Fodder

I will be traveling to Virginia this week and hope to bring back much blog fodder.  Pray to the foto god for me. Till then.

Eye Bank

I changed the image from the original post.  This is a big improvement. Attention image thief's, be reminded that all the images on this blog are copyrighted, Jerry Tovo. Eye will track you down.

If you go way back on the blog you'll find an eye (mine), that I shot to check focus on a little point and shoot camera.  It was nicely sharp and quite detailed.  Of late I have decided that since my portraits are so weighted toward the subjects eyes, that I should really look closely at how our eyes are really structured.

With that in mind I have begun to stock eye shots so that I can compare, as necessary, the true make up of the human eye and how it relates to my portraits

This is the first of those.  I'm sure I'll refine the lighting as I go but this is a good start.  Right away, I've learned that I don't like it when you force the eye to stop down by exposing it to too much light prior to capture.  The  pupils get out of proportion to the rest of the eye and it becomes unnatural.

Clicking on it makes it sweller

The Grrrreat State of Illinois

About a year ago a woman sold a cornflake on eBay, that supposedly looked like the State of Illinois, for around $1,500.  Well, all I have to say is I found one before her and mine is most definitely better than hers.    Actually, if you have ever sifted through a box of Frosted Flakes, most of them do look like this.  Should you happen to see the guy that bought hers, give him my blog address and we can negotiate.  Oh, wait, I forgot I accidentally stepped on it and it's now a powdered form of the State of Illinois.

Young Ryan and Parallel Universes

A couple of years ago I had a very significant comment posted on my blog.  Frankly, I don't remember what it said other than it started a very interesting relationship. This is that poster, Ryan Walters.  Over time we have come to realized that we share so many similarities that we have kidded about one mind living in parallel universes, separated by maybe, 40 years.  This image came from a lighting test for a shoot Ryan was doing in the studio.  One shot and nothing more, not bad under circumstances.  Of course there has been significant Photoshop work done to get to this look.  It's a bit of a homage to Ryan who certainly has this formula down pat. As of today, we are slowly merging out respective talents  into one studio.  Hopefully soon, he'll be steering the ship while I lounge on the deck, so to speak.

OMG

From the Archives...another hundred years ago, 1983 to be exact, I began doing a trendy calendar called "The Saint Louis Crackerjack Calendar."  At the time, I often referred to it as my Junior Achievement project.  The original idea was conceived before the famous "Chippendale Calendars" but after a few enterprising college students had done it as the men of ______ University.  My intention was to do a local women calendar but I got very little support.  The men version or as they became called, "Beefcake", ran for four consecutive years and while I really never made any money on it, I did learn a bunch about getting free help with marketing and the stories that came from it could have filled a couple of volumes.  This week I had occasion to dig out the leftover calendars and copy a few images for another use.  I have had several suggestions to do a reunion version but no one has stepped up to take the reins on that project.  It was a huge undertaking and while I'll never regret it, I don't have the steam to go it alone again.   BTW this dashing man is Steve Ruzicka and I haven't heard from or about him since.

Just for Impact

In today's world of cameras and computers you can really add impact that might have eluded you in the film world.

For example, this image of my friend Ed, (see below) depicts him maybe as a strong, rugged warrior or a weathered salty, sailor, where age and sun have taken their toll.  In real life he's a sweet, kind, intelligent man.

As much as I loved the old film days, the control one has now is nearly without limits.

click on image for closer view

Not so fast, Eddie

This is one of my best friends and his name is Ed.  It's not the first time Ed has appeared on this blog, however it was never under these circumstances and I must say this image nails how he feels these days.  Without going into detail, I will tell you his last 10 years have been extremely exhausting and when I look at this image and think of all his trials and tribulations, I just wanna give him the biggest, most secure hug, one man should ever give another. In his prime Ed was a world class designer and most everything he touched turned to gold.  We, his friends, are confident that, the good lord willing, he will bounce back to his previous form. 

I'm sorta responsible for the beard in that, after a brief illness, this scruffy brush forced it's way out of his normally clean shaven face.  I suggested that he keep it, at least until he could be properly photographed. Not one to pose for any such attention, I think the premise of the beard shot got his juices flowing. Now he's considering letting it grow into a full monte of a beard, if you would.  

God love you Eddie and thanks for patronizing my need to capture your essence.

clicking on the image will give you a slightly better quality view

Oh, the indebtedness

As I prepare to renew my mini exhibit for the month, I find myself choosing this image, an image that should have been up front in the very beginning of the blog.  Here, I give you my best resource, supporter, fan, editor and friend, Laurie Shoulter-Karall.  This woman adopted me, in an artistic sense, probably 15 years ago and hasn't for a second allowed me to waller or hesitate or despair or procrastinate-well not for very long.  Maybe patron saint is the best description for this fan spectacular.  Now mind you, I'm not the only one to be taken under her wing but there is a special connection that we share.

I must tell you what an honor it was to have her sit for me.  She has very stubbornly disallowed anyone to capture her image until this setting. Not only to capture her likeness but exposing her early onset Arthritis was a huge hurdle to overcome.

We have shared many an artistic moment and I'll be forever indebted to her.

I must be dreaming

I must have been dreaming but I went out this weekend to shoot schtuff and I think I may have be kidnapped and taken aboard a space ship of some kind.  I don't remember much but this morning I found this image on the last frame of a memory card. Still that doesn't explain the tiny autographed photo of Sonja Henie pinned to my T-Shirt?

OK, it's a silly little story but I had nothing else to say about this shot that I spotted a couple of months ago.  I finally found the right time to shoot it and this is the results.

Hmmm...

I generally don't post serious images of myself but in absence of a muse, I became the subject of a light test.

10,327 frames later I found this technique that intrigues me. Aside from the subject, I see some strong possibilities for this light.

I hate to ask for opinions because some folks will take it as fishing for a compliment but if you have strong feelings one way or another, please feel free to comment.

I was just thinking

Sometimes I should pretend to be more pretentious.

Before Life in the Fab Lane there was...

Almost a hundred years ago we had a job for an exclusive line of shoes and the hook was, various models wearing the shoes, all jumping on a trampoline.  Mind you, they were all wearing high heels, some extremely high.  We covered the nylon surface of the trampoline with canvas so the heels didn't puncture and catch.  That worked well except when the canvas became clumped together and it made for an unstable landing, so to speak.  

One of the models was a young 15 year old beauty who had already captured the eye of the high profile fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld in NYC. If you don't know, Karl was a force to be reckoned with, one of the elite designer of the time and is still very engaged in that field. Big Money there. Well, this young model, then know as Kimora Perkins, wasn't the most athletic of the lot.  Her tall spindly frame didn't necessarily feel at home with her long arms and legs. Picture a six foot 2 inch 15 year old not totally grown into herself.

I ramble...   
The story goes on with an Art Director brought in from California specifically to direct this shoot.  Nice enough man and surely talented but with a strange sense of humor.  When Kimora was jumping he tried his best to get me to encourage her to go higher and higher.  Totally unnecessary for our goals but a sadist nonetheless. I turned to him and said in no uncertain terms that this particular model was earmarked for fame and I wasn't going to take a chance on her falling from that height and risk a career ending injury. He persisted, but then so did I.
  
I found these shots mixed in amongst the thousands of other poorly filed images from my archive. Not the best from my memory but graphic as to what we were doing.  I'll look harder for better examples and post them later. 

Oh, the model moved to New York and flourished, married Russel Simmons, all the while building an empire in fashion design labeled, "Phat Fashion" and extended to Baby Phat and KLS.  Her name, Kimora Lee Perkins Simmons.  You may know her from, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane  An regular series on Cable TV that documents her daily life.  

This is the last time I'll tell this story. I've told it many a times but as the people who hear it are getting younger and younger and they have little clue as to what I'm going on about.         Kimora, way to go girl.

Kimora has remarried recently and those details are available on her website.

Winter's Melancholia

It was in the waning moments of winter when I snapped this shot of the girls swing and it struck me as such a lonely, quiet place. Absent the laughing and giggling.  Absent the big eyed delight of their daddies swinging them higher and higher.  It was so melancholy at the time yet now with the return of spring, my heart lightens and the joy of laughter is upon me again.

When is a failure not a failure?

I've been cogitating on replacing my images in the mini show that I have upstairs from the studio. Thinking back over the portraits I had shot in the past year or so, it occurred to me that I dearly loved the one of the General from India and I'd hoped to pair it with an image of his wife. As it turns out, her shot wasn't as sharp as his and I spent a lot of time and technology making it usable.  I loved the results but unfortunately the two didn't match side by side.  Her final was very much like a 35mm film image and his, much more like large format, film or digital. So I'm headed off in a yet different direction but well please with the save.  *If you click on the image, the quality improves somewhat.

That's Rich, Volume 2

Several months back I posted an image of my friend Rich.  It was peculiar to my favorite style of black and white portraits. During that same session, I made a point of switching things up somewhat. It has occurred to me that I might become labeled for that style and while I'm not afraid of that happening, I do realized that I should not be complacent in being able to produce images of a different light.  So, I've been trying to work on a versatility in my portraits that may have some value in other arenas. I find this shot, with white background and stressed color, particular to my taste.  It's fairly easy to do variables from this state and could serve the commercial customer well. It's not unique to me as I have seen variations abound.  My friend, Ryan Walters, is particularly talented when it comes to a similar style.  Maybe he can help push me to be more consistent. I tend to wander when exploring avenues uncommon to my norm.

