the top drawer

Knock Twice

2011-03-02T20:49:00.004-05:00

Sorry, internet. I've been busy working on a new venture with Eugen Sakhnenko.

Knock Twice is an an online resource to assist and inform budding creative professionals. If you haven't seen the site yet, you can check it out here.

Thank you.

2010-11-11T14:24:00.003-05:00

(W.J.S. Ripley, 1945, photographer unknown)

The eleventh day of the eleventh month.
Every year, the parade gets smaller.

Finally, something I haven't shown before....

2010-09-28T21:35:00.005-04:00

I am showing some work in a group exhibition at Open Architect this month. Some of my new photographs will be featured, as well as work from four other photographers/friends, Eugen Sakhnenko, Sabrina Maltese, Carmen Cheung and Erin Hogue. The details are as follow:

FINDING ROOM

Open Architect

September 30th - October 25th

Opening - September 30th, 6-9 pm

454 Kingston Road. Toronto.

You can see one of the new images here.

September...

2010-09-07T07:41:00.001-04:00

(Kelsey, 2010)

Summer is officially over.
Time to sweep the rooms and turn some new leaves.

Bandwagon jumper.....

2010-06-13T11:48:00.002-04:00

(Berlin, 2006)

Four years ago I was traveling in Europe during the world cup. Having once lived in Stuttgart, Germany will always be the team of my heart, and it was tragic to see them lose to Italy in the 2006 semi-final. Though I don't generally follow sports, every four years I pull out my knockoff official German away jersey and cheer for my faves.

I won't be able to watch the first Germany game today (I'm shooting a wedding at Fort York!), but I look forward to the next few weeks of flags, and yelling, and a big bucket of beers of the world.

May

2010-06-07T06:56:00.001-04:00

(Laura and Goh, 2010)

In the past four weeks I have photographed:

- A gala at St.Lawrence Hall
- A concert of beautiful children
- Engagement portraits for a perfectly Polish pair
- A couture hat maker's spring collection
- A crucifixion at U of T
- Production stills for a documentary film
- A bank office overlooking the lake
- A bicycle wedding at City Hall (just feature on The Wedding Co. site: www.theweddingco.com)

Time for tomato plants, editing, painting, and lots of coffee. Here comes June.

(Just married, 2010)

He knows not what sequins...is

2010-04-21T07:47:00.000-04:00

(Photo for a dear friend, and most epic model, 2010)

I don't have cable tv, so I miss out on most trendy commercials. occasionally, however, something really good makes it through and I am smitten. Most recently this includes the new French Connection campaign. The campaign, creative directed by Richard Flintham, was shot by the photography collective Blinkk. Love love love.

hustle.

2010-04-08T07:19:00.007-04:00

(outtake, 2010)

I would be much more productive if the weather would work with me;
scheduling and rescheduling faces in pairs.

A new season

2010-04-02T10:52:00.004-04:00

(Outtake, 2010)

It's time for new work. I'm working on a project, and am lucky to have pairs of friends willing to spend the briefest of dusk-hours with me. Hustle hustle hustle. I've been looking at refs, and umps, and soldiers in the field; anyone who signals.

If you're one half of a couple, and your other half wouldn't mind being in a photo too, email me.
(If you're not, but just really want to be in a photo, we can work something out).

Canadian Music Week

2010-03-18T12:44:00.007-04:00

(Joel Plaskett - Mod Club Theatre, 2010)

Last week, Toronto hosted Canadian Music Week. Coincidentally, Toronto also hosted a three-day torrential downpour... I packed my cameras into a cloth bag, wore it around my neck, and zipped a goretex jacket over top so my gear wouldn't get wet. It took me a few interactions with super-friendly stranger before I realized that people thought I was pregnant...some stranger waiting for a bus offered me his hat as I walked past.

I photographed a number of shows for Soundproof Magazine, including Forest City Lovers, Hooded Fang, The Trews, and Low Level Flight (which, for those of you that don't know, is the band of Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm. I didn't know, and the enthusiastic fan next to me questioned my patriotism, then elbowed his girlfriend. "She doesn't know them" he scoffed, jerking a thumb towards the stage; and the two of them laughed and laughed.)

