Matters & Dunaway

Lately I'm finding myself drawn to photographing electronic music events fringe/experimental and otherwise (I don't like calling them experimental for Cageian reasons like Stevey Reich explained but what other word could we use?). In Boston, electronic music shows of any kind are fairly intimate events. Read that as "not sold out" so there is space to maneuver and even compose a picture. Since I relate to their aesthetic in more ways than one it makes for a perfect setting for me to explore visually. Photograph what you know. Matters & Dunaway are the local downtempo duo by my friends André Obin and Thom Gallagher. Both outstanding musicians. The Powerbook is the new guitar and the guitar is the new Powerbook


posted by Ricardo De Lima @ Wednesday, November 29, 2006, , links to this post




David Day vs. YouTube

Speaking of The Boston Phoenix, I realized today that they used a crop of a photo of mine (left one just in case you think I'd red gel somebodys face like that -- what's with industrial photographers and colored gels?). That's David Day (Forced Exposure, Squar3 Productions) compared to Chad Hurley (YouTube founder) and the comparison is on their On The Download blog (great mp3 blog). I don't know that David looks like Chad Hurley but for an insignificant fraction of $1.65 billion dollars I can be made to say anything.


posted by Ricardo De Lima @ Monday, November 27, 2006, , links to this post




Editorial Work in Boston

I shot a "fashion" set for the Boston Phoenix about a month ago. I was asked by a former model who now works for the Phoenix as some sort of coordinator to fill in at last minute since the photographer she had booked was MIA. It struck me out of character for the Phoenix to do this but I had the day off, was frankly bored out of my mind and even the sketchy details or the prospect of me not getting paid for this at all weren't going to stop me. I would have shot white socks on white seamless that day I was that bored.

In general I'm fairly skeptical of the editorial work in Boston -- I didn't have good experiences working for the Weekly Dig or Performer Magazine but the Boston Phoenix has always had very good photographers. Mark Ostow and Kelly Davidson are two of my favorites.

So this had me thinking. There are some fine photojournalists in this town (Essdras Suarez , Dominic Chavez , Stanley J Foreman and many others I am forgetting right now). Boston has always been a two newspaper town and that's something the photojournalist are used to. For non-PJ photographers there seems to be a lot of outlets for work in Boston: The Boston Phoenix, The Weekly Dig, Stuff@Night, Improper Bostonian, Boston Magazine, Boston Common, Performer Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, etc. Unfortunately the majority of them are not photography-focused not even on the periphery. This situation will likely not improve with circulations and ad revenue plummeting across the board and Boston embracing it's branch office town future. But it is what it is.


posted by Ricardo De Lima @ Saturday, November 25, 2006, , links to this post




Should Have

I rarely regret not having my camera with me. But I missed photographing something beautiful and I am still shaking my head in disbelief:

Frustrated by the lack of progress on my Theory of Computation course work (then due in single digit hours) and seduced by a fit of midnight Thursday sanity, I stopped deluding my nerd self, turned the homework in and headed to David Day's Make It New night at the Middlesex Lounge. I knew Masha Qrella was performing and I knew Masha is part of Contriva -- an excellent band.

I arrived just in time to witness David finishing his set (and playing some techno version of Sweet Child O' Mine which I have been blocking until this very moment). The crowd was a bit different from last time I was there -- more than just a bit on the posh side. Then Masha proceeded to play some of the most amazing electronic pop music I have been witnessed to in a long time (I don't know why do I want to say Obsidian-era Banco de Gaia -- the production it's unbelievable) . It caught me off guard. An acoustic guitar, some pedals and a Powerbook: it absolutely killed and I didn't have a camera with me. Ok Louis Pasteur, give it to me:
Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.


posted by Ricardo De Lima @ Saturday, November 11, 2006, , links to this post




Central Square

Long time no blog. Let's see, what have I been up to? Too many things, but top of the list has been to continue to try to become technically competent in this craft and to try to find new sources of inspiration to produce a body of work. Twelve photos that I like is the goal I have been trying to reach. Easier said than done. Clearly, I ain't no Garry Winogrand.

On that vein, I started on my street studio project, a la Clay Enos and many others. Photographing people is what I like to do. The idea of my project, Photography Has The Right To People is to diligently photograph the people of Massachusetts Avenue -- from Roxbury to Lexington, about 14 miles or so. I had to start somewhere (the hardest part) and so I started on Central Square, Cambridge. So far, So Good.


posted by Ricardo De Lima @ Friday, November 10, 2006, , links to this post