living ever again. The fact that her happiness, hopes, and dreams were in the hands of twelve complete strangers kind of bewilders me. What if I was in that same situation? I will say, if this makes anyone feel better about the justice system, that all twelve of us took our responsibility very seriously. Even still, and also in unanimous agreement, we all felt like we were going to puke walking back into the courtroom to read the verdict. Upon hearing that she just wasted a ton of time and money, her face went blank and eyes kind of glazed over looking straight ahead. I thought about her all night. I do think we made the fair and correct decision, but it was a tough thing to do. Anyway, just thought I'd share a little about that experience. Now, it's back to work.

Teaser

2009-08-12T18:11:00.001-07:00

This time next week, yours truly will have an edition up on 20x200. Check it out next Wednesday to see which image made the cut. Exciting!

Wishful Thinking

2009-08-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Grand Prince Akasaka Hotel, Tokyo © Emily Shur 2009

Well, as you may have gathered from my lack of posting, I am deep in a jury duty hole. Today marks the beginning of my third (and hopefully final) week of doing the duty, and I am sooo ready to be finished. The case is actually interesting, and at this point, having invested so much of my time into it, I'm curious to see how it pans out. Oh don't you worry...I am dying to spill the beans on the case and plan to after it's all said and done. All of us jurors just want to get out of there. We want the case to be over and to be able to get back to our normal lives. If I was the plaintiff this would make me nervous - in any case, not specifically this one. You don't want a bunch of rushed, annoyed people deciding something so hugely important to you. I am paying attention, taking notes, and at this point have a pretty informed opinion on what I think should be the outcome.

However, if there was a window in the courtroom (damn the lighting in there sucks) I would be staring out of it a good portion of the day. During our breaks, or one of the many lulls throughout the course of some one's testimony, I find that my thoughts have been wandering to one place. Japan. I kind of just want to be there taking pictures. I kind of just want to do that forever, and being stuck in a situation you can't get out of turns one's thoughts to ultimate fantasy....If I could be anywhere, where would I be? I would be traveling in Japan with my husband and my dog, and hopefully my parents could come hang out for a while too! I would be freely shooting for myself, really getting to know a place I can't seem to get enough of. Ahhh...wishful thinking.

Not to mention jury duty has definitely been cramping my style, professionally speaking. I've had to turn down and cancel shoots, and no one in the court house seems to have any idea how this affects someone like me (or you). I've pleaded for one day off here and there and have been rejected each time. They nonchalantly tell me to reschedule my shoot, like that's an easy option for someone who does what I do. I'm really reaching my limit and trust me, that takes quite a bit. Let's wrap this up, people.

Flak Photo and The Flat File

2009-07-31T12:46:00.001-07:00

Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, California © Emily Shur

Exciting happenings today. My Hollywood Sign image is today's Flak Photo, making this my third appearance on Flak Photo. Thank you, Andy. Also, the lovely Crista Dix, of wall space gallery in Seattle, has graciously featured my work on her/the gallery's blog, the Flat File. So nice.

It's Always Sunny On emilyshur.com.

2009-07-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Kaitlin Olson © Emily Shur 2009

After a mind numbing day in jury duty, I felt this shot of Kaitlin Olson (from the truly hilarious It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) was the most appropriate to post. The shoot (not this specific shot) is now out in the current issue of Bust Magazine. I've updated my website with some other pictures from this shoot with more to come soon-ish, as well as some new music and portrait work. Put down that PBR, and check it out.

I Like To Do My Part

2009-07-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

I'm the bulldog.

Just when I get into the beginnings of a legitimate "zone" (for lack of a better word) in terms of my new photo project, I get called for jury duty. Well, not only do I get called for jury duty, but as of now I am actually serving on a jury for what appears to be the next two to three weeks. Yes, be afraid. I am the decider...ok me and eleven other disgruntled jurors (fine, and two alternate jurors if you want to get specific).

As I now sit on the couch with The Baroness and a Fat Tire, looking forward to my third day of civic duty, I can't help but think of it as nothing but a large inconvenience. However, I will give it a fair shake and my attention. After all, if I was involved in a lawsuit I would want a jury full of intelligent and attentive people, so that is what I will attempt to be. Point being, my previously photo-oriented planned posts may have to be postponed to a post-jury duty time. How's that for alliteration?

A Week Late

2009-07-25T15:36:00.001-07:00

So....I'm a week late in mentioning the show I am currently in (in conjunction with Hideout Gallery) at LOLA Gallery in lovely Southampton, NY. If you're in the area, the show will be up until August 1st and includes portrait work by yours truly, one of my all time favorite people and photographers Matthew Salacuse, as well as fellow photographers Kareem Black and Chad Griffith. The opening seems to have been a success...alas, I was not in attendance...but Vanity Fair wrote a little something up right here. Too bad they couldn't spell my last name correctly. It's four letters. Is it really that difficult? Apparently, yes.

It's In The Air

2009-07-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

My Little Wooden Buddy © Emily Shur

I've been reading a lot of blog posts lately dealing with what a tough time it is to be a photographer, how not to let yourself and your business go under, what you can do to set yourself apart from the thousands of other people who do the same thing you do. Honestly, it's a bit of a bummout. A lot of photographers are not business geniuses and never thought they would be in a position in which their livelihood depended on becoming one. Obviously, we all have to maneuver around this situation and make sure that we are here to see the other side. How each one of us does that, I'm not really sure.

Soooo......I recently began a project. Yes, a project. The husband shot me an idea that worked within the parameters of how I normally photograph, and I felt I could incorporate the subject matter of the project into photographs I would take anyway. So, I started. I shot a little on Sunday and also woke up at 6am yesterday to shoot some more. There I was walking my Wista around in some not so savory neighborhoods way too early in the morning. I have a shot in mind for this afternoon. I'm doing lots of research online and planning out my next couple of weeks of shooting. I'm in it. I'm also going to keep a sort of blog journal on the growth and development of this project; pretty much purely to kick myself in the ass and make sure that I keep at it. If I make something public I'll feel a self-imposed obligation to follow through. My motives are essentially selfish. Right now, I'm going to keep the subject matter under wraps...just for the sake of drama and the element of surprise.