(Peter Elkas -Mod Club Theatre, 2010)

(Joel Plaskett - Mod Club Theatre, 2010)

A lot of great musicians played last week, but I think the highlight of the festival was an acoustic set by Joel Plaskett and Peter Elkas at the Mod Club. It was a whole lot of talent crammed into twenty minutes, clean and professional and clever and wonderful. Certainly worth wearing a pregnant goretex jacket for.

family day

2010-02-20T16:08:00.005-05:00

Biological family out of commission this weekend, my other family took to the park with skates in tow. Red mittens with maple leaves, toques, long-johns, and my first game of ice hockey. A wonderfully long, long weekend.

this is an example of a blog, alysse.

2010-01-15T08:20:00.008-05:00

(alysse, 2009)

The last portrait I shot in way back in 2009.
I don't know many people pursuing a PhD in ancient Greek theatre who also play the banjo. "Well-rounded" doesn't even scratch the surface....This woman broke Plato's heart.

Alysse has started an informal arts working group in Toronto for anyone interested in developing work-in-progress. An opportunity to receive constructive criticism from a cross section of peers in the arts; the group so far includes musicians, writers, filmmakers, visual artists, and one lawyer. The group is a symposion (because 'symposium' is so Roman....), and is part of being on-the-ball in 2010.

5...4...3...2...

2009-12-31T20:54:00.002-05:00

it's been busy and will keep going, but faster and bigger.

i'm so grateful for this year, for the changes and happenings.
i'm grateful for support and for blessings.
and i'm grateful that you're reading this (because then, at least, someone is). thank you.

cheers to 2010, year of the hustle.

coffee cream and spirit totems

2009-12-10T21:18:00.006-05:00

[marco, 2009]

the best kind of subjects are standing on their front porch when you arrive with your knapsack full of cameras, coffees in their hands. (and the really great ones let you photograph their piles of laundry for an unrelated purpose.)

hands passing bricks and cameras

2009-12-03T17:39:00.003-05:00

(lighting test, 2009)

this year has flown by; it's time for holiday shoots.
[guess where i was shooting this afternoon?]

julie fader: "are all these lights for me?"

2009-11-23T09:39:00.005-05:00

(julie fader, 2009)

soundproof magazine just published one of my photos alongside an interview with julie fader.

"The velvet-voiced Toronto singer-songwriter has lent vocals and instrumentals to everyone from Justin Rutledge and Attack in Black to Cuff the Duke and Blue Rodeo, all while maintaining occasional membership in Great Lake Swimmers and Sarah Harmer's and Chad VanGaalen's bands."

seriously.

(and i heard a rumor that she taught herself the piano for sarah harmer's i am a mountain.)

in addition to all of her musical affiliations, julie has recently released her own album, outside in. julie is lovely and humble, with a soaring voice. we did the shoot before she took the stage at toronto's el mocambo early this month.

piranha teeth

2009-11-17T11:19:00.003-05:00

(mexican day of the dead, 2009)

house full (full) of friends and family. cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.
hand towels, potted flowers, gallon of paint, copious amounts of mortadella, beer caps.

iconic image of our housewarming. it was a good, long, day.

vom Schwäbische Alb

2009-11-11T22:43:00.007-05:00

(unrealized dyptich, 2005)

i found these two frames lying next to one another on one of my old rolls of film.

yvonne chose to stay in the city, rather than accompany her german family to the canadian wilderness. canoes were tipped and journals soaked through. she would have none of it.
i remember that some jokes don't translate well. "wieviele Pfannkuchen können Sie in ein panzer passen?" the answer is 'green, because yogourt doesn't have any bones!'

go figure.

the eagle has landed

2009-11-02T20:06:00.005-05:00

(nephew, 2009)

halloween 2009 - emmaus tastes his first chocolate.
aunts are the best.

stand-up

2009-10-24T21:37:00.003-04:00

(stephanie, 2009)

the very lovely, and very talented, stephanie kaliner.
you can see this lady perform all over the city, and you should, because she's also very funny.
as part of ghost jail theatre, as part of comedy at the ossington, and as herself. very funny.

she is an unassuming superhero in an elevator.

bunny.

2009-10-13T21:55:00.006-04:00

(greta and her pets, 2009)

brunch with mandatory walk,
little families that aren't so little anymore.
giving thanks.

having achieved a house as a status symbol

2009-10-09T23:23:00.008-04:00

(joe, 2009)

the inimitable j. dunlop, in the apartment we used to share.
he went onto higher things (french monks and oxford 1919), though he is well.

since leaving there, i have left behind another old apartment, and am back in the world again.

the top half

2009-09-08T12:19:00.000-04:00

(one half of twins - part two, 2009)

the fourth wall

2009-09-04T12:14:00.002-04:00

(belt buckle, 2009)

real shot to follow.

accident face

2009-08-10T20:48:00.003-04:00

(devin - as his own self, 2009)

devin jeffrey is a good friend, and a good photographer.
this photo was taken moments before he was a really, really good sport.

sometimes we go to the beach...

