Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

11.12.2020

STAR GATES: Astrology, Symbolism, and the Synchronistic Universe

Vincent Price © Ray Grasse (Taken when he was 13)
 
"I had heard Price would be presiding over the opening of a new art show at the Prudential building in Chicago at the time, and my father drove me down there to attend. On arriving, I saw Price standing amongst the paintings, seemingly eight-feet tall. I walked up and nervously said, "Mr. Price?" After blinding him with flashbulbs at close range, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small photo I received from his fan club months earlier (shown here), and asked if he'd autograph it. The contrast between his appearance in the old picture and how he looked in front of me was frankly dramatic. I struggled to make some conversation; having no idea at all how rude it really was, I asked him, “Umm, when was this photo taken?” Rather than be offended, his response was extremely gracious. Leaning over, he smiled and said, with that trademark swooping voice of his, "Oh, well, you know, when photos are so small like that, they make you look so much younger." It took me years to appreciate how witty that response was." – Ray Grasse  

November 10, 2020 4:59PM © Ray Grasse

November 10, 2020 7:01PM © Ray Grasse
 

I'm deep into my friend, photographer and professional astrologer, Ray Grasse' new book of essays, "STARGATES : Essays on Astrology, Symbolism, and the Synchronistic Universe." An excerpt from the Chapter 'Musings on Music, Magic and Astrology', "Both of those arts – music and magic – employ intricately arranged elements that act on the unconscious in ways the rational mind can't truly fathom. . . . It has nothing at all to do with logic, and instead operates deep down in subterranean caverns of the psyche, far below the brightly lit plateaus of consciousness and rationality...."

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"He tackled questions astrologers often skim around or barely even dare to doubt. In the Chapter on "The Challenge of Scorpio: Anger, Power and Transformation" I found a way to heal an old wound of anger and resentment I was blindly carrying...deep insight can be truly de-toxifying! Treat yourself to something special--this book is worth the read. – Astrologer Elizabeth Spring
 
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STARGATES is a wide-ranging collection of essays on the art and science of astrology, exploring both the practical and philosophical aspects of the ancient discipline. Among the subjects discussed are the Great Ages, the astrology of anomalies, the United States’ “Pluto return,” relationships and the 7th house, synchronicity and astrology, fate versus free will, traditional versus modern astrology, the search for Planet X, the highest planet in the horoscope, the theory of correspondences, and many more.

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Ray Grasse is an internationally-recognized astrologer, and author of books including The Waking Dream, Signs of the Times, Under a Sacred Sky, An Infinity f Gods, and Urban Mystic. He worked on the editorial staffs of Quest Magazine and Quest Books for ten years, and has been associate editor of The Mountain Astrologer for 20 years . . . and he is also an accomplished photographer.


Purchase STARGATES

 


7.02.2013

DAVID SCHEINBAUM: Hip Hop Portraits Book

 Professor Griff of Public Enemy, 2002
Photograph © David Scheinbaum

The Executioners, 2004
Photograph © David Scheinbaum

 Method Man and Redman, 2002
Photograph © David Scheinbaum

 Mos Def, 2002
Photograph © David Scheinbaum


"Since its inception in the 1970s, hip hop music and the culture surrounding it has become a hugely influential and popular musical form in America and around the world. Its popularity extends beyond the urban centers where it was born, and pervades and influences youth culture around the globe.  However, few artists have created serious and powerful photographs that explore the breadth of the phenomenon.  With this volume, David Scheinbaum has done just that.  His portraits of Erykah Badu, Chuck D., George Clinton, Common, Mos Def, Del-Tha Funkee Homosapien, Sage Francis, Professor Griff, KRS One, Mike Relm, Tajai, Wu-Tang Clan and Yelawolf (among others) approach hip hop as a positive cultural influence akin to the youth movement of the 1960s.  Scheinbaum's photographs are accompanied by essays by Gaye Theresa Johnson and Michael Eric Dyson, an artist conversation with Frank H. Goodyear III and an introduction by Brian Hardgroove of Public Enemy."