I don't think anyone has the right answers on how to break through and still be a success despite how much everything sucks. Different things work for different people. Different personality types yield different results. Right now, for me, the most important thing is that my love and passion for photography doesn't wane. I think once I've lost that, I've lost everything. So, I am fighting to make sure that doesn't happen.

Photo of the Day: The Baroness

2009-07-21T15:16:00.001-07:00

The Baroness © Emily Shur

Sometimes, The Baroness likes to help with the laundry.

PBN Contest: My Picks

2009-07-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

The Woods...my entry © Emily Shur 2009

Today marks the deadline for Blurb's 2nd annual Photography.Book.Now contest. I deliberated over updating the book I entered last year and re-entering it this year. I received an honorable mention last year and felt I should be happy about that, so I decided to go more in the "new year, new book" direction. Thus, The Woods was born. The Woods is pretty personal and might only be awesome to me, but I am an advocate of doing things you actually care about, so I decided to make the book I wanted to make. Hopefully, someone other than myself will like it, too. Unfortunately, you can only see the opening spread in the 15 page preview, but you'll get the idea. Needless to say, I would like to win. However, should I not win, here are some other entries that are really, really good and all very deserving in no particular order.

Consumed + Off Season © Susana Raab

Some Fox Trails in Virginia © Susan Worsham

Removing Mountains © Daniel Shea

People's Park © Kurt Tong

I am a big fan of Susana and Daniel's work already and had the pleasure of meeting Susan and Kurt at Review Santa Fe. Their work is all very strong, and the books are all well executed. The entries seem to still be trickling in. I'll be sure to post any others that catch my eye. Props to Blurb for giving away a substantial monetary prize. There are so few companies, people, and organizations left that can afford to shell out $25,000. I think the money forces people to bring their A game and, simply put, draws attention to the contest and to photo books in general. I can't wait to see who wins.

Happy Birthday, Husband!

2009-07-14T16:58:00.001-07:00

Today is the husband's birthday! So, to him, I say Happy Birthday. Marrying you was the best decision I ever made. You make me a better person emotionally and creatively. I can only hope I do the same for you and that we have a million more chances to wish each other a happy birthday.

Me in PDN

2009-07-08T17:15:00.001-07:00

My Picture in the July 2009 Issue of PDN. Booyah.

The July issue of PDN has just hit the stands, and my Picnic Table photo is running almost full page in a feature entitled The Digital Curator. The story is about how "curated blogs and online galleries are playing an ever more influential role in the fine art world". This photo originally appeared on Flak Photo thanks to the good taste and generosity of Andy Adams. And a big thanks to PDN for making me smile.

Peace Out

2009-06-30T19:27:00.001-07:00

Ghostface Killah © Emily Shur

Not unlike my reaction to Michael Jackson's death, I wasn't surprised but still sad to hear about Vibe Magazine's decision to call it quits today. I mean, at this point, no one is really shocked to add one more magazine to the already long list of fallen soldiers. It's sad, but true. I had some good times shooting for Vibe, all of which took place during (the incomparable) George Pitt's tenure as photo director. For example, the above picture of Ghostface was a Vibe shoot. This shoot is probably the first time I can remember actually being annoyed and pissed off at the talent...or at least the first time I felt I had a right to be pissed off. Many similar times have since followed.

Ghostface was about five hours late to the shoot. I had set up in three different areas of the studio, and all three set ups were natural light dependent. Before I go on, yes, I realize that was a mistake, but we are talking roughly six years ago here, people. When he finally arrived, he wanted to order chicken wings and have them delivered to the studio. So, we waited for his food to come and for him to eat. He wanted some specific shoes that weren't on set, so someone had to be sent out to a store to get those. We had to wait for that, too. By the time he was groomed and dressed, it was night time, and the pictures I wanted to take were all ancient history. I was a big Ghostface fan, but at that point in time I was so over him...and all of his friends that came to the shoot. I was young, and I remember being amazed at the level of entitlement he seemed to feel. I also remember being incredibly stressed out at the thought of the shoot sucking, and the probability of that happening was high. Very high. I decided to revert to a safe, decently lit headshot in black and white utilizing the beautiful and no longer existent Polaroid Type 55. He stared me down for most of the shots, and I thought "Yay, another rapper who doesn't want to do shit in front of the camera. How original." I don't really remember what he was reacting to in the above picture, but since we were shooting Type 55, I could see all of the shots I had taken right then and there, and I felt good about that picture. He saw it too, and he took a red marker and drew a big 'X' over it. He hated the fact that he was almost smiling. Of course the negative was intact and unharmed. Sorry, Ghostface...George Pitts seemed to like it.

I had other fun times shooting for Vibe such as hanging with Cee-Lo at his house in Atlanta and playing a game of chess with The GZA (he won). I shot a young unknown R&B artist for them in August of 2001 on the Brooklyn Bridge, and those were the last pictures I took that contained the twin towers in the background. It's sad to see so many magazines go bye-bye. Sometimes I feel like the whole beginning of my career will be part of this historical and novel document, foreign to future generations. Well, another one bites the dust. Peace out, Vibe.

Last Night

2009-06-29T11:29:00.001-07:00

Phoenix was so good last night at The Wiltern! I had an awesome time. Everyone seemed to have an awesome time. Great set list. Great sound. Great energy. Great show. After their encore, the house lights came up and "Rock With You" by MJ came on. Everyone stayed and danced, lights on and all. I've never really seen something like that happen at such a large venue with so many people. It was a nice moment and a total party atmosphere.

My New Favorite Thing

2009-06-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

I recently was gifted a Simplifi, a new device made by Griffin Technology that is a iPod/iPhone charger and dock, a card reader, and a USB hub that plugs directly into your computer (it comes with an AC adapter but is not needed in all situations including mine). It reads both CF and SD cards among others, but those are the two I care about. I gave up my iPhone a while ago for the Blackberry Bold, but of course I still have an iPod, so the Simplifi is a pretty perfect desk accessory for me. It has relieved me of a few wires and cords and made things neat and tidy. Go get one....it'll make a perfect Bastille Day gift for that hard-to-buy-for French buddy of yours.