2009-08-06T21:45:00.003-04:00

(amy & marco, wasaga 2009)

...and sometimes it rains.

dog day

2009-07-31T23:49:00.004-04:00

last month i photographed halifax band dog day for soundproof magazine. they were a coffee-lovin' group who were kind enough to stand in a line for me more than once. they also included our shoot in their exclaim magazine tour blog, citing me as a pisce* from the national post**.

that was nice of them.

*correct **incorrect

free hot-sauce

2009-07-20T23:26:00.003-04:00

(jacqui - on the day michael jackson died, 2009)

after this shoot, we went out for wings on the lakeshore. afterward, i had to wait for the late streetcar, while a new york entrepreneur in birkenstocks told me about his mother's obsession with m.j.
his opening line was, "the man is dead."

recently: half-hours, tired of houses, showings, planning and planning.
soon: a new website, with man-faces.

skylight

2009-07-08T21:25:00.004-04:00

(upstairs window, 2009)
this particular shoot, i drank club soda for the first time, straight out of the can. and learned that the nutritional value of fudgesicles is quite unexpected.

fair is fair.

2009-06-15T17:31:00.002-04:00

the elusive jamie campbell - on the threshold, may 2009.

i'm a cat cat cat and i dance dance dance

2009-05-14T12:38:00.004-04:00

(mom put water in the soap again, 2009)

the ever-entertaining vanessa m., in her kitchen; a side moment from one of the fastest good shoots of my life. i was on time, we ate crackers, and she gave me an infected bead. vanessa is a fabulous painter, and i spy with my little eye three of her pieces in the above shot.

there were a lot of shots from that afternoon, and the real winners will be on my website soon, i give you my word.

2009-05-10T22:37:00.003-04:00

(1988 [sic ])

happy mothers day, mom.
and thanks.

press is press

2009-04-15T19:14:00.004-04:00

my photo of grilled eggplant scapicia is in biz bash, running along side an editorial piece on courgette catering. with a photo credit and everything. work is work.

2009-04-04T17:42:00.002-04:00

this is kind of what it's like to have tea and photograph with angela.
(you can see the final result here)

2009-04-04T16:22:00.002-04:00

(one half of twins - part one , 2009)

the lovely lena

2009-03-30T17:32:00.006-04:00

(lena, 2009)

it's officially lena week on blogs.
(sadly, the lovely ms. oehmsen has returned to the fatherland for a spell, but you can still see her work here: www.lenaoehmsen.com)

there are many new images to post from shoots with many new faces.

i'm trying hard to catch up after being selected as juror #2 in my hometown and spending two and a half weeks in civic responsibility limbo.
try to remember it's the right thing to do.

and sometimes the strobe even worked.

2009-02-20T19:11:00.003-05:00

(a degree in business, 2009)

oh yes, i have been productive.
1) holey pink tights.
2) false mustaches.
3) a friend who is leaving.

all in one day.

i'm going to be on cbc radio.

2009-02-14T19:56:00.005-05:00

for anyone who plans to be awake at 5:45 am on a long weekend monday...

my exhibition at harbourfront centre caught the eye of the show's producer, so this past wednesday i went to the cbc studios here in toronto to be interviewed by jane hawtin for 'metro morning.' my soothing voice will be piped into your home courtesy of 99.1 fm, and if you happen to be up dark and early, you just might get to hear it.

in the 'hood

2009-02-09T19:32:00.005-05:00

(the day after a shooting, 2009)

my old and new neighbour, julie, in the house where she's subletting.
she made me tea, and reminded me of things i forgot that i knew. she's great.
(and you should see this girl knit! www.loveknits.ca)

i need some new faces. if you're around, and don't mind too much (it's ok if you mind a little), can i photograph you?

paul mccartney makes a dirty joke

2009-02-01T11:29:00.007-05:00

(the first official shoot of 2009)

more of this girl's lovely face here.
(updated, as promised, because it's january.)

the way home

2009-02-01T11:15:00.007-05:00

walking through park on friday, going home for lunch, and there are marks in the snow. the same path as i take home, from the edge of the park to the intersection across from the haircuts and sausages. the morning was clear, there was nothing so, returning, i figure out what has happened. people walking their dogs and strollers step carefully and avoid, but i have an orphaned camera in my purse and a forensic upbringing.