David Scheinbaum is former Director/Chair of the Photography Department at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and Professor Emeritus, College of Santa Fe. He is also one half of the well known fine art photography gallery, Scheinbaum and Russek LTD, the exclusive representatives for the Beaumont and Nancy Newhall Estate and for the Eliot Porter Estate.

Here is a little background. In 1978, Scheinbaum moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico with the hope of meeting and working with the pre-eminent photography scholar, Beaumont Newhall. This dream came true. Their professional relationship had many facets and a friendship quickly developed. In 1979 David began printing for Beaumont NewhallThe many people who came to work and study with Beaumont often asked to see his photographs – thus David found himself in the position of creating a “meeting place” for photographers and collectors. The idea for a gallery evolved and in 1980 when Janet Russek moved to Santa Fe they opened their doors with a retrospective of Willard Van Dyke’s work.

While David continued to work with Beaumont Newhall, Russek began assisting Eliot Porter. Their relationship also grew from the studio to the gallery and the gallery began to expand representing both local and international photographers. To date they have exhibited and worked with over 300 photographers. Scheinbaum and Russek have approached the gallery world through their roles as educators, artists, and collectors and bring to their gallery an appreciation of photographers, the fine print and the history of photography.

David Scheinbaum's other publications include, Bisti, photographs of New Mexico's Bisti Badlands (University of New Mexico Press, 1987), Miami Beach: Photographs of an American Dream (Florida International University Press, 1990), and Stone: A Substantial Witness (The Museum of New Mexico Press, 2006). He and his wife, Janet Russek, have collaborated on two projects; Ghost Ranch: Land of Light, Photographs by David Scheinbaum and Janet Russek (Balcony Press, 1997) and Images in the Heavens, Patterns on the Earth: The I Ching (The Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005). And now his most recent publication, Hip Hop: Portraits of An Urban Hymn (Damiani Editore) will be released in November 2013. This work was featured at The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, entitled Recognize: Hip-Hop and Contemporary Portraiture, and at the Norton Museum of Art. His current work focused on the Lower East Side of New York.

I attribute my renewed love and appreciation for Photography to Janet Russek and David Scheinbaum. Their educational evenings, generously given in their Gallery on the fine art of printing and the history of photography, were highlighted by the most extraordinary examples of vintage original prints by Eliot Porter, Ansel Adams, Atget, Callahan, Kertesz, among so many other great photographers. Check out the Scheinbaum and Russek Gallery on your next visit to New Mexico.
 

6.07.2012

LISA LEONE: Then @HVW8 A+D Gallery

Wyclef and Lauren Hill - 1993 East Harlem NYC
Photograph (c) Lisa Leone

Fabel and Wiggles - 1990 NYC
Photograph (c) Lisa Leone

Photograph (c) Lisa Leone

Before Hip-Hop was an Industry, it was a Community...
Lisa Leone Photographs | Then

2014 UPDATE



3.21.2012

MATTHEW AVEDON: Music + Fashion Interview

Matthew Avedon An Interview for Massimo Dutti
below



Matthew Avedon/Vogue Italia Photographed by Dawidh Orlando




Matthew Avedon Film by Hunter + Gatti for Massimo Dutti
-:- YouTube Video Here -:-


A Talk With Matthew Avedon
Massimo Dutti Journal: #169

What are your passions?


While I have many interests, my main passion in life is working as a musician. I am an active member of the New York Jazz community and play gigs as many nights of the week as possible! I have my own group that plays Jazz Manouche in the style of Django Reinhardt and we call ourselves the Hot Club Time Machine, I also play some more modern things with my group the Matthew Avedon Trio, and I also play with an amazing New Orleans Jazz band called Jessy Carolina and The Hot Mess. On top of that I try to collaborate with as many musicians in other styles as I can. The life of a working musician can be very hard, and demands a lot of discipline but it is so creatively fulfilling that I wouldn't want to be doing anything else; except working for Massimo Dutti of course!