A Few Words

2009-06-25T16:22:00.001-07:00

You did your thing, Michael, and did it well.

I had a different blog post in mind for today...one that was self serving and self promoting, but I think I can put that one on hold for a day to say a little thank you and goodbye to Michael Jackson. Like most people my age, Michael Jackson had a huge impact on me. I used to make up choreographed dances to Thriller in my living room and perform them for my parents. I still listen to Off the Wall at the gym all the time. Yes, he was weird, but also awesome and seriously talented. I have a feeling MJ will become a sort of Elvis for our generation. There will be rumors. They will be theories. Ultimately though, his music has already proven itself and will continue to stand the test of time. Michael Jackson fulfilled his genius quotient a long time ago, and I suppose his work here is done. Thanks for the music and the dancing and all the good times, Michael.

Press Junkets and Why They Are So Darn Challenging

2009-06-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds / All Images © Emily Shur 2009

You set up for three hours in a hotel room. You shoot for five minutes. You hope for the best.

Claude

2009-06-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

Claude, May 17, 2009 © Emily Shur

I got word last night that a good friend of ours had to put their beloved dog to sleep. Claude was almost 14 years old (you wouldn't know it from the above photo), and an all around sweetheart. It's always such a horrible decision to have to make - whether or not to end your pet's life - but Claude had a great, long life...full of love and good times. I wanted to post a little tribute to Claude, but also just write, in general, about how much animals (dogs especially) have touched my life and how meaningful the animal/human relationship can be.

I grew up with dogs - two dogs to be exact, Daisy and Zoe, who both lived into double digits - that affected and changed my life for the better in so many ways. Now I have my own dog, The Baroness (duh), and although it is an added responsibility and sometimes a pain in the ass, everyday she makes me smile, laugh, and realize that life is good. Dogs are the best buddies. They love you. You love them. That's pretty much the whole relationship. Sure, people are cool and all, but dogs are special. I write this as I share an office chair with a 35 pound snoring English Bulldog.

Claude, you are loved and we will all miss you.

Some Stiff Competition

2009-06-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

Vaginas in the Woods © Daniel Sorine

Last night I found myself browsing through this year's Photography.Book.Now submissions on Blurb, of which there are currently 771 entries. One of the stand outs for me was Daniel Sorine's Vaginas in the Woods. Wow. I especially love the tags - vaginas, woods, trees. Enough said.

My Review of My Review

2009-06-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

One of the many pictures I was trying upload during the review © Emily Shur

I have so many thoughts about Review Santa Fe, and I am going to attempt to organize them right now. Also, I am a fan of a good list. So, here I go.:

Thought #1: I think the most important thing I learned this past weekend is that I need to figure out whether or not I want to parlay my personal work into another facet of my career, or if the pictures should remain what they are - a quiet escape from my career. Being at the review made me realize that the art world (or review world) is as much of a social climbing, game playing world as the commercial photography sphere, and now is the time in which I need to decide if I want to do that all over again...and this time with work that is way more personal than my portraiture.

Thought #2: Ultimately, a photo review is a culmination of opinions given to you by a respected group of people in the photo industry. We, as photographers, need to understand that in the end, we have to be happy with the work we are making and stand by it. The reason I say this is because I, along with other photographers I spoke with, got complete opposite feedback in many reviews. One friend of mine had one reviewer tell her that her palette was dated, and she should more carefully consider the time of day that she was photographing. She had another review that same day where she was told her palette was beautiful, and the time of day in which she was choosing to take pictures was perfect.

Thought #3: Believe it or not, being in Santa Fe made me appreciate my day job. I started spending more time and energy on my personal work as a response to being frustrated with commercial photography. I felt as though I wasn't progressing, which is probably the worst feeling I can think of for someone doing what we do. At the review, I felt out of place for the first time in a long time which made me realize that I am part of a photographic community already, and although at times my community is slightly superficial (and there are some annoying people within the community), I am very lucky to do what I do for a living, and I love the people and crews I work with here in LA. I am proud to be a photographer and make a living doing something I love.

Thought #4: The actual event of Review Santa Fe is a very well oiled and organized machine. I felt a bit as though I was at college orientation all over again, but hey...college was fun, and some of my best friends still to this day are people I met in college. I met some really lovely and fun people at the review, not to mention some really good photographers. I was impressed with the variety of ages and nationalities in the "Review Santa Fe 100" and also the work. A few small critiques of the event would probably include the horrible internet connection in the hotel, the horrible coffee in the hotel, and possibly the location of the hotel since it was not downtown and a far walk from anything town-like. One big compliment on the event would likely be the fact that at no time did it feel chaotic, and to me, this is a big plus considering how many photographers and reviewers were together in one place.

Thought #5: Was it worth it? This is the question I have been asked the most by friends and family, all of whom knowing how much time, energy, and money I invested into my potential experience at Review Santa Fe. I suppose the answer would be yes, it was worth it, although I'm not going to lie and say it wouldn't feel more worth it if something tangible came out of my time there. Although, only time will tell if that (a show, gallery representation, or maybe a published book) will in fact happen. Going into the review, I was misleading myself by thinking that just getting in was the big obstacle to overcome (and I had done it!). Getting in was merely a small first step onto a long road, and that realization deflated me for a minute on my first day of reviews. In the end, I left feeling encouraged and not discouraged, and now it's up to me to decide how far I want to walk down the road.

PS: Today brought a nice mention on A Photo Editor (which made me sit down and spend the time to actually write this post) and an excellent idea on how Center (or any organization for that matter) could incorporate blogging into future events. Sign me up!

The Golden Hour

2009-06-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

All Photos © Emily Shur

I am back from Review Santa Fe and still somewhat sleepy from all the work my brain had to do over the past 4 days. I will post something more thoughtful tomorrow...I'm pretty talked out right now...but here are some pictures from Saturday night in Santa Fe. Amber Terranova of PDN took some of us tourists up a mountain to watch the sunset. It was a welcome break from my anxiety and also really beautiful.