the 26th of january

2009-01-26T23:42:00.005-05:00

(hey, it's this f***ing guy!, 2008)

in the meantime:
happy anniversary, sister and bro-in-law. what year it's been.

trips and scones and parties for bees

2008-12-17T23:08:00.005-05:00

(detail from burn to the ground cover art, 2008)

i've been working with luke michielsen on the art for his album 'burn to the ground'. a keen eye will spot the opportunity for things on fire. it's finally done, though i have yet to hold the finished product in my frozen hands. go listen to him, see if he plays 'yours and mine':

"i'd rather be with you than anyone in the middle of a lake
if, while we were boating, there was a fatal mistake."

additionally:
things have been snuffing out like candles lately; not the least being my hard drive. i've been trying so hopefully there will be new things, fresh and green, in january.

old news

2008-11-26T18:04:00.004-05:00

back in september i got to drive a rented corolla to london (ontario) to shoot for the globe and mail. the weather was unfortunately sunny.

thanksgiving

2008-10-15T22:39:00.004-04:00

i'm never entirely sure if i'm using the word 'hypocritical' corretcly, but i think that it approximately means something to do with me feeling angry when the blogs i frequent aren't updated regularly.

and so, a photo of my beautiful nephew. (or, part two of the photo of my pregnant sister, though it's been a while...)

(the mace: part one, 2008 )

part of the whole

2008-07-09T18:31:00.005-04:00

(leora, 2008)

leora (of 'patrick and leora') met me in front of the coffee shop i forgot the name of. i knew it started with a 'b' and was someone literary, but was lucky to find her, bike helmet in hand and checking to see if i had left her voicemail. (i had). patrick was winning ten dollars a few feet away. i'd never been to the distillery, and they had never done photoshoots, so it all evened out in the end.

i was surprised by the shape of the line and how her chin became a pretty perfect right angle. she and patrick are actors, so they were phased by very little, happy to mug and act surprised and pretend they were playing characters who were comfortable being photographed.
but this was only a practice.

wet hair before work

2008-06-30T18:03:00.001-04:00

(camille in may, 2008)

in may we drove to the east coast. i convinced jay to make room in the car for the 4x5, giving it priority over the new blue travel cooler that i bought with my dad the night before we left. i took four shots in total, all of my cousin camille.

she works in a hotel that, because of the international tournament, was full of eastern european hockey fans. she also does an unexpectedly fabulous bill cosby impression.

i had no idea that my holders were loaded with black and white film. it was quite a surprise at imageworks to discover that her hair wasn't fiery red. quite disappointing, but even surprise black and white on the 4x5 can make you feel a little like chuck close.

the adult table at christmas

2008-06-16T22:36:00.007-04:00

(baby no.1)

in a week or so, my little sister will have that baby and we will be transformed into aunts and nanas and things that we can't be yet. not for another week. this baby will be the beginning of a link in that strange chain of family where all of a sudden there is a new generation, and you're not it.

i'm only telling you this so that when i don't answer my phone you'll know where i am.

once away

2008-05-21T14:56:00.002-04:00

(halifax citadel, numbers one and two)

i remapped the east coast; visiting families, mine and other people's, and splurging on cheap motels. charlottetown, fredricktown, windsor, mahone bay...
passing through names i remember, maybe from canadian history lessons in the cumby's kitchen, or maybe from stories of our own.
gold horse fountains, antique music boxes, tidal bores, and accidentally lower west pubnico.
the magnetic hill was not such a bust as i recalled, but i still don't care for lobster, and so, tired of lighthouses, i am almost home again.

the nouveau marché

2008-04-12T16:36:00.006-04:00

(or, 'the bear would win'.)

full days of masks and balances of colour, burning and dodging, and real burning. flames and birds. new work is on the way.

but there won't be any wine.

2008-04-01T16:49:00.003-04:00

(detail from 'monument', 2007)

my minor thesis is on display in the third floor gallery of the image arts building at ryerson university from now until friday evening. though not in its intended linear fashion, i am pleased with how the work looks when hanging en masse on the wall, especially when it has the pleasure of hanging with marci lashway's work, 'in the moment'. the projects were like sisters last term, so it's nice they can spend some quality time together this week.

for those in the neighbourhood, there will be a reception on thursday night, from 6 to 9, and a purveyance of home-made bruschetta.

oh mail.

