“I Am” Por•trait Photoshoot: Audrey

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Ideally what was meant to be a sunny day out taking photos was glaringly obvious that wasn't going to be the case. The day was filled with overcast and the looming presence of rain(yay) ,but that's never enough reason to stop the creative process (because I'm completely mad).

This is Audrey attempting not to laugh.

For the first portion of the photos we took we shot them in the public library safe from the impending weather, but also because (most importantly) it's free!

Once I got a feel for the space, I tried taking photos that gives a sense that Audrey Is astounded , in awe of the vast amount of knowledge held in the library.

Loved this area of the library that was letting in this lovely glow of light from outside. We set up here and continued the little narrative of reading in the library.

After awhile the imagery of Utada's music video “Hatsukoi” began filling my head. The mixture of light and shadow is beautiful in that video & it’s a balance I strive for in my imagery. With Audrey she has beautiful dark skin that I loved photographing because darker skin like her's has a beautiful reflective quality to it( just look at how the light bounces off her).

I kept the images fairly under exposed keeping the it around -1.7 to -.07. Loved having Audrey pose in this kind of dramatic fashion. This sense of longing and introspection is prevalent in these images just like it is in Hikaru's video( if you haven't watched it before you are denying yourself something beautiful).

After I got enough photos in this spot(honestly I think our laughing (mostly me) got to be too much for the people actually using the library for it's intended use) we moved outside and took more photos.

Album dropping on Sunday, FAM!!!

Thanks to Audrey for being a great sport and for letting me get all close and personal with my camera to take these photographs. Thanks for reading and….

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew

Cine•ma Classics 2018

I love films; the more films I watch the more I find myself becoming more “particular” about films I consider great. There's a lot of good films, but it's hard to find a great film.

The list of Cinema 2018

Every year I start a list of films I saw within the year (old or new) I consider as Cinematic Masterpieces. In recent years finding these films has become a herculean effort; films that have stellar performances, unique imagery and most importantly (this is the biggest) a compelling and engaging story. The list just keeps getting shorter and shorter.

Cinema 2018

• Planet of the Apes

•Hidden Figures

•Nocturnal Animals

•Arrival

•Mudbound

•Gook

•Girls Trip

• Joy

•Alien Covenant

• Beatriz at dinner

•Bright

•Barry

• The Incredibles 2

•Deadpool 2

• Sorry To Bother You

•Blackkklansman

•Yugioh : The Dark Side of Dimensions

•Game Night

•My Cousin Vinny

•If Beale Street Could Talk

•Showdown In Little Tokyo

Lots of films. You may agree with some and scratching your head on others, but hey that's the beautiful thing about having an opinion right? Take a look at any that peek your interest, let me know what you thought and as always…

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew

Visual Frame•Works

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What are visual frameworks? I’ve been trying to figure out how to plainly explain this, but I can’t muster up the right words to explain it plainly without details (LOTS of details).

For me the frameworks series was initially conceived from a place most creative ideas start from; boredom. Earlier this year I was at dinner with a few friends and like most social gatherings people talk; talk before, during, after and well after the meal (naturally).

While conversations go on around the table I'm just sitting there with my camera just observing everything. Naturally I start taking pictures of anything and everything. During this whole process this one guy was in a position, in this pose I thought looked so natural and well angled I took some photos of him. More time passed and he was still laser focused on the phone. It looked like he was in a trance almost and for some reason I just wanted to record it for as long as the moment lasted.

I kept the camera in the same position and I pressed that little small red button on the camera and for 30 seconds I recorded that little moment. So going back to the initial question of what are visual frameworks the answer would be a captured moment; a single captured moment (simple).

After the moment passes we slap some music add a little color grade & presto a visual framework.

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew

Cinema 2012-2017

I love movies. Movies have had such an enormous influence on my life and a lot of times I draw on them constantly. In 2012 on a very cold night in December (much like now) , I was channel surfing looking for something to watch, but out of sheer chance I noticed the film, The Tree Of Life, was on tv. I only saw it once and I absolutely loved the film so I decided to watch the remainder of the film. Again I was captivated by the beautiful visuals and the poetic artistry of Terrence Malick’s film that for some reason it made me think.

That moment I started to think about all the movies I saw that year and I thought about how blown away I was with the different stories and visuals that truly struck a chord for me. I thought so hard on it that I got a pen and paper and started listing all the movies I saw for the first time (old or new) that year I considered great cinematic master pieces. Now fast forward to now, I realized that I've been making these lists for 5 years now; each year discovering a new film and being moved by the stories told from each one.