Review Santa Fe: Day 2

2009-06-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Images still are not uploading so you just get some rants today. I just finished four reviews, and I must say I haven't felt this out of my element in a long time. Not that that is a bad thing at all. Sometimes, I think it's good to be uncomfortable. It makes you realize that everyone, including oneself, needs and thrives on growth. Without growth, you remain the same content little jerk, going though life thinking that you're the greatest and need no improvement. I can honestly say that after today's reviews, I am officially in need of improvement. The art review is not my normal scene. Stick me in an office with a photo editor or art director, and I'm fine. The work is what it is. They either respond favorably or negatively. The art world is that, and then some....what is the intent behind the work? Why do you take these pictures? The pressure for those answers to be good and meaningful is pretty intense. This is what I have been thinking about all of last night and today.

I have finally met in person some photographers I only knew of electronically - the lovely Aline Smithson, Kevin Miyazaki, and Jeff Hutchens. Not to mention, I am sharing a room with my great friend Lydia Burkhalter and was so excited to re-connect with another college buddy, the awesome Sarah Wilson. So...yeah, I'm trying to fit in and not be the quiet girl who shuffles off to her room to blog instead of socializing and geeking out on everyone's work.....oh...whoops.

Review Santa Fe: Day 1

2009-06-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I just spent 30 minutes trying upload photos from today's journey, and I have so far been denied three times. The internet connection here leaves much to be desired. Anyway, we are here in Santa Fe, about to embark on many artistic conversations beginning first thing tomorrow morning. The travels were long, but fairly easy aside from the awkwardly huge black box in which I chose to lug my prints around. I have spent soooo much time preparing my images, and today I realized that I'm rather ill prepared in terms of the actual talking about the images. After some nice pep talks from fellow reviewees and the husband, I realize now that honesty is the best policy. I will prepare some honest gems first thing in the morning. For now, my frustration with this internet connection has bored me senseless, and therefore, I will allow myself a good night's rest. I am anxious and excited about tomorrow. More to come....hopefully.

Flak Photo: Part Deux

2009-05-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Today my little picture of a wall and some trees on a random tennis court is the Flak Photo of the Day and also kicks off the Flak Photo feature on photographers who are participating in Review Santa Fe. You can also find Flak Photo on facebook here. Judging by some of the comments on my photo of the day, not everyone is enthralled with my vision, but hey, different strokes for different folks.

NYPH, AP 25, and An Example of Why Photography Matters

2009-05-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

All Images © Thomas Lekfeldt

As I mentioned before, I had two images nominated for the Editorial Single Image Award category in the NY Photo Awards (the awards of the New York Photo Festival). I probably shouldn't say this, but I really wasn't expecting to win. I actually was happy just to be nominated. I went back to check on the outcome, and saw Thomas Lekfeldt's winning images from his story "A Star In The Sky" (the same work is in the Fighting Cancer story on Lekfeldt's site). Now, I've never been a huge lover of documentary photography. I realize that is in some form blasphemous, but it's just never been my bag. Sure, I gave it a whirl when I started taking pictures, but I am more of a formalist and frankly, probably too self centered to devote my life to such epic social causes...war, sickness, famine, etc. Sometimes though, some work just speaks to you, no matter what genre, and these pictures actually brought tears to my eyes. The story follows a young girl, Vibe, fighting an inoperable brain tumor, and the pictures are amazing...amazingly sad and beautiful all at the same time. It seems that there are different pictures on the NY Photo Awards site and on Lekfeldt's website so I advise looking at both. I am blown away by the sensitivity in these photographs as well as the raw emotion, both of which are really quite difficult to convey in single, still images. Beautifully done, Mr. Lekfeldt.

Also, another really strong collection of photographs, American Photography 25, is on view online now here. Not to toot my own horn, but...oh fuck it, who am I kidding...I have six images selected for publication in the book! Woot! But on a serious note, AP always does a really good job of pulling together all different genres of photography and giving each one the same level of respect and importance. I love the mixture of reportage and celebrity and fine art and fashion and still life, and I especially love how well represented animals are in this particular edition. I'm very excited to have my work in this book as there are so many photographers that I admire whose work is also included. Sucks that we have to wait until November to see the actual book, but the online gallery will have to do for now.

Happy BBQ-ing or whatever you're supposed to do this weekend...summer has officially begun for everyone who doesn't live in Southern California.

This One's For You, Jeremy.

2009-05-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say thanks to Mr. Jeremy Weiss for bestowing upon me his unwanted Type 59. It's perfect - cyan and flat - just the way I like it. Also, a big Happy Anniversary to him and Claire!

Photo of the Day: The Baroness

2009-05-18T23:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, the husband and The Baroness made time to stop by my shoot with the hilarious Kaitlin Olson (Sweet Dee!) The little lady got her picture taken. And so did Kaitlin. I know there is a question on everyone's mind...and the answer is yes, that is a new collar.

Almost Out of the Bubble

2009-05-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

I am trying to emerge out of the bubble that I have been in lately preparing for Review Santa Fe. It's creeping up slowly, but steadily, and I still have to print everything. Luckily, my edit is done and so is all of the scanning and color correcting. Sigh. I must say it is nice to have come such a long way with this work. It feels good to put the same time and effort into my personal work as my commercial/editorial work - or as I like to call it, work work. It's very gratifying. Sometimes, I feel guilty traveling to make the work, or spending money on it when maybe it's better spent elsewhere, but ultimately this is the work that reminds me of how much I truly love photography. So, I guess that's worthwhile.

On another purely self indulgent note, here are some other gratifying happenings in Emilyland. I found out today that I received a nomination (for two images) for the New York Photo Awards in the Editorial Single Image category. We won't know who actually wins until Friday, nor do I know which two images are in the running, but as they say, it's an honor just to be nominated. Also, please check out today's post on We Can Shoot Too...so nice...thank you, Wesley.

Musicians

2009-05-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

Two new pictures of musicians. I like these both right now ...pretty evocative of my current mood....quiet.