2008-03-28T12:05:00.005-04:00

pineapple stamps.
jason polan takes the cake as my favourite stranger.
i got this in the mail yesterday, and nothing is good in the same way as real mail.
note the note on the left.

and (as if pineapples and purple hearts weren't enough) this is on the back:
mr. rennie from my clock tower inn series, (third row down, fourth from the left), looking quite two-dimensional, and perfect.

this is what ends up happening when your house-mate claims another art room.

2008-03-12T21:56:00.004-04:00

this is marco.
marco is in a band.
listen to marco's band: http://www.myspace.com/slowkingmusic
marco is a good sport.
thanks marco.

sometimes, this is what progress looks like.

2008-03-12T21:37:00.005-04:00

among the lovely things i received this week was one particularly fabulous surprise. a new york artist named jason polan has a blog called 'the drawing project', where he posts one original drawing each day. the first person to email him with their address will receive the drawing in the mail. i am now the proud owner of drawing #87, 'a man standing in the open doors of a train.' it arrived on my birthday, courtesy of two marvel comic stamps (the fantastic four and captain america, in that order). i am very pleased.

as for you, rebecca morgan, there will be new work to post soon. bright, shiny new thesis work.
be patient.

maybe it really is all about hegel.

2008-02-25T21:32:00.005-05:00

cutout figures of my paper self, the models for my thesis.
there is finally some work in progress, though the progress is slow.
i look forward to a little brilliance sometime.

this is the white whale, this is the way home

2008-02-22T13:46:00.006-05:00

(having the quality of 'book', no.1)

a perfect treasure for a gray day full of miniatures and theory. tea and balsa wood. wallpaper scrolls and ttc. cutting and folding. piles and piles and piles and hegel.

what a time we had.

2008-02-11T22:06:00.001-05:00

two shoots: one for a project and one for myself. both were fun.
two claires: one who sent me to a room full of birds, the other who pretended she was someone else for a while. both whom i appreciate.
some working and reading and going to the rom (for the first time since i was in grade six), a weekend of people breaking it off and the planet earth.
and oh, by the way, do you have an aquarium i could borrow?

fortunate

2008-01-07T20:20:00.001-05:00

oh, 2008. here we go.

do you remember fourteen?

2007-12-07T12:02:00.001-05:00

white silhouette of a girl, described by the shadows of passing birds.

2007-12-07T00:31:00.002-05:00

a good sport in his kitchen. 26 november 2007.

the light in august

2007-12-02T18:28:00.001-05:00

on the left, my window in august. it was beautiful a few times ago.
on the right, found months later in the apartment of stefan w., that same light that left me one early september day.

a peek at the things i am working on

2007-11-16T17:28:00.001-05:00

(this is the dead horse, successfully flogged for an idea).
i can mine the book eighty times, and have made a decision about the first shaft. history is linear.

2007-10-28T00:45:00.000-04:00

this means you're invited, i just didn't have enough stamps. also, it was high time i found another dunlop for posting (joe being represented by a barset). more going on, but who has the time anymore?
thursday thursday thursday.

claire looks for a house

2007-10-16T18:10:00.001-04:00

we found one. i live there now, though not with claire. but her brother is here.

something of a blurred week past: teeth that used to be mine, mice that are far, far warmer than they should be, landlords i'd rather not talk to, and bread from near the church where the angels fell.

coming soon: postcards for my upcoming show with kimon kaketsis.
www.ryersongallery.ca/home.html
everyone is invited.

happy birthday, little brother

2007-09-24T20:44:00.002-04:00

for fixing the bike, all the last minute photo-shoots, and always getting the inside jokes; the gratitude of your eldest sister.

2007-09-23T15:27:00.000-04:00

some people give strange gifts.

now we are six

2007-09-22T14:03:00.001-04:00

once, when we could run barefoot to one another's house, she tried to show me how to climb on top of the monkey-bars. i was too short to reach. she sat up there for years.

a soldier's song

2007-09-22T13:47:00.001-04:00

the lovely barbara dunlop who agreed, after ireland fell, to sit and turn and lean and lean.

in other news, amy elkins, of the photoblog wan.der.lust.ag.ra.phy, saw fit to include one of my images in her latest collection regarding portraiture. it's a great blog, and you should spend an hour looking through it. no less than a full hour. (who knows where you will end up?)

gregoire on the day of the move

2007-09-12T22:13:00.001-04:00

new house, thesis, blue planet, and bicycling, bicycling, bicycling