Obvious question: What is the weight of the name of the most admired photographer your grandfather?
 
Obviously my last name holds a lot of weight in the fashion industry and there's no getting around that. My grandfather played a very important role in shaping the aesthetics of modern fashion and how it presents itself, and his work as a creative force is undeniable. As a model on the other side of the camera I am understandably always asked about my grandfather, and all I can say is that as a man I didn't know him very well, but as an artist I deeply respect his contribution to photography.


Have you ever thought about taking a camera?
 
I have never seriously thought of taking up photography, it's not where my heart is so I wouldn't want to attempt it just because I have a famous last name. I leave that legacy to my younger brother Michael Avedon (michaelavedon.com) who is extremely talented and getting better every day! 


What about design? 
 
For me design is not something you do separate from everything else. Design is a way of approaching the world, everybody designs the world they live in as best they can. I have however considered working as a designer specifically as a job and it's something I think I would be quite good at, but right now I want to pour all my energy into improving as a musician, so I leave the design world to more capable hands.


New York or Paris?
 
I am a born and bred New Yorker and very proud of it! Paris is great and I love visiting, but New York will always be my home even though it has changed so much since I was a kid. It's the curse of the city that people who grow up here have a really hard time adjusting to living anywhere else and that is very true for me!


 What is your favorite part in the world where do you like to go?
 
I am very lucky that my job takes me all over the world and I get to see so many great places, the problem is I never get to stay for very long! Barcelona has always been a very fun place for me to visit and I have a few friends living there; anyone who has been there knows what a party town it can be. Through work I've spent so many years traveling around Europe and I've actually not had a chance to see that much of America besides California and a few other places, so soon I plan on taking a good long road trip across the country. I'm particularly looking forward to visiting New Orleans where the music scene is really amazing!

9.22.2011

MOBY: Destroyed Interview

My Weakness
(c) MOBY

Hyenas
(c) MOBY


“When I play music, I’m just exclusively focused on the music. When I’m taking photographs, I’m exclusively focusing on that. There’s not a lot of interdisciplinary stuff going on in my head.

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"I’ve been a photographer since I was ten years old. My uncle had been a photographer at the New York Times and as I was growing up he gave me his hand-me-down sort of cast-off camera’s and dark room equipment. I grew up shooting film and working in darkrooms...When I went on to University, I was a Philosophy major with a Photography minor, and although I’ve been doing photography since I was 10 years old, I’ve never really felt comfortable showing it to anyone. It’s only in the last couple of years that I got past my reservations or shyness in showing people my photographs...I think I was intimidated to show people my photographs because my uncle was such a good photographer."

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EA: Your parents nicknamed you “Moby” after your family’s ancestral relationship to Moby Dick author, Herman Melville. As you are both writers, have you felt a connection or been inspired or influenced by his work?

MOBY: That’s a really interesting question. The one thing, if I’m being completely honest, the one connection that I feel, and it’s not even necessarily a good one, is on that side of the family, my fathers side of the family, the men have a tendency to be very prone to brooding and taking themselves too seriously. For better or worse, I think I’ve inherited that. I’d love to feel more of a creative connection with Melville, and maybe it’s there, but I definitely more see the brooding New England melancholy, which is strange because I live in southern California now.

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"The image that’s on the cover of both the book and the album is a photograph I took in LaGuardia Airport and it was a sign that said “Unattended Luggage Will Be Destroyed”- a very small sign that would only fit one word at a time. So I stood in this hallway taking photographs of this sign every time it flashed this word “Destroyed”... Because a lot of the music on the album, and the images as well, are the product of insomnia and exhaustion and so the word “Destroyed” just summed up that feeling of living in these strange alien environments and trying to make sense of them through music and photography."

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moby exhibition to october 22