I Couldn't Resist

2009-05-01T18:22:00.001-07:00

Tiny Vices

2009-05-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

I now have a portfolio on Tiny Vices. Check it out here. Or you can kill a tremendous amount of time and browse through all of the portfolios here. I submitted the work a while ago which means it has already been seen by many. I plan on updating soon with a brand new portfolio of brand new pictures.

In other news, tomorrow night (May 2nd) there is an opening at Stricola Contemporary in NYC from 6-9pm at 3 Wooster St. The exhibit is called Wild Things: Photography by Animal Lovers, Curated by Greg Garry. Three of my bestest friends have work in the show: Matthew Salacuse, Stacey Pittman, and Eric McNatt. Go support if you can. I would if I could. I'm a little disappointed that The Baroness will not be represented in the show, but I suppose that's life. She is a true wild thing...and by wild thing, I mean lazy piglet.

In One Week

2009-04-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

On May 6th, Nymphoto: Conversations Volume 1 Group Show III will open at the Sasha Wolf Gallery. I have a piece in the show, and so do many other amazing women photographers, all listed above. The gallery information and opening specifics are as follows:

NYMPHOTO: CONVERSATIONS VOLUME 1

GROUP SHOW III

@ SASHA WOLF GALLERY

10 LEONARD ST.

NYC, NY 10013

212.925.0025

OPENING RECEPTION ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 6TH, FROM 6PM TO 8PM

There is also a book that has been self-published by Nymphoto in conjunction with the exhibit, and I can't wait to get my copy. Check it out here. The book looks great. Well done, ladies. The book will be for sale at the opening.

The show and book got a write up yesterday on NPR's The Picture Show blog. Look who gets mentioned by name...oh yeah...that's right. It's very exciting to be a part of something so positive. Thanks to all the ladies at Nymphoto for including me, especially Nina, who has been a great friend for so many years now.

Some Rough Scans

2009-04-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

Here are some quick scans from my most recent trip to Tokyo last month. Sometimes, when I'm there, I really want to come home. Then I look back on my film and all I want to do is be there again. Now. Guess I'll just have to wait...

The Art of Funny

2009-04-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am teaching a portraiture workshop to high school students in conjunction with MOPLA, the Los Angeles Month of Photography. I've been stressing about what exactly to teach these kids; what is possible to learn in a couple hours and what is not. What is the most important component of portraiture I would ideally like to impart to a beginner? I think planting the seed of how to take an iconic, expressive portrait is the way to go. It's easy to lean some pretty girl against a wall, diffuse the light, and take a flattering portrait that says nothing at all about the subject. That has never been my thing. I enjoy unique portraits; portraits that show me something I haven't seen a million times before. I like when pictures of people tell a story, and that story can be really simple or more complex. It all comes down to the storyteller's point of view and whether he or she is beating you over the head with a concept or merely leading you down an interesting path.

Simultaneously, I am prepping for an upcoming shoot with one of my current favorite comediennes which is exciting. I love shooting funny, smart ladies. I have been doing my normal research for the shoot with her which involves brainstorming on the internet, trying to come up with something that makes sense, but isn't cliché. I keep coming back to Sam Jones' work as a great example of someone who does humorous and clever portraits. There is a true art to capturing humor in a still photograph. It's not easy, even when you're shooting someone really super funny. The idea has to communicate only visually what it would normally communicate with the additions of sound effects, music, or a series of actions that end in a punch line. It takes a good sense of humor (and by that I mean a sense of what is humorous) on the part of the photographer in order to know what needs to happen in this one single image to carry the joke through to completion. I've admired Sam Jones' work for a long time now. That picture of Steve Martin was taken ten years ago and, to me, still holds up as a great picture. It's a classic joke presented in an interesting way. Just goes to show you that big budgets and fancy lighting and whatnot is cool, but one simple, great idea can make for a really iconic portrait.

The Wait Is Over.

2009-04-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

We love bulldogs...real, fake, whatever.

You can finally see where and how we do it (life, that is) in the Jackanory's new video series, Inside The Photographer's Studio/Home. Watch it here. Thanks to Andrew for coming over and giving The Baroness her much deserved 15 minutes of fame....ok 4 minutes and 38 seconds...not that I'm counting.

White Lies and Good Music

2009-04-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

Click twice and you'll be redirected to youtube to watch the video.

There's so much good music out in the world right now. Tuesday night I got hit by a car on the 101, only to hope the highway patrol arrived quick enough for me to get to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in time to see the entire White Lies showcase. I made it with not a scratch on me. My car is another story.

White Lies is one of my favorite new bands...maybe even my favorite. Their debut album To Lose My Life seems like the work of much older, more seasoned musicians. Really really impressive. Tonight is My Bloody Valentine at The El Rey. Exciting.

A couple of my other favorites right now are new albums from Grizzly Bear (Veckatimest) and Phoenix (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix), both releasing on May 26th, but maybe you know someone who knows someone who could give you a listen? Hmm?

My Weekend of Food

2009-04-13T10:23:00.001-07:00

My veggie plate at Mastro's. Steamed broccoli, gorgonzola mac & cheese, and spinach...and a huge martini.

Noodle Kugel. Yum. I did not make this, but I ate it.

Potato Pancakes. I did make these. They looked weird, but tasted good.

Ham. I did not eat this.

Bunny Cake...getting stabbed in the eye. I did eat this.

Long story short, I'm full. And speaking of food, I recently read the PDN guide to Los Angeles, and I have some things to add...some photo related and some food related...

First of all, equipment. OTMFC.

Second, production. First Shot and Stephanie Morton.

Third, food. This might be a whole 'nother post in itself as most of my favorites are not listed. Let's start with Mastro's Steakhouse. I do not eat meat, but I am 100% confident in saying that if you want a steak in LA, if you want to impress someone, this is the place to go. It's not cheap. Mastro's is better reserved for a special night out, but it is some old school Beverly Hills classy shit. Also, the east side is not well represented in the PDN guide, and we got the goods over here. Hmmm...maybe I'll make my own little LA guide sometime.