2012

  • Sylvia

  • The Guard

  •  007: Skyfall

  • The Tree of Life

  • The Avengers

  • Prometheus

  • The Dark Knight Rises

  • Everything Is Illuminated

  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes

  • Fargo

  • Captain America: The First Avenger

  • Ted

  • Drive

  • Paranorman

  • Carnage

  • House of Flying Daggers

  • 2046

  • Crazy Stupid Love

  • The Campaign

  • Dare

  • Cinderella Man

  • Alfie

  • Rango

  • The King's Speech

  • Lawless

  • We Have To Talk about Kevin

  • Menace 2 Society

  • The Experiment

  • Hesher

  • All the King's Men

  • The Disappearance of Alice Creed

  • Monster

  • Never Let Me Go

  • Midnight in Paris

  • Cyrus

  • American History X

  • Hanna

  • Raising Arizona

  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  • The Majestic

  • Forrest Gump

  • Black Dynamite

  • Quiz Show

  •  Django Unchained

  • The Fugitive

  • Inglorious Bastards

  • Driving Lessions

  • Game Change

  • In The Mood For Love

  • Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

  • Frida

2013

  • J. Edgar

  • Goon

  • Paper Man

  • Brokeback Mountain

  • Conversations With Other Women

  • Looper

  • The Words

  • 12 Monkeys

  • Shame

  • Closer

  • Death of a Salesman

  • Beginners

  • The Talented Mr. Ripley

  • Million Dollar Baby

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey

  • Lean On Me

  • Real Steel

  • Monster's Ball

  • 50/50

  • Fast & Furious 6

  • Seeking a Friend For The End Of The World

  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

  • Mystic River

  • A Dangerous Method

  • Life of Pi

  • Pain & Gain

  • Men in Black III

  • Cloud Atlas

  • Detachment

  • Moonrise Kingdom

  • My Week with Marilyn

  • Rust & Bone

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

  • Identity Theft

  • The Sessions

  • Edward Scissor hands

  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

  • The Wolverine

  • Thank You For Smoking

  • A History of Violence

  • 2 Days in New York

  • Don Jon

  • Erin Brockovich

  • 12 Years a Slave

  • Silver Streak

  • Sunday in New York

  • Cadillac Man 

  • The Master

  • Death Proof

  • Jackie Brown

  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

  • Fullmetal Alchemist : Conqueror of Shamballa

2014

  • Kinky Boots

  • Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

  • American Hustle

  • The Place Beyond The Pines

  • Oblivion

  • We're The Millers

  • Silver Lining Playbook

  • Hunger Games: Catching Fire

  • Dallas Buyer's Club

  • Rushmore

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel

  • Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

  • Blue Jasmine

  • X-Men: Days of Futures Past

  • Prisoners

  • Atonement

  • Eastern Promises

  • Lone Ranger

  • New Jack City

  • The Player's Club

  • A Case Of You

  • Kings Of Summer 

  • Changeling

  • Clerks

  • She Hates Me

  • Real Life

  • The Producers

  • Gone Girl

  • Dear White People

  • Interstellar

  • About Time

  • The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

  • The Usual Suspects

  • Her

2015

  • The Interview

  • Panic Room

  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  • Dom Hemingway

  • Whiplash

  • To the Wonder

  • A Most Violent Year

  • The Animatrix

  • Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Boyhood

  • Children of Men

  • Girl Fight

  • Private Parts

  • Nightingale

  • The Railway Man

  • Inside Llewyn Davis

  • John Wick

  • Sex Ed

  • Chef

  • You're not You

  • Begin Again 

  • Fury

  • Birdman or ( The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

  • Straight Outta Compton

  • The Drop

  • Filth

  • Nymphomaniac: Vol 1 & 2 Director's Cut

  • The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Him&Her)

  • Beasts of No Nation

  • Nightcrawler

2016

  • The Hateful 8

  • Spotlight

  • Tortilla Soup

  • Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice

  • The Martian

  • Creed

  • Blazing Saddles

  • Southpaw

  • Hollywood Land

  • The Revenant

  • The Thin Red Line

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment

  • Brick

  • The Night Before

  • End Of Watch

  • Me & Earl & Dying Girl

  • White Palace

  • Steve Jobs

  • The Danish Girl

  • Get on The Bus

  • The Wrestler

2017

  • Mississippi Masala

  • Awakenings

  • Brooklyn

  • The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

  • Logan

  • Punch - Drunk - Love

  • Dirty Harry

  • The World According To Garp

  • Youth

  • Saban’s Power Rangers

  • Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

  • Swiss Army Man

  • Split

  • Clerks II

  • The Town

  • Friday Foster

  • The International

  • Loving

  • Trance

  • A Bronx Tale

  • Hell Or Highwater

  • Charlie Wilson’s War

  • Do The Right Thing

  • Money Monster

  • Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

  • Jackie

  • The Grey

  • Scott Pilgrim VS The World

  • Thank You For Your Service

  • Moonlight

  • Hunger

  • Lion

  • Baby Driver

  • Windriver

  • American Psycho

  • A Cure For Wellness

  • The Patience Stone

  • John Wick Chapter 2

If you have the time do yourself a favor and checkout a few of these films and tell me what you thought of them.

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew