Milk of Amnesia

Donna Lethal is a personal friend, actress in a couple of my films and accomplice in several other things so I wouldn’t write a review of her book unless I liked it and luckily.. I do.

Her book is fiction but taken from stories and events inspired from real life which is, considering some of the characters in this book, a very daring thing. She’s had all sorts of nasty emails as a result. This shows just how stupid some people can be. If you recognize yourself in a story in an unflattering way, but the names etc have been changed, why on earth would you tell everyone who will listen that it really is you? Wouldn’t common sense advise you to keep it to yourself? Besides... what if it really isn’t you in the end? You’ve just told the world you think you are an asshole, non?

The book is a really quick read... I read it all in almost one sitting, going from each short chapter to another, Donna’s prose dragging me along to the next one until I was done. The most disturbing elements are told with wit and humor. You may find yourself chuckling about some things we all know we really shouldn’t be chuckling about. Donna doesn't go into graphic details of things, preferring instead to keep it moving along and letting the reader to make up their own minds on what think about what’s going on. There is no psyche-babble or “deep examinations of her very soul” here, only matter of fact little vignettes of life that add up to something meaningful without having to take you by the hand to give “meaning” to it all. I like being treated as an intelligent adult and this book does just that.

My only beef with is the book itself. As a designer, it was pretty obvious what happened... someone other than Amber Sexton, designer of the excellent cover, took over the rest of the book. (It’s happened to me also.) The font is all wrong... the typography takes you away from the experience, not into it as it should. The spine (in my copy anyway) is off. The ads in the back for other New Texture books look like a high school fanzine. Chapters end visually in a very awkward fashion with a couple orphaned lines on an otherwise blank page. Only Lethal’s compelling storytelling keeps you reading because you know it’s worth it.

Buy it here. Now.

Copps Hill Burial Ground

I've always loved this place, having read about it a Lovecraft story as a young person. It's sort of the perfect graveyard. Old enough, broken and tilted stones... overlooking the harbor and hidden in a maze of streets in Boston's North End.

I am hoping to put together a little book for myself using the 200 plus photos I took there, adding some personal stories and history to go with the photos. Some of the stones had graffiti on them... to be fair it mostly from the 60's in all appearances, but still you had ego wonder why some brain dead people would think it was fun to ruin grave markers in a beautiful historic setting.

Mount Auburn Cemetery

I spent over 4 hours here on a Saturday morning and took so many photos my 8 gig card ran out.. first time ever. I end ed up with quite a few decent images. A few more are on my flicker page.

Boston

I was in Boston for the American thanksgiving holiday. Took some shots of the city while there, but mostly spent time photographing a couple burial grounds I've been itching to do. I've been thinking of making a little book on them but in the meantime... the Boston landscape as seen from Devonshire Place where I photographed a massage studio for publicity purposes.

A few more on my flickr page.

Rollicord 120mm

My first 120mm camera, which I still keep with me. Still functions. Like most other photographers who started in film many years ago, cameras were works of art and beautiful in of themselves.

I decided to go all macro and try to highlight the little things, using stacked images to get more details when needed. I am sure there are young photographers today who will have no idea what some of these controls could be.

I will post a few more on my Flickr page soon.

Graveyards of Burlington Vermont

Some people think I spend too much in cemeteries. Well, maybe. I always have since I was child and it still fascinates me now. I drove around with a friend to quite a few this past weekend and we had a grand time looking around and taking photos. It wasn't without incident, as I lost somewhere in our travels my 18-55mm lens. So my cheap weekend with friends wasn't so cheap after all. I quickly replaced the lens when I returned before I could freak out about the money and not buy one. It's the lens I use most often so I really can't be without it.

macro

feuille

expanding on some techniques

In my work, I often have to retouch photos for video and sometimes turn those photos into something that actually moves in a 3d space or has animated elements. Though I am not trying to take a single photo and turn it into a full blown 3D animated scene, I am trying to get more bang for the buck by giving a single photo more 3D space to move around in and by adding more traditional 2d animation in addition to the 3D to try and bring more life and interest. Years ago, just panning across an old photo was considered enough... not anymore!

My goal is always to keep the integrity of the original photo, which is usually an old one, but add enough to it to keep a modern viewer's interest.

Some new photos

Been out and about to Mont Royal and cimetière Notre Dame des Neiges