On Giving Up

2009-04-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am pretty disappointed in myself right about now. I just watched the Stephen Shore video over on APE, and it made me realize that I have kind of given up on some things lately that are very important to me. First of all, for those of you who know me, you know that Stephen Shore is, for lack of a better word, my photogod. His work has meant so much to me in so many ways. I'm not going to go into the specifics of his photographic genius right now because that will take too long, but I am truly grateful that he and his work exists. It has changed my life immensely for the better.

Lately, I've been pretty lazy about shooting large format. With Kodak Readyload and Polaroid being no more, my way of photographing has been forced to change. I think I kind of swept those feelings of betrayal by those two companies under the rug and just plainly moved onto Fuji without acknowledging my grief. Don't get me wrong; Fuji is fine, and I will shoot it. I do shoot it. It's what this shift represents that's more upsetting to me. I gradually started to feel like, 'What's the point? Why am I still bothering seeking out things like the Fujifilm 4x5 Instant Film holder when this format is obviously dying a slow and painful death?'

I took my 4x5 to New Zealand last November, and I did use it...not as much as my Mamiya 7, but I did make a point to bust it out a few times and make the effort. The above photo is one example of said effort. I also took my 4x5 to Tokyo a couple weeks ago. I did not even take it out of the bag once. I did take a lot of pictures, but they were all with my Mamiya 7. There were times when I thought, 'This would be nice with the 4x5', but that would require me to go back to my hotel, get all my shit together, get back on the train, set up, and take the same picture I just took with a perfectly good camera. I know - totally lazy, right?!

Watching Stephen Shore hoist that 8x10 on his shoulder woke me up. I know that he doesn't shoot 8x10 all the time now, for every single shoot or picture, but the fact that he still shoots it at all illustrates that his love for the format overwhelms the logic and reality that it is not a practical way to photograph. Stephen Shore, I hear you loud and clear and again, thanks for showing me the way.

Oh and by the way, I did pick up one of those Fuji 4x5 Polaroid backs in Tokyo. It was 130 bucks. Money well spent.

Shtick Shift

2009-04-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting post today on Conscientious about shtick. I have thought about this topic a lot in my time as a taker of pictures. Shtick has made some people very wealthy and their work very recognizable. For others, it's an obvious, transparent crutch used when new ideas are not flowing. There is a line, possibly a fine one, between shtick and style. Most people don't have a completely unique style, myself included. However, a style is not automatically a shtick. Style is what differentiates us from our fellow photographers. It's our way to experiment and make an image ours. I think that when a certain style is overused, beyond what makes sense for the subject matter, it becomes a shtick.

We can also find many shtick vs. style examples in music (really?), as Mr. Colberg has already done well with examples in photography. To me, there are few bands that are as unapologetic about their shtick as Oasis. Now, let me say first that I am a fan of Oasis (you really should download Dig Out Your Soul if you haven't already). I've seen them many times, most recently being about 10 days ago in Tokyo. I know there are some haters out there (Anna), but I like their songs. Their lyrics are memorable, universal, and as a band, they are dependable. Dependable. Why are they so dependable? Why does every Oasis album sound like a continuation of the previous one? They have found a way of making music that works for them, and they have not strayed from it one bit since their incarnation. Why risk disappointing thousands and thousands of fans? My guess is it is not worth it to them, and I get that.

I see the reasoning behind overusing a style and/or having a shtick. Why would some people mess with success? On the flip side, why wouldn't you push yourself beyond your known capabilities? Doesn't it get boring to do the same thing all the time? Well, I can only speak for myself, and sometimes it's scary to try something that might not work. Failure is frightening. Though I will say, it's interesting to me that the majority seems to eventually grow tired of most shticks, whether it be in music, photography, or any genre where "more" is expected from the people lucky and talented enough to hold the coveted title of artist.

Lost Has Just About Lost Me

2009-04-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hurley, Sawyer, and Kate looking confused...welcome to the audience's world

Maybe I am just jet lagged and irritable, but Lost is really starting to annoy me. What began as a smart, unpredictable, and unique show, now takes advantage of the creative liberties that made the show popular in the first place. In the beginning, there was a story line that was engrossing enough to assure the audience looked past the obviously unrealistic happenings. Plus, who doesn't like a little mystique and/or some smoke monsters on a seemingly deserted island that might or might not really exist? Lost was so good I couldn't watch it on tv. I had to buy the entire season on dvd so that I didn't have to wait a week in between episodes. Sure, the plot of the show is pretty unbelievable, but it was well done and didn't cross the fine line that separates the surreal from the ridiculous. Now, it seems like they (the show's producers? writers?) think they can throw any curve ball into the plot line and the audience will just accept it. Oh, this person died? No he didn't. Now he's alive again. That crazy thing really happened? No, that was actually just a vision...so now we can go either way with the story line...just in case we need to. All of these twists and turns bring the show out of the realm of believability and into a Victoria Principal waking up and seeing Patrick Duffy in the shower and realizing Bobby's death was a dream type of place (for you children of the 90's, that is a Dallas reference). It's insulting to the audience's intelligence. Of course, I still watch Lost because I know there is an end in sight and I really want to see how everything pans out. However, lately I have been very disappointed, and I felt like I needed to speak my mind on this very pressing and important issue. Come on JJ - don't let me down!

She's Back!

2009-03-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, seems I took an impromptu break from my little blog baby....I didn't mean to. It just kind of happened. At first, I meant to write a 'sayonara' type post before leaving for Japan. Then, I got caught up with the kind of crap one gets caught up with before leaving the country for a week. So, I planned to blog while I was in Japan, but once I got there, I was in my own little bubble. You know how that can happen.

I did have a great time as per usual. I also branched out a little bit this trip; going to some places I hadn't been to before. I find that my favorite photographic excursions in Japan (or pretty much anywhere) happen in the more random of places, not the more popular. I will be getting my film back later today, and I have high hopes for some of the pictures I took in some extremely strange places where a typical tourist definitely would not go sight-seeing. Of course, I also went to some touristy spots, and I also did some damage clothing shopping. Whoops.