I Wuz Gonna

In an effort to ease back into the blog, I was going to do this post and liken it to the digital scheme, whereby the cobbles would correlate to pixels.  However; my writing skills or lack thereof, could not seem to cobble together the correct or at least, sensible paragraph to do so. So, I'll throw the images out there and let my friends in blog, comment on how it should or might have been written.

Let's hear it for the next contributor to the blog.

Rumor Has It

We have information, from unreliable sources, that this blog is about to resume it's normal pace. Whether that is a good thing, remains to be seen.

So, so significant a loss.

My fingers know not where to begin touching the keys, I don't know how to begin, for today I must tell you that a friend and an historic figure in the world of Art and Photography, has passed away.

From the Obituary section of Sundays Saint Louis Post Dispatch. 

"Salinas, Marcel Charles the painter and one of the leading lithographerof the 20th century died peacefully in St Louis, MO at the age of 96. 
Born in Alexandria, Egypt of French parents; he started painting as a child.
Captivated by the masters, he went to Paris to study at the Ecole des
Beaux Arts and was a student of Andre Lhote. Mastering the techniques
of lithography, he acted as both teacher and collaborator with numerous
artists working at the various ateliers in Paris. Pablo Picasso
selected him to create his series of 29 lithographs of the: Portraits
Imaginaires. He also worked with Salvador Dali, Victor Vasserely and
Erte. After delving into the art of photography, Henri Cartier Bresson
referred to Marcel as, My Guru. Residing in many fine collections, this
prolific artist created several thousand works of art including:
paintings, drawings and lithographs."

You may remember my postings on a couple of different occasions 
regarding Marcel.  He was truly my most prized Portrait and it was 
such an honor and experience to have been in the right place at the

right time to meet and know this legend. He was not an especially 
cheery man, at least not during the time that I came to know him. 
But you could tell that he bore the enormous frustration that came 
with failing hearing and sight.  Here was a man, a mind, that was 
full of the past and had little or nothing go forward with over the 
next few years. After our session we talked at length about his 
background and the fond memories of those that had steered him 
and in turn those he had mentored (Henri Cartier Bresson among 
them, holy crap). He was still edgy about the politic of his birthplace, 
Egypt. What the obituary failed to mention was that before he began 
making his mark in the Art community, he was a lawyer and that 
part of his mind was still ripe with angst over the history of his 
homeland.

The last time I saw him, I took him a promotional piece that I 

had created. It was his portrait that truly graced that small tome.  

I had the audacity to autograph it and inscribe a brief thanks for 

allowing me the privilege of photographing his being. He hadbeenmoved to a place, a home if you would, that would allow for someone 

to be around when he needed help. His room was lacking for 

anything of family or even any style or amenity that might say, 

here lives Marcel Salinas. They shades drawn because the bright 

light hurt his eyes. When I handed him the book, he stared hard 

so that he could see what images it contained and then he took 

his hand, rubbed and caressed it, look me in the eye and said, it 

is now the only book I have. I'll put it right here where I can see 

it best. 

 If I were to quit photography today, I would be satisfied 

that I had done something, something significant in my career, 

something thousands of others cannot say. 

Rest in peace my friend.

Shooting Stars

If you have lived in Saint Louis within the past 30 (at least) years, you probably have said at one time or another, "Did you read Berger's column this morning" or "Did you see who was was in Berger's column today?" Jerry Berger is truly an Icon here. For years he not only rubbed elbows with the significata but was the ultimate bestower of glory on the lot of wannabe recognized, citizens of this burb.  He used his own literal dictionary when writing his column and his style was unique among his kind. Plagued by the dreaded "C" malady, his writing days had been curtailed and only recently has he begun making a comeback on his own website/blog, Bergersbeat.com. It's a bare bones site that already has thousands of hits every week and the folks around this town have begun to embrace his work once again. I must confess, more than once, has he shown his light on my reputation and I'm greatful.  Here's to continued good health my friend.

Santa_Not Santa

As a few might noticed, there has been little activity here on the blog for a couple of months.  Well, here's something.

I have been generating a mini gallery here in my building, taking advantage of a spot with excellent lighting and considerable foot traffic.  I try to change the show monthly but for the same reason as the inactive blog, the last exhibit did hang a bit longer than I wanted.  This months viewing is from a couple of older captures, however, they are significant to the season.

 

This one, titled, "Not Santa" is a good friend and artist, Larry Stark. When I first shot this, it struck me as near cousin to the Karsh portrait of Ernest Hemingway. Not to flatter myself but the tones and skin rendering somehow reminded me of that famous image.

Here, titled "Santa", is Warren Moellenhoff.  Warren is a rather official Santa in that he has worked for a very exclusive client base.  Not only does he look the part, Warren truly lives the part and does it year round.  He is always in character so as not to disappoint in the case of a chance happening with one of his small admirers.  That is not to say he dresses this way 365 days a year but he maintains the same demeanor throughout.