I took a small length of hardened cardboard. Cut two four inch long sections. And with a marker, blacked out the inside.
I then drilled holes on the top, cut an old pen in two, notched one end of the pen bits, and stuffed them through the holes. These will hold the film in place and advance the film. I followed that with a hole in the front. I took two pieces of gaffer tape and cover the hole from the inside. I then pushed a pin through the tape, thus making my pinhole.
I cut some cardboard from an old box flap for the sides. And at this point, I was going to have the top/front section flip open. But after a bit of thought, this didn't make much sense. So, I cut the back piece and made a flap door so that I can load and unload the film.
I put some foam in on the sides to help the film canisters stay in place. Using and old film canister as the take up spool, I stuffed in a roll of film, taped up the little box, and it's ready to roll.
Now, since I didn't do any measurements, I'm not sure how my little box pinhole will work or what the results will be. No matter what though, I look forward to it. Even if they don't come out, it will at least be a learning a experience. And a fun one at that. I'll post the results when I develop the roll.
Halloween night, 2002. I made my way to North Six club in Brooklyn to see my friends the World Inferno Friendship Society for their annual Hallowmas celebration show. Which are always a good time. This one was a little more special because they were recording it for a live record. The show was nuts. Kids going bonkers, dancing and jumping all about. The band brought a whole lotta candy corn to throw out. Buckets and buckets of it. It really seemed like a never ending supply. Now, candy corn is gross to begin with. But when you add it to a large crowd of rowdy punks it becomes very very messy. And oh what a mess it was. I grew and inch taller due to all the candy corn stuck to the bottom of my shoes. Many people had clothes now permanently embedded with candy corn. The dance floor after the show had a nice coating of melted sugar. It was kind of sticky and kind of slick and ever so gross. I remember seeing Doggy Style throw out doughnuts and the floor becoming a total mess with punks trying to maintain balance in the circle pit. But that paled in comparison with the floor after this Inferno show. I've always been curious as to what the club did about this for the next nights show. I've asked members of the band, but they were always a little too scared to find out in case the club was pissed about the mess.
I've got a photo in the new issue of Light Leaks Magazine. Which is a wonderful little magazine focusing on "low fidelity" photography. The latest issue is all about Polaroid. Look for it in a camera/magazine store, or check out their site:
www.lightleaks.org/
Way back, late in the year of 1988, I was just starting my fanzine making days. Did a few interviews but had no photos to go with them. A friend offered to take photos for me, but I wasn't into the results from that. So, early in 1989 I made my way to a local department store and purchased the little camera in the photo above. I got this little automatic for a couple of reasons. One was the size. Small enough to fit in my pocket and to keep it out of trouble when kids started going bonkers around me at shows. The other reason for an automatic was that I knew next to nothing about photography. So I needed something simple to get me started.
The first show I took this too was No For An Answer, Hard Stance, Head First, and a couple of others down in a hall in San Diego, CA. A fucking great show. I did my best with my little camera, not really knowing what I was doing or how the images would turn out. Luckily I got a few good shots that night.
But that was all it took. I was hooked. I took that little camera to a whole lotta shows. Snapped a whole lotta photos. After a while though, I needed more. I took a photography course in college, but mostly for access to a darkroom. I learned my way around there, but did nothing for the actual course. I didn't have a proper camera for that nor the money for one. So while I might have failed that class, I did get a lot of prints for my fanzine. And so my love of photography grew deeper.
Fast forward to the present time. I no longer make a fanzine. But now I've got about 11 cameras of all shapes and sizes. I still have yet to take a proper course in photography, so everything I know, I've learned on my own. Sometimes with the help of friends, and now these days, with the help of the internet. I love the journey to knowledge that playing with my film cameras takes me on.
Central Park, NYC
LINDEN,NJ
This past weekend was all about celebrating the release of the fine book, Radio Silence. On friday my wife and I met up down in the lovely DUMBO section of Brooklyn under the Brooklyn Bridge for the big release party. And it was indeed a big party. Lots and lots of people came out. I was expecting to see lots of old faces or as Glen Maryansky put it so well, it was like going to a high school reunion. But, surprisingly there weren't too many people there that I knew. And it was a little too crowded and loud to really try to mingle and meet other contributors to the book. Which I was hoping to do. No such luck, but I was quite honored by the presence of some friends who chose to come out to celebrate with me. They made it a truly special night. Especially the good hang out times at the bar after the party finished up.
The next night it was all about the photo show. Anthony and Nathan had the photographers in the show (those in town that is) show up early so we could all see the show before the little gallery filled up. Smart move. Also, it allowed me to meet some wonderful people. Great people like JJ, Rusty, Gail, Jeff, Glen, Claudia, and Alex to name a few. But it wasn't all fun, Anthony and Nathan put us to work by having us sign 100 books. Special editions. If you're into that sort of thing, find your way to the gallery and pick one up. Also available are some limited edition shirts with some images from the book. I've got one of a Chain of Strength shot. It's pretty cool looking. The gallery quickly filled up and good times were had. Some more friends came out to help me celebrate this event as well. It was truly a wonderful night and a great way to start the celebration of the release of this book.
It was a great weekend. Thanks for Anthony and Nathan for doing all the work in providing the good times.
The photo show moves to Boston next. Be prepared.
Over the weekend I recieved a copy of a new book entitled Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music. This book was put together by Anthony Pappalardo and Nathan Nedorostek. Now I had never met these two kids over the years that I had been invovled with the hardcore scene. Which is kind of incredible considering all the friends we have in common. But one day Anthony tracked me down (I never have asked how he did that) and asked about possibly using some of my photos in a book he was working on. Around this time, some other guy also wrote to my asking the same thing, but Anthony followed through. We met up in the city and over lunch he laid out the plans him and Nathan had for their book. I really liked what he had to say so I said yes, and what do you need from me? They borrowed my negatives, which was a nerve racking experience for me, and they did their thing. Anyway, time went on and now suddenly the final product is here. And boy is it nice looking. I've just started reading it, so I can't get too much into the written side of this book, but visually, Nate and Anthony did a fantastic job. It's the type of book you keep lying around just so that you can keep looking at it over and over. It's pretty cool looking through the book to see my photos next to some pretty iconic hardcore stuff. In fact it's a big honor to have been able to contribute to this project. I highly recommend all you people check it out next time you're wandering around a book store.
They are having a book release party on October 3rd in Brooklyn. And the next day, October 4th, a photo show with selected images from the book will open in another section of Brooklyn. Check their website for the details. Hope to see you there.
www.radiosilencebook.com
Landing in my mailbox today was the new cd from Truckstop Honeymoon. I'm very happy about this. Truckstop Honeymoon are great and have seriously made some of my most favorite music in recent years. Made up of Katie Euliss and Mike West, these two write really fun songs with great lyrics. Always a joy to listen to, and they've always gotten better with each new record. The same goes for this new record entitled "Great Big Family." I highly recommend everyone check out their site and order their cds. You'll see some of my photos around on their site too. Also, definitely try to see them live. So very fun to see live. Katie and Mike are also two of the nicest people you'll ever meet.
truckstophoneymoon.com
Inside Out were such a great band to see live. So intense, yet so very fun. The music and the tension in the air shook you to the core. You felt every chord played, every drum pounded, every word screamed. Those were good times.