Every time we go to Tokyo, we seem to forget how tiring the city is, and that it is definitely not a vacation spot in any conventional sense of the word. It's basically the same activity level as NYC, peppered with some serious jet lag and a language barrier. I still love it though. The Japanese and I share a love for many of the same things - champagne, raw fish, hosiery, jackets, cleanliness, and manicured landscapes to name a few. I look forward to seeing my pictures. I'll share some soon enough, along with more specifics about the trip, once I am less groggy. This post alone has taken me almost an hour to write because I keep spacing out and re-reading the same line over and over. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Home sweet home. I am way happy to be back in The Baroness' loving paws.

Too Much Emily

2009-03-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

OK - this will be the last self-promotional blog post - for a little while, at least. I feel like all I've been doing lately is toot toot tooting my own horn, but hey...a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. On a quick side note, did anyone call farts 'toots' when you were a kid? I did, and ever since childhood the word toot makes me smile every time I hear it or speak it. Anyway, I'm happy to say that there is a new interview with yours truly on Jake Stangel's resource site Too Much Chocolate. You can read it here. There are some recent photographs on there, and Jake asked if he could also show a couple really old pictures I took way back in the beginning. So, I obliged. One is from high school (!) and one from college. Pretty cool to look back on those. I also recently updated my site with some new portrait work if you want to check that out.

Validation

2009-03-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

It's not that we artist types do what we do solely for validation, but without a little bit here and there, it becomes difficult for us to know whether or not we are on the right path. I'm all for constructive criticism as well, but it's not like when you don't get a job, or a magazine sends your portfolio back, or you don't win a contest, you get some sort of outlined checklist of how you could improve your work. So, positive reinforcement really becomes the only means for us to gauge the outside world's perception of our work. On Friday I was very excited to learn that my work has been accepted into this year's Review Santa Fe. Woohoo! Now, I've been around the block enough times to know that one individual event is not likely to change the course of my life and/or career. There have been many times in the past where I got super excited about getting some sort of awesome shoot, only to do the job and then feel let down when afterwards I'm still the same ol' Emily. I've come to realize that a great shoot is just that; a great shoot. I can't expect it to be anything more, although I'll always have my fantasies. I worked very hard on my entry to Review Santa Fe this year, and I feel there is justice in the world when hard work is rewarded. Who knows what will happen at the review, but I am really looking forward to it. Fun.

The Fifth Time's The Charm

2009-03-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

In twelve days, the husband and I will be departing for a week of good times in our favorite city, Tokyo. We were there almost exactly one year ago, but only for a few days and there were some work obligations associated with our trip. This time our only obligation is to have fun, and boy do we need some fun. Since this will be my fifth time in Japan (and in Tokyo), I've been doing some research on areas of Tokyo I have not yet been. I feel I have covered the obvious, and now onward and upward (hopefully) to the less obvious and more interesting imagery. This time the Wista will come along for the ride, along with my tried and true Mamiya 7. I was planning on mentioning this trip soon-ish, but an amazingly awesome post on Liz Kuball's blog got me even more excited about my trip. So I thought now is the time to share my travel plans with the world...and by the world, I mean my 4 or 5 readers.

I have photographed more in Japan than I think I have in LA, and I live here. I realize that about a million other photographers feel the same connection with Japan that I have, but I stopped caring about that. What I care about is taking pictures that I'm proud of and make me happy. A little recognition and respect would also be nice, but ultimately that is not the reason to photograph. This trip also coincides with Blurb announcing a call for entry for their second Photography.Book.Now competition. Last year I entered a book I made solely of pictures I have taken in Japan over the past five or so years. I've had some issues lately with Blurb's quality control, but I still really love their BookSmart software, and they have always been attentive to any problem I've had. I plan on entering again this year...possibly with a continuation of last year's entry...possibly with something completely different. The best part of entering (besides the possibility of winning $25,000) is having an excuse to edit my work, sequence it, and get one step closer to my dream of someday actually publishing a book of my photographs.

I've tried to figure out why I'm so drawn to photographing in Japan...why I still haven't found what I'm looking for anywhere else. Sure, I've taken lots of pictures elsewhere that I'm happy with, but I haven't found that same level of consistent visual inspiration in other places. I also think it's a mindset type of thing. Japan is a peaceful and happy place for me. I associate it with only good things, and I've only ever had good times there. I associate Japan with my parents, my honeymoon, my husband, and some of my favorite photographs I've ever taken. I think emotional association is a very powerful and personal mechanism in terms of what comes through in our photographs. You can kinda tell when someone is loving what's happening in front of their lens and vice versa.

NY NY It's A Hell of a Town

2009-03-09T09:12:00.001-07:00

Chinese Food with Friends

Pier 59 Snow

Street Snow

Scooter Snow

Billie

I was in NY last week for a shoot and had a great time. Saw friends - Matt, Stacey, Nina, Eric, Andrew. Met a new friend - Peter. Hung tough with Billie (see above). I shot at Pier 59 for the first time in years. It felt good to be back. Not good good - just good enough. It was also the first time in years I have seen snow. That was fairly exciting although the 4 degree wind chill was anything but. Just wanted to share some pictures taken with the new G10 (oh yes, I upgraded). Now it's time to head over to The Osbournes' house to take some pictures. First things first though: coffee.

Photo of the Day: The Baroness

2009-03-05T15:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since The Baroness had a photo of the day...plus I just can't help myself. I'll get back to the photo stuff tomorrow, but for now, just appreciate the cuteness.

Toot Toot Number Two

2009-03-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

Oh happy day. Today my Picnic Table picture is featured on Flak Photo! You can see it here. Also, you can follow Flak Photo on Twitter here. This is very exciting for me, and I thank Andy for the support. I've been in NYC the past few days on a shoot and am coming home tonight. Hopefully, on my flight home I won't have a middle seat again next to a 7 ft. tall NBA employee and some angry jerk behind me kicking my seat the entire time. One can dream.

For All You NYers

2009-02-26T10:19:00.001-08:00

My most excellent friend and fellow photographer Matthew Salacuse is having an opening tonight at Reason Clothing. Matt has also self published a book in conjunction with this show that will be available for purchase at the opening. All are welcome! Sadly, I won't be flying across the US for this one, but I will be in the big apple next week for a couple days. See you then, Matty (and the rest of my NY family)! Have fun tonight.

