Ever heard of Lifestyles magazine? Neither had I. It’s Canadian, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to photograph Howard Buffett – the grandson of the third richest man in the world (clue: it’s Warren Buffet). They loved the pictures so much, they plastered it on the cover.
A couple of images I like from my shoot with the super creative and cool Leland Pitts-Gonzalez for the book jacket and back cover of his upcoming novel, The Blood Poetry. Sounds like it’s going to be a good read!
Check out the slideshow on CNN. Opening on Saturday, May 5, 2-6p. Directions to Alice Austin House here.
I have two piece in this group show about the foreclosure crisis at the Alice Austin House. The show opens to the public on March 28, and runs till June 8. We will host an opening reception on May 5th from 2-6. All are welcome.
The exhibition includes photography by:
Bruce Gilden
Lauren Greenfield
Todd Hido (not confirmed)
Imara Moore
John Moore
John Francis Peters
T.J. Proechel
Brian Shumway
Brian Ulrich
Guillaume Zuili
The show examines how artists and documentarians are using photography to record the aftermath of the housing bubble, from its beginning in 2006 to the dramatic effects it still has on the American Landscape today. The collection depicts the ruins of rich and poor neighborhoods, as well as families affected by the downturn in the economy, and raises questions about the American Dream of owning a home and what that now means.
The exhibition’s setting at the Alice Austen House, on Staten Island, provides a unique environment for the instillation. Most people remember Alice Austen as a wealthy, turn of the century photographer, who lived an idyllic life as a socialite. Yet during the Great Depression, she lost her fortune, which eventually led to the foreclosure of her family home. It now stands as a museum in her name. After the crisis, she was forced to live on a farm colony until a Life magazine editor rediscovered her work and relocated her to a proper nursing home, where she remained until the end of her life. The show uses Austen’s history and the location as a starting point for a conversation about the contemporary crisis. As a bonus, the museum will also display Alfred Eisenstaedt’s vintage images of Alice Austen’s emotional visit to the home she lost.
Funny image of my nephew peeing is the most viewed photo on my prints site. Guess ‘kids peeing’ is a popular search term?
“The photographs are a compelling and sensitive display of men outside the traditional definition of True Men. The work is aesthetically strong. Whilst Shumway has maintained a common formal aesthetic, he has varied the poses and location of his subject shooting them on their own turf. In some cases the location is clearly discernible in other cases it is more obscure. The photographs work well as a series with the whole adding up to more than the sum of the parts.”
After a while I got bored and began to walk up 5th Ave a few blocks. Waiting to cross the street, some beautiful light was hitting the crosswalk. We marched forward when the light changed, and I saw this woman rushing across the street. She had a cross of ash on her forehead; I raised my camera and click. I was kind of annoyed that the guy on the left pushed himself into the frame at the last second, but it ended up working. The randomness of the universe sometimes makes perfect sense.
At the time, I would simply go out with my camera, walk the streets of Salt Lake City (Downtown, the Avenues, Temple Square) and take pictures. In rare cases, I would get lucky, being at the right place at the right time. Making memorable pictures on the streets of Salt Lake isn’t the easiest thing.
Sometimes, though, all you need to do is step outside your front door, and great pictures will present themselves. I had just left my apartment. Less than fifty feet away on the corner of the block, I notice a father and son coming along on their bike. I remember being too afraid to point the camera straight at them, so I pointed it at their shadow instead. Somehow it worked and a my first decent picture was born.
My Kickstarter campaign for Happy Valley has been featured on Time Magazine’s LightBox Tumblr page. Check it out here.
Only 22 days left to become a Happy Valley backer. Contribute here!
Today nearly marks the half-way point of my Kickstarter campaign. Twenty-four days I ago started this campaign to continue the next leg of my personal long-term project about my Mormon family living in Utah, called Happy Valley. Thirty days remain and it’s just over 10% funded. BUT there is still plenty of time, so all is not lost. We just can’t procrastinate. You may contribute as little or as much as you like and you’ll get a mind-expanding book or a beautiful print whose value will only increase over time. Join those who have already backed Happy Valley. Be awesome – back Happy Valley today!
I was contacted by the editor of Cambridge University’s Student Union magazine called No Definition. It covers issues related to the LGBT community at Cambridge, and they wanted to include work from my True Men project, which is partly about issues related to gender and identity. So it was a good match. They published one on the cover and another inside.
