Kramer Super Surprise

TOP PHOTO: Bob Ziller shakes it off in the studio after a grueling few days. Recording engineer Larry Luther of Mr. Small's is on the left.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Larry and Bob with KRAMER on the right. If you'd told me back in 1990, when I was in college, that someday I'd be standing in a recording studio photographing Kramer, I would've NEVER believed it. 

So, last Friday I got a big thrill. I had an assignment to shoot my friend Bob Ziller for a book feature in next week's City Paper. (He has just finished doing a translation of poetry from French, for publication, though I don't know the poet offhand.) I was sent to Mr. Small's recording studio on the North Side, where Bob was recording a record with his band (whose name I don't even know...shame on me!) When I walked into the studio, Bob introduces me to the guy who is producing his record, "And this is Kramer." "Hey," I said, and shook his hand. Then, I'm like, wait a minute! "Are you THE KRAMER?" No, not the guy from Seinfeld. The guy who ran Shimmy Disc records, which pretty much influenced my core musical sensibilities when I was the music director of my college radio station! Kramer has played with bands like the FUGS, Butthole Surfers, B.A.L.L., Bongwater, and King Missile, as well as produced folks like Daniel Johnston, Jad Fair, and the cover of "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon," by Urge Overkill, featured on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.I played King Missile religiously and pretty much anything that arrived with that Shimmy Disc label on the box. So many great records! If you've never heard the song "Sensitive Artist," by King Missile, you owe it to yourself to go on You Tube and find yerself some. Anyway,  I saw Bongwater at the 9:30 Club in DC (the original location) in the early 90's, during which I remember that Kramer was playing a lot of Zeppelin-ish guitar. When I told him this, he just chuckled. I guess he lives in Florida these days and is doing more production for others than making his own records. I was starstruck, if you can call it that, in a REALLY geeky way.  

Anyway, just goes to show you that being a photographer means never knowing exactly what is going to happen to you in the course of a day!

Hot Town Summer in the City

An assignment today for an upcoming City Paper feature on the Pittsburgh music sensation sweeping the nation, otherwise known as GIRLTALK, aka Greg Gillis (who I last shot a couple of years ago when he had short hair and a "corporate job," which he has now been able to quit because of being, like, famous and shit.)

We had a very refreshing and successful shoot. Now, normally, I'm not one who needs much prompting to hop into the swim, but I was a bit concerned about my camera getting wet. We managed to pull it off and even prevented Greg's laptop (which will appear in the "real" photo in the paper) from getting wet....and we DID have it in the pool with us. 

You'll have to tune into August issues of City Paper to see the end result. Greg will be playing Lollapalooza in Chicago on my birthday, August 1, so I may just have to go out there and shoot his ass live.

Fer yerself, check out Greg's snorkeltastic grooves at http://www.myspace.com/girltalk where you can "pay what you want" to get his new release "Feed the Animals."

Lensbaby from Clemente Bridge

Out shooting last night at PNC Park, the light was gorgeous, so I tried out my favorite toy, the "Lensbaby." This special selective focus lens makes everything look fun and dreamy. I like using it when shooting scenes that are VERY familiar to me, because the effect brings something unusual to what might be otherwise mundane. 

James climbs the Carnegie Library

This is super featherweight boxer Monty Meza Clay (27 years old, 5'2", 129 lbs.) photographed one week before his bout with Mexican fighter Omar Lizarraga outside Pittsburgh. Because Monty is a much-loved resident of Rankin, PA, I chose to shoot his portrait inside the old Carrie Furnace, a defunct iron furnace that is awaiting re-development into a county park. The location seemed an appropriate metaphor for this tough-as-nails fighter, who has moved up the ranks to become top-ranked in numerous boxing associations. 

Meza-Clay turned pro after an unfortunate incident wherein he was beaten by local police officers for no apparently good reason. At the time he was an Olympic hopeful, but the injuries he sustained in the beating kept him from making the trials. One week after this photo was shot, Meza-Clay KO'd his opponent Lizarraga in just 91 seconds with a booming blow to the liver. The fight was so short, I didn't get any good shots of it, really. I was just getting situated alongside the ring when Lizarraga dropped to the canvas. I was like, "Is that it?" Yup. Unfortunately, Monty suffered a wrist injury during the brief bout (rumored to be broken, but not confirmed as of yet.) Hopefully, within the next 9 months, Monty will have a shot at the current WBO champ Steven Luevano. I plan to follow him through his training for this fight.

Municylist Mike Carroll

Although I made this image several years ago, it endures as one of my favorites. My friend Mike Carroll, a member of the local Zany Umbrella Circus, whom I was interviewing for my newspaper, offered to take his unicycle (a "municycle," which means it is customized with a mountain bike tire and other adaptations to allow it to perform on varied terrain) up onto the roof of our friend's building and take a spin for the camera. I thought it too dangerous and didn't want his premature death on my hands, but he assured me that he's done it before and was not worried in the least. I went onto an adjoining roof ( I suffer no fear of heights, thankfully) and took a bunch of shots. The sky was perfect with a lovely, typically dull Pittsburgh light that enhances the mood and mystery of the scene. This is exactly the sort of moody, whimsical image that I would like to make more of!