Stripped Shirt

Regarding Review LA: this being my first portfolio review I could only guess what the experience would be like, but I have to say it scarcely could have been better. It goes without saying that if you’re not open to hearing criticism (especially at this early stage) then a portfolio review isn’t a worthwhile way to spend your time. However, I was ready and excited to hear from others how I might improve, refine and develop some of my latest work, a fair amount of which hasn’t even graced this very blog. As a result, I found it was eye-opening and inspiring to look more objectively at my own work.

Main Palm

Amidst all this introspective evaluation and shoe gazing, the most enjoyable part of the weekend was getting the chance to meet and spend a little time hanging out with some of the other photographers in the hotel lobby, where everyone was killing time between reviews chatting and checking out each other’s work. In particular, I got the chance to hang out a bit with Liz Kuball during the public showing at Photo LA. She was at Review LA showing her beautiful California Vernacular project. I had seen an image or two of hers floating around places like 20×200, so it was cool to see so much more of the collection in person. I also got to meet and talk with Susan Worsham who’s Some Fox Trails in Virginia is lovely and quietly unsettling in a wonderful way, as well as Sarah Windels and Andrew Ti. All in all there was a lot of work to see and some cool new people to keep up with.

Garden Hose

Untitled (Green Painted Room)

La Fete

Untitled (Frond)

Paradise

Hold Tight Cover

Hold Tight Interior and Selection of Prints

The Box Arrives

Producing my first custom bound portfolio hasn’t been an easy process, there have been bumps and complications along the way, but I had a lot of help from some very talented people. I owe a thank you to Selina @ 1 Port Authority for guiding me through the process, David and Jermiah @ House Tribeca for beautiful post production work, Jonina, Bradley and of course Joe @ Skaggs Design for a mean new brand ID, and not least to Scott Mullenberg who built the book itself and toiled long and hard to solve some very tough foil stamping issues.

Like Unwrapping An Early Birthday Gift

Having had a smattering of success to date, I was faced with the difficulty of assessing where I wanted to go from here. My aesthetic had evolved yet more importantly I was beginning to hone in on the subject matter that is not only compelling to me but also fit this new visual approach. On top of all this, I was leaving behind one market, preparing to take on another. Big questions presented themselves, such as where would I fit in and would it all work as I intended?

To tackle the first question, I turned to Selina Matreya, a photographic consultant, who not only helped me define the type of work that I was pursuing, but where it would be best received. We identified two major trends in the images I was shooting, graphically bold landscapes and portraits of people where the environment was fundamental to the success of the image. To bridge the divide between the two subjects I decided to create the book primarily as a series of diptychs where the images would not only function as a compliment to their respective partners, but the pairings would synthesize to suggest the kernel of a new story that I could carry throughout.

Selina was instrumental in shaping the body of work and pushing me to shoot projects specifically for the purpose of rounding out this approach to the portfolio. After a lot of time editing, creating and rearranging the diptychs I feel that I’ve put together a strong body of work. Whether or not it resonates in the marketplace is what I’m about to find out.

Keep an eye out here for a virtual tour of the book’s interior coming soon!

The Slipcase

The Book

Slipcase Stamp Detail