Most people know my work as deeply ingrained in the non-profit, humanitarian world. And that’s true. However, during my career shooting up close to life’s most intractable issues in the world’s toughest places, I’ve also shot an incredible amount of very cool and amazing commercial and destination event work. In the interest of not getting completely typecast, I want to highlight some of this work. Take a look at some of the selects below, and by all means holler if your company could use some commercial work itself.
Recently, given all the time off I have had from regular assignments due to COVID-19, I have been going through my archives looking for iconic images of the American West. I found a few. I would love for you to take a look and see if anything registers to you. In the days ahead I will be adding more, but for now enjoy these…and if you see fit to keep a brother in business, maybe pick up a print or two. Referrals welcome!
Some thoughts on “seeing” a scene…really this is more about “feeling” a scene; looking for and sensing where the movement and emotion is. So any time I walk into a home like this I’m just waiting for things to unfold naturally. These photos I made in November 2016 in Haiti. Medical Teams International staff and volunteers were setting up and giving care through a Mobile Medical Unit in Chateau Arniquet, Haiti, in response to the need after Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on rural and coastal communities, blowing over crops, flooding fields and homes, and making life otherwise miserable for many. So I found myself at this recipient’s home. For those that want to know: here’s what I used to take the black and white image: Nikon D4, 24mm Nikkor lens at f/1.4 at 1/5000 of a second; all the others I shot at f/1.4. I’m not in a hurry in these situations. There are multiple shots I know are good, and all these ones I would have thought to myself “yeah, that’s on point.” When I look at them later, there is usually one I gravitate toward, for reasons I really can’t explain. The black and white image in this series is the one that got me. I think it was the mom and the expression on her face.
As usual, there is a story behind the story. Particularly in regards to Malibu. Of course, everyone who has been to this place has a story. Let me give you the bare bones of mine with hopes that it will reconnect you to yours and help you feel like you are back at camp–all with the not-so-subtle hopes that you will buy a print of the place to help kids hear the greatest story ever told.
In the early 1970s, my father, Mike, became Malibu’s property manager and moved the family up to every boy’s dream home. I was just a couple of years old. I loved running around this place and feeling like I had the God of the universe as my guide. I formed a perspective on life there that shaped all of who I am today. I will never forget the sights and sounds of the place. And if I could smell (which I can’t), the scents.
At any rate, when my wife and I went back this summer as adult guests I was able to put my eyes on both the old and the new of Malibu, and with my camera I tried to capture some of the scope and grandeur of the place. Here’s what you should know–for every wide iconic view I shot a series of photos using only my 85mm lens, shot wide open, on my Nikon D4. I then put the images together for something that I really don’t think has ever been tried or done before at Malibu. The result is a labor of love from that time and place that I hope you will fall in love with as well. Here’s to Malibu!