Toot Toot.

2009-02-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

Please head on over to Aline Smithson's blog, Lenscratch, for a sweet feature on moi. So complimentary and generous. Thank you, Aline! Also, thank you Andy for the referral. Among the fifteen images shown on Lenscratch, six are from my trip to New Zealand last November. I think this might be the first time most of these pictures are out there in the world so that is exciting. I must say, it's very gratifying to see my personal work on view somewhere. I also must say that attempting to achieve any sort of success with my fine art or personal work (whatever you want to call it) has been a humbling experience and has brought me back to my beginnings as a commercial photographer. That's not all bad. It's good to be humble and to be humbled now and again. I think humility is quite an underrated virtue. Just like the president, I look forward to what the future holds with optimism and realism, and...I'll say it...I hope I get what I want.

Tierney Gearon: Explosure at Ace Gallery

2009-02-22T12:03:00.001-08:00

Thursday night I pushed my way through the crowd at Ace Gallery to see Tierney Gearon's new show titled Explosure. I definitely want to go back before the show closes to see the work again in a less crowded and fabulous environment, but I have to say, I was really blown away. It's been a while since I've seen a show of new work that really got me, and this one did just that. I'm not sure what the explanation of the work is, and frankly, I don't need to know. To me, this work is very dreamlike. It's very much about how we remember things; how our brains work in terms of memory. One thing I loved about the work was the play on scale in all of the images. I think, for me, that is what took it out of the realm of reality. I always remember things in bits and pieces. I remember my dreams in bits and pieces. If someone asked me to photographically illustrate my family vacations at the Jersey Shore or getting my first puppy, I'd have a very hard time of photographing something I vividly, and at the same time, barely remember. I remember these things and many others in a different way than something that happened last week. These events have crossed over into a more fantastical area in my brain, where they have become both real and mythical at the same time. How would one photograph this? Through a simple and possibly overused technique of in-camera double exposure, Tierney Gearon has created some of the most interesting work I've seen in a looooong time, and the prints are definitely worth seeing in person.

Very Cool

2009-02-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

All images featured in Lay Flat 01: Remain in Light

Everyone should check out the new publication Lay Flat's first issue Remain in Light. From their website:

Lay Flat is a new print publication devoted to promoting the best in contemporary fine art photography and writing on the medium. Each issue is assembled by Shane Lavalette in close collaboration with a co-curator. Photographers and writers from across the globe are invited to submit their work to be considered for future publications.

I think the coolest part of Remain in Light is that the photographs are unbound, so for 25 bucks you are essentially buying a mini portfolio of excellent work, not to mention there are essays and poems by some very accomplished peeps. The whole things reminds me of an old school art circle type thing...perhaps a modern day interpretation of Stieglitz's Camera Work.

You can see some of the photography from Remain in Light featured on Flak Photo throughout the month of February. So far, I am loving the three photos posted above. Ed Panar is quickly becoming a favorite new photographer of mine. If you aren't already familiar with Flak Photo, which would surprise me, you should get over there right now (now!) and spend some quality time with the excellent eye of Andy Adams. It is a great resource for new photography, and Andy's genuine love for pictures comes through in every facet of the site. I had the pleasure of meeting Andy in person this year at Photo LA through the gracious introduction of Mr. Hetherington. We met. We laughed. We cried (mostly about how hot it was inside the exhibition space). We have a friend in common. I have since directed a couple friends to Flak Photo. All of them have simultaneously thanked me for the tip and lamented about how long they just spent on the site. Andy's photographic sensibility is very similar to my own (hmmm...maybe that's why I like it so much...I am really on point today). I particularly like that Flak Photo encourages submissions on a rolling, 'come as you are' basis. Submit. Submit.

It's nice to see photographers supporting other photographers. While competition is and always has been stiff (especially nowadays), it's way more pleasant to feel a camaraderie with peers. I'd much rather have people to talk to about my triumphs and failures than feel an isolated anxiety based on nothing but insecurity.

Someone is Feeling the Love

2009-02-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from myself and The Baroness. She hates balloons.

Happy Anniversary, MFEF!

2009-02-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Tuesday marked the one year anniversary of My Four Eyed Fantasy! Yay me. This blog has been fun, satisfying, and fulfilling, not to mention a constant reminder of how powerful the internet is.

Here are some other tidbits from this week so far. Monday night I got to speak to an entertainment photography class at Art Center College of Design taught by Micahel Kochman, Entertainment Weekly's west coast photo editor. Michael and I have worked together on many shoots over the years, since before I actually lived here in LA. I always have a great time talking to his classes at Art Center, and it's flattering to be asked to come in. Thanks Michael! Yesterday I had an out of town shoot with Olympian Natalie Coughlin. Natalie has won a total of 11 medals in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. Damn. Today, I flipped through the March issue of Vanity Fair at a 7 Eleven (I really needed a Diet Dr. Pepper) and saw my photo of Rex Lee, aka Lloyd from Entourage. Rex was really fun to shoot - very animated, very giving. Soon I will have more images of Rex to show. Above is one of the more subdued images from the shoot, but quite dapper nonetheless.

I also followed Andrew's lead and joined Facebook. I'm still figuring it out, but please feel free to make me your friend or buddy or whatever it's called on there.

Dream Assignment

2009-02-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, when I go on meetings, a photo editor will ask me what my dream assignment would be. Well, now I can just direct them to this week's New York Times Magazine portfolio of Great Performers by Paolo Pellegrin. In print, it looks really great, and the online gallery isn't bad at all. I love it when The New York Times Magazine does these 'performer' portfolios. I can only imagine how juicy and exciting these assignments must be for even the most seasoned photographer. There is something inspiring about shooting a real talent as opposed to the sensationalized flavor of the month. There is a difference.

Speaking from the point of view of a photographer who does celebrity portraiture, this portfolio by Paolo Pellegrin is an excellent example of making interesting pictures of famous people and not assuming a picture is made interesting because it is of someone famous.