It’s been 12 days since I launched my Kickstarter campaign to continue work on my Happy Valley project. It’s been slow-going, BUT we’ve got 42 days left still! Thus far, the project has been featured on the blogs of Redux Pictures and Gallery Stock and Erica McDonald featured the promo video for the Kickstarter campaign on her you tube channel called Develop Tube.
In the coming days and weeks, I plan to see the project getting more exposure. In the meantime, check out the campaign page and become a backer to receive some amazing prints from the projects or you can also opt for some books that helped shape who I am today. Don’t forget to ‘Like’, email and/or post the campaign around and we’ll make that goal!
Today, I’m officially launching a Kickstarter campaign for my project Happy Valley. It offers a rare and intimate glimpse into Mormon culture, which is often misunderstood and shrouded in mystery, by looking at one family, my own. It began in response to my own experience growing up in the faith. Over time, the project has developed into a compelling and personal history that explores the meaning of family, religion, relationships, and redemption through the everyday life of my Mormon relatives in Utah. These issues are universal, profoundly affecting all of us, and Happy Valley provides unique insight into these issues and ourselves as well.
For nearly ten years, I’ve poured my heart and soul into this project. In 2012, I will be completing the first chapter in the history of Happy Valley, which I anticpate will lead to a book. And I’m asking for your support. There are various levels of funding and you’ll receive some awesome rewards! Please watch this video that explains everything in detail. Kickstarter is as an “all or nothing” funding-raising platform. The project is funded only if 100% of the goal is met. So it’s crucial to spread the word. Please email your friends, family and colleagues, and post to your social networks. Follow my twitter and facebook page too. 
Whether you’re Mormon, Buddhist, Jewish, or atheist, I hope Happy Valley speaks to everyone about fundamental aspects of our shared human experience in a personal and insightful way. Ultimately, this project is about all of us. I hope you find that a cause worth supporting.
Almost a decade in the making, and still going strong. Check it out on Time’s website here.
Fred Herzog’s color street photography is absolutely amazing. He pre-dates Eggleston and shot color while most still used black and white. His work mainly documents Vancouver, Canada from the early 1950s to early 1970s. Now 81, he’s only come to prominence in the last few years. More work here.
Couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph the ‘Queen Mother of Critics’ Judith Crist for the Financial Times. She’s very sweet and told me a few stories, including one a very funny one about Stanley Kubrick. Now 89 years old, Judith still teaches seminars for Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.
This morning, I woke up to a Google Alert. A tumblr site named ‘The Gang’s All Queer‘ posted my project True Men with several images and statement. It’s now been reblogged/liked more than 1400 times and counting. Every time I refresh the page more people have reblogged/liked it. There’s some interesting commentary and I’m happy people find value in the project. Like many others, I’ve fallen prey to an endemic problem with people on Tumblr using others’ work to enhance their own blog regardless of the creator’s wishes or expectation to remunerate him/her. At the very least a simple, ‘Hey Brian, we love your project, do you mind if we blog it?’ would have been nice.
Kate Osba, photo editor at Inc Magazine, reached out to me and asked to feature my work on her cool blog, This is The What. There’s a small interview with a nice selection of images. See it here.
This week I shot for Callalilai Clothing, a local New York-based clothing designer with stores in Union Square and Soho. The idea was to photograph three models in three different kinds of locations each wearing the same dress, to show it’s versatility of looks. The models were great, I had a lot of fun, and I even got to shoot black and white film on my Mamiya RZ67. Couldn’t have been sweeter. Check out more work from the shoot.
Amelia, Golden, and Pratt (Living Room). Provo, UT, 2002 - Edition of 3 / 11x14
Dean (Boots). American Fork, UT, 2003 - Edition of 1 / 11x14
The Kids Are Ok is the older, black and white companion project to Happy Valley. Some of the images go back to 2002. At the time I shot them, I made traditional silver gelatin black and white darkroom prints. With the exception of an exhibition here and there, these prints have literally been sitting underneath my bed in boxes ever since. So I’m resurrecting two of my favorite, which were printed about nine years ago. The prints themselves are just as beautiful as when first printed.
Have a closer look at the VIntage Prints on my website.
