A few weeks ago I produced and created one shot for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority’s Charlotte’s Got A Lot campaign.
The folks at BooneOakley, the agency behind the campaign, were on board for a little art direction and hand-modeling.
Here’s the unedited image.
Below is the spot that the photo ended up in. My image is about 47 seconds in and lasts for about 3 seconds so don’t blink.
This is an outtake from a project I worked on this summer for the Charlotte School of Law. Twenty images, twenty different locations, eight days, lots of work, and a huge blast! A big thanks to the MODE crew for bringing me on for this one.
This shot was created inside Zada Jane’s Corner Cafe here in Charlotte. Owner Roger Raymer and the Zada Jane’s staff were the best hosts we could ask for providing biscuits, coffee, space for us to spread out, and all-around good hospitality.
A perfect way to spend an afternoon.
A few weeks ago I photographed Jason Hausman of HOT SAKE here in Charlotte.
I made the photographs for a local group of young media professionals called Ad2 Charlotte. They’re featuring Hausman in the first of their “I’m Kind of a Big Deal” talks. The main shot, seen here, was a straight-on number to be used in all the promo pieces for the event. Done.
The second shot (above) was where I let my style truly take over.
We had a few minutes to spare at the end of the shoot and, never letting a good combination of subject and location go to waste, I asked Jason is he would stand by the window for a few more photos.
Everything fell into place: the perspective, Jason himself, the window bars, the brick wall, the indoor lights hitting just the right spots, the little ukulele hanging in the back window, and the good ol’ sun itself giving me the lighting that I love so much. Done.
Hands down, Lou Reed’s New York is one of my favorite records of all-time. Lou’s at the top of his game musically, topically, lyrically (mostly), and emotionally (though with ol’ deadpan Lou it’s hard to tell sometimes).
Released in 1989, it’s a somewhat dated commentary on New York City and our society in general. There are many frank ideas about wealth, poverty, failed leadership, religion, greed, and race throughout the set that are timeless and, sadly, unresolved or unchanged.
On the whole it’s one of Lou’s better albums.
One song in particular — “Strawman” — always gets me riled up, partly because of the subject matter and partly because you can really hear Lou getting riled up himself.
The words to the tune are pretty simple and self-explanatory. I always find myself summing them up with one simple question that Lou himself asks in the song:
Does anyone need a $60,000 car?
Now I don’t know what Lou drives nor do I begrudge anyone for owning a $60,000 car. The song just gives me a little perspective and sometimes I — better yet, we — need that more than anything else.
Take a few minutes and listen for yourself.
Lou Reed “Strawman”
from New York
This is Amy. She’s an artist, a mom, and a badass (among other things). Her and her husband live here in Charlotte and are active Twitter users. That’s where I met her (we follow each other’s tweets) and arranged to meet and photograph her for an artists series I’m working on.
The first thing I thought about when I saw this poster was yes, yes it does!.
This poster is part of a series of Inspirational Design Posters by graphic designer and illustrator Frank Chimero. He created the series specifically for designers in an attempt to provide a spark of inspiration.
Chimero writes:
The topics range from various truisms I’ve discovered about the field in the past few years to snarky tongue-in-cheek comments. I think we designers spend an awful lot of time talking to ourselves, and I consider this my contribution to the monologue.
Here’s another one of my favorites from the set.
You can see the connection here. This stuff applies to pretty much anyone in a creative profession, including photographers.
I’ve mentioned before that being hired for your style and unique vision is one of the best things that can happen to you as a creative person. When you’re allowed (by yourself or others) to be as creative as possible (which, granted, doesn’t happen all the time) and you realize that following your vision pays off, there is indeed nothing stopping you from doing and getting the type of work you want to do. These posters are just a beautiful reminder of that fact.
I was working late the other night and received this text from my wife before I came home:
Out of beer- have ribs & wine
Yep, she’s a keeper.
How do I pick one photograph when I love them all?
The edit can be the hardest part.
My kids love public transportation. Especially Charlotte’s new light rail system.
Every time my two-year-old daughter Sophie sees anything pertaining to public transportation — a city bus or light rail train — she calls out LIGHT RAIL! in that sweet little voice of hers.
My five-year-old son Nick knows all the light rail and Charlotte Trolley stops from 7th Street to Tyvola.
Anyway, it’s a fondness for kids and their obsession with public transportation that endears me to illustrator Christoph Niemann’s The Boys and the Subway, a story and illustrations from his blog Abstract City at The New York Times.
Check out these excerpts:
My sons Arthur, 5, and Gustav, 3, are obsessed with the New York City subway system.
People often ask me for directions in the subway. Even though I know my way around rather well, I still have to defer to Arthur very often. Yet it seems people don’t trust the advice of a preschooler. They should.
You gotta see and read the whole piece. It’s priceless.
More Olympus XA2 gold.
I took these photos in April while on assignment and showing my book in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. An exhibition of prints and posters by artist Brian Kiger was tucked in a back room of the serendipitous and delightful Krankie’s Coffee in downtown Winston-Salem.
I took a break from the digital norm while on vacation at the beach last week. These and all the photos I took were made with an Olympus XA2. It’s a great little camera and a perfect tool for revitalizing my creativity.
This is a blog by photographer and all-around visually creative guy Armando Bellmas. Please make some time to look through my PORTFOLIO. You'll love it.
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