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#MAYDAY

May 8, 2017

PUERTO RICO, MAY 1ST, 2017

For those who may not have heard, Puerto Rico has been facing a debt crisis for the past several years. This has lead to rising tensions on the island as the United States has turned control of Puerto Rico's finances to a Federal Oversight Board, who arguably may not have the best interests of the island's suffering people in mind. I'll leave my opinions out of this for now...

I visited Puerto Rico last week to complete some research on a screenwriting assignment and happened to catch one of the largest protests the island has seen, as people took to the streets to demand a citizen's audit of the proposed "solution" to the debt crisis, one that threatens to privatize many of the island's public services, potentially leaving many people deprived of their jobs, pensions, and wages.

Here are just a few snapshots from the beginning of the protest, taken just before I had to board my plane home, and just before the teargas canisters began to fly.

Featured

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Puerto Rico's economic crisis, might I recommend John Oliver's take on the scenario.

Luna at the Arsenic House

May 4, 2017

A LONG TIME COMING

A good friend of mine, the talented singer, music producer, and model Luna, finally made it out to LA recently. We've been talking about working together since our Florida days many years ago but never made it happen for one reason or another. So on her first trip to LA, we certainly had to capitalize on the real estate...

My good friends over at Arsenic let us use their house / HQ for the shoot, and the rest was history.

And the moral of the story... good things come to those who eat their veggies. Enjoy the rest of the shoot below!

Obnoxious Liberals: Opening Night Reception

October 18, 2016

Opening Night at the Exchange Room Gallery

This past Saturday my Basquiat-inspired bodypaint portrait series Obnoxious Liberals debuted at the Exchange Room Gallery of Il Tramezzino UCLA. Check out some highlights from the night below:

All photos courtesy of ERG's own Antonio Renoj.

View the Obnoxious Liberals series online here, and visit the Print Store to pickup your copy today!

Two Year Anniversary and Print Sale!

May 15, 2016

I can't believe it's only been two years since I've been shooting film exclusively, because it certainly feels like it's been a lot longer when you start adding up receipts... But anyway, in celebration of this anniversary, I'm happy to introduce a new and more affordable digital printing method for those of you interested in purchasing prints at a lower price point. And I mean significantly lower!

We'll begin with a limited run (only 10 of each size) print series of my favorite photos from my first ever roll of black & white film, developed exactly two years ago today. I've selected the following six images from my first time exploring Venice, CA to feature in this promotion.

Prints are available in sizes up to 13"x19" at pricing starting as low as $25. As an added bonus, anyone who purchases a Gelatin Silver or Chromogenic darkroom print, or anyone who has purchased one since the site launched is eligible for a FREE numbered print from this series!

If this sale goes well, I'll be adding this printing method permanently as an option for almost all of my photos available for printing.

Visit the Print Store today to order!

Brianna: A Dreamscape

May 11, 2016

Part One: Escaping Reality

And so the story begins...

Missing something? Follow the whole story below:

The Dreamscape

Brianna: A Dreamscape (Prologue)

April 11, 2016

Blending Realities

The subjects of my screenplays and the subjects of my photography don't often intersect as much as I thought they would, considering that it was screenwriting that reignited my love for photography to begin with. I suppose going into photography with no real goal other than to photograph whatever I wanted at the time might have something to do with that, yet one medium will still often act as a catalyst for the other in some way. This time however, I found a rare crossroads between the two, which came in the form of interaction with one's own subconscious explored thematically throughout the narrative.

This came about after reflecting on many of the scripts I'd written in the past, trying to find unintentional common themes between them as a way of better understanding my own narrative voice. What I found was that just about everything I'd written was some form of introspective personal drama, with elements of the inner-consciousness of characters manifesting as physical elements of the story in some way. In To Police, we watch the aftermath of a police shooting unfold by exploring the lead character's own memory. In the upcoming Shine, the lead character has a conversation with his own subconscious which has manifested in the form of his father. This idea kept appearing in my work, so the next logical phase was to embrace it and find a way to bring it into my photography as well. "How?" you might ask. Well, with lingerie of course.

In my second collaboration with the lovely Brianna, we decided to try something new and come up with a way to blend a traditional lingerie shoot with this concept of personal introspection. So what did we come up with? Two distinct narratives being explored via two distinct types of film. The first narrative is told in Colour, and follows the story of a young woman who returns to her hotel room and enters into a hyper-realistic lucid dream. The second narrative is told in Black & White, and is the dream itself, where the character's thoughts and emotions begin to take on a physical form as she explores the depths of her fantasy.

This was such a fun concept to shoot, and has given me a lot to think about in exploring similar themes with my photography in the future. As always, Brianna was wonderful to work with and did an excellent job as the lead character in this play of pictures.

For the full series, see below...

THE DREAMSCAPE

Renae

October 10, 2015

For Colored Girls

The beautiful, talented, and beautifully talented Renae is a painter and model in North Hollywood, so it was only fitting that our collaboration feature paint. I've been wanting to try a concept like this for quite some time, and Renae turned out to be the perfect canvas.

This photo won me /r/analog's Photographer of the Week, so I already knew we were off to a good start!

There will certainly be more to come between Renae and I, stay tuned for 2016...

Wedding Season, pt. II

October 1, 2015

Larrabure Wedding

I've sure shot a lot of wedding this year for someone who is not at all a wedding photographer, or even close to one. But the truth is I've always found them a lot of fun, and do genuinely enjoy going to friends' weddings. So when a friend and colleague inquires about said services, I find myself inclined to say yes. Especially if it means I get to shoot them my way...

For anyone who didn't get it, by "my way" I mean drunk and with a Pentax 67. Moving on...

It was a small ceremony held at The Raymond in Pasadena, which turned out to be an incredible venue. Both in terms of lighting and of space.

The full photo book of the Larrabure Wedding can be purchased here.

Summer Travels, pt. II

July 3, 2015

Barcelona

I need to live here. Plain and simple, I need to live here. The climate, the culture, the quality of life, Barcelona is my kind of city. After the first day I was convinced that I was no longer looking at this place as a travel destination, but as a future place of residence.

I mean hey, Kubrick moved to London right? Barcelona it is...

One of my -and likely anyone else who visits- favorite places to shoot was definitely the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, or simply...

La Boqueria

And it's easy to see why.

I don't know how yet, but I need to make Barcelona an annual trip. Hmm, I hear they have a pretty nice film festival...

Summer Travels, pt. I

July 2, 2015

New York

It's rare that I get to travel as much as I would like to. Fortunately, I get to make up for it this month. Having successfully completed my short film To Police, I'm off to Barcelona, New York, and Puerto Rico, in that order. I guess you can say I kinda like Spanish food...

Anyway, Barcelona marks my first time ever setting foot in Europe, so naturally I shot a LOT of rolls there. I'll be saving those for last. New York was up next, and was actually a research trip for a new script I'll be writing so most of time was occupied with that, rather than photography. But I did manage to get off a few quick shots here and there.

Up next...

Puerto Rico

This was my second time visiting Puerto Rico, and I gotta say, I love this island more and more with each visit. This was the first time I was able to explore a little bit with a film camera in hand, and spent the majority of my time in Old San Juan.