Last week, I was doing a tight edit of the project for an upcoming competition. Without noticing, I ended up with an edit that was mainly outdoor portraits. Just then I had an epiphany, as did my friend after seeing the same edit, that it made more sense and looked better as an outdoor project. The urban environment, in which the models are located, becomes an important and supporting secondary ‘character,’ showing the inner-city in a way not usually seen. The indoor photographs now seem a little too commercial and ‘slick’ for a body of work that is more raw and gritty. Black Girl now has a new focus, which, strangely, was always there.
Check out the new edit on my website here.
A selection of images from my portrait series on Occupy Wall Street protesters, those just curious about the movement, and other goings-on is now available at Redux Stock.
I first saw these twin brothers in a park in Miami, Arizona (yes, ARIZONA) while on assignment for Newsweek. Wearing similar shirts but donning different hair styles, I still haven’t decided if they’re identical or fraternal. They had actually just bought the two twin-looking puppies and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
The print may be purchased directly through my fine art prints website or you can also contact me via email.
My cool sister Amber hooked me up with a pass for the New York Comic Con this last weekend. She was Cat Woman at one of the artist’s booth. So I took a few portraits of convention-goers.
I went down to Occupy Wall Street and made a few portraits. Here’s a sampling.
Destiny, 19 years old, smoking hookah. She had to drop out of college due to financing problems.
Christopher, who mans the info booth at the west end of Zuccotti Park (or Liberty Plaza, as it’s called).
Anne, 90 year old NYC native checking out the protests. She’s been married 67 years!
I and sixteen other photographers and authors are included in the current issue. List of contributors below. Always great writing, design, and photography in Canteen. Don’t hesitate to buy a copy NOW.
Author : Photographer
T Cooper : Clayton Cotterell
Michelle Tea : formento+formento
Karan Mahajan : Boru O’Brien O’Connell
Jennine Capó Crucet : Tierney Gearon
Rich Benjamin : Tribble & Mancenido
Porochista Khakpour : Sam Falls
Stephen Elliott : Tabitha Soren
Rivka Galchen : JJ Sulin
Brian Henry : Susan Worsham
Fiona Maazel : Cara Phillips
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi : Manjari Sharma
Maud Casey : Alex Arzt
Jesse Ball : Aimee Beaubien
Deb Olin Unferth : Brian Shumway
Tao Lin : Brea Souders
Julie Orringer : Matthew Porter
It’s seems clear by now that the United States government, given all the intelligence it possessed on and before Sept 10, 2001, at the very least allowed 9/11 to happen. (To those who have read or seen documentaries about it, that shouldn’t be a controversial statement.) Be that as it may, 9/11 was a horrific tragedy. At the time I was living in San Francisco. Even though New York City felt a million miles away, the whole event, as i watched the news on that day unfold on television, became immediate and surreal. I wished more than anything that I could be there – taking pictures and documenting what was happening. Being in San Francisco, there, of course, weren’t many physical signs of the attacks, but I did find one huge American flag painted on a building in Chinatown. About a year later, I visited New York, went to the 9/11 memorial site, and photographed a little boy hypnotized by a plaque engraved with all the victims. It’s not much, but it’s my little contribution to a devastating day that changed the course of American foreign and domestic policy, not to mention countless people’s lives, for over a decade – and beyond.
Selected work from my Black Girl and Kids Are Ok series will be part of Finch & Ada‘s upcoming September salon/exhibition. Finch & Ada, the unstoppable curatorial and art dealing duo of Elizabeth Barragan and Kathleen Mahoney-Cobb, will be holding this salon Monday, September 12, 2011, 8-10pm @ Greenwich House. It’ll be held in conjunction with a timely projected exhibition curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel called, A Decade of Photography in the Aftermath of 9/11. Please RSVP.
Come out to the opening of Canteen’s ‘Hot Author’s’ issue on Friday Sept 16th 7-11p at 3rd Ward for great photography, sweet authors, good vibes, and free drinks. Way back in January, I photographed author Deb Olin Unferth (above) for this issue. Stephen Pierson, publisher of Canteen, has done an amazing job of not only putting the issue together, but also setting up what’s going to be an awesome group exhibition and launch party of the talented photographers featured in the issue. He also somehow got LTI/Lightside to donate printing/framing for the show!! More info here.
