This gun’s for hire (2024 highlights)

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE KITCHEN?!

The first part of the year was just me galavanting through Europe and getting kicked out of Africa (see below), May and June brought a new apartment, which T. is 100% responsible for finding, furnishing (seriously, I just brought a few apple boxes to the equation) and turning into a very chic place to hang out. Part of the appeal of this new apartment is the generous kitchen. This kitchen has 3 big windows facing East. I like east facing windows. I am a big fan of that light. I’m guessing you know where this is going. Yep, home studio! Here’s a few cool things that happened since.

Lucien Laviscount for Rolling Stone

When I shot L. and they ended up using the shots for his Rolling Stone interview. I mean seriously, to see your kitchen on the front page of RS is a bit surreal. Like it’s weird but like good weird. 

He was great! We chatted more than we shot. I’m a fan!

Juliet carroll and the clay dresses

The shoot with J. was an exceptional collaboration. She reached out to me through friends of friends saying that she’s making 2 dresses out of clay and after a few months of talking and planning we were able to bring it all to life. J. is incredibly talented and I felt great about the results. More of this in 2025!

LO & SONS (The White Background Upgrade)

The tail-end of this year I did one with these guys. The challenge was to do a functional shoot with 3 different parts: an editorial, a video and ecomm. That’s when I decided to install a second backdrop and really turn the kitchen in a commercial studio.

<3 Mitchells

S. brought me into the fold last year, first as a tech and now as videographer (director sounds WAAAY too pretentious). They’ve been working together for over 20 years and I have never met/seen/worked with a tighter crew. Seriously it’s just good vibes all around. All the time. Without exceptions. To finish the year off with them was such a dream! And we got to shoot in the desert which, since I shot WASTELANDERS, became my forever happy place. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a more perfect wrap-up of this year. 

DADDY ISSUES

Kicked off this year with an ask from a Romanian apparel company (my first time working with the motherland). Met the founder in Dec ‘23 & found out she grew up in the same city I did. What are the odds? We hit it off instantly. Oh and may I add she was the perfect client - literally gave me a bag of clothes and said “go nuts! I trust you’re gonna make it look amazing!”  Listen, the brand is called “Daddy Issues” - need I say more? I had the perfect model/stylist in mind. My friend N. Who just so happens to have access to PROP HAUS. Match made in heaven. Shot there after hours and the next day we did some roof stuff. Kept it simple, just me and them, quick, messy and exactly what my new friend was looking for.

THE ITALIAN JOB

Out of some other seeds planted in ‘23 another project sprouted. This one would take me to Italy. 

A couple of years ago I had this idea for a project called “hide & seek” - I shot 2 subjects for it and then I just haven’t really got back to it. At a party I met a woman who has a foundation supporting people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. Her main goal is to inform the general public about MS and fight the stigma that people suffering from it have to go through. I told her about my project and fast forward I’m shooting 2 campaigns in Italy for her foundation. The first one would be a revamp of “hide and seek” - a campaign to push people to get tested.

The tagline would be “stop hiding, get tested”.

I got a chance to travel up and down north Italy and meet some truly amazing people. They were kind enough to welcome me in their homes and let me take some pictures.

The second one is a portrait series in which the subjects are engaged in their favorite activities. The plan here was to show that people with MS can live normal lives. Furthermore it’s also designed to help people with MS not feel bad about not being perfect at what their hobbies are. Tagline for this one was “do it your way”.

We shot this at SKY which is a huge italian television network. They gave us a conference room and we were able to turn it into a fully functional photo set.

These 2 projects gave me the opportunity to experience Italy for about 3 months. I still haven’t seen the south but the north I’m a big fan of. Actively trying to find any reason to go back.

Seriously if you have work for me in Italy hit me up. Very much willing to travel. 

Both these projects are still in production stages. Don’t be surprised if you’ll see them in subways or billboards in the future. Fingers crossed.

TUNISIA

a “flying by the seat of my pants” story

It wasn’t all sunshine and butterflies - in a nutshell got kicked out of Tunisia because of a production mishap and had to relocate a whole “SUNNY and SUMMERY shoot” to Milan…in April. So 3 continents in 24 hours, fighting red tape in Tunis while all my gear was held by some very sketchy security guards at the airport - lets just say blood pressure was through the roof. Regardless the team made it happen, client was happy, the ad was done, held together by a lot of proverbial duct-tape and split second decisions. Basically a crash course in adaptability.

In retrospect it does make for a pretty funny story. (To be clear this is not the story, for obvious reasons MANY details have been concealed.)

The ART BASEL affair

I’ve steered clear of all things art world related for as long as I can remember. The idea of showing my work in a gallery setting did absolutely nothing for me. And yet, in early December my friend C. reached out to me about a project she’s been working on - a photo show in a very 70’s New York punk vibe at Art Basel. This…was interesting! She made it really easy for me. We decided on showing 3 pieces from the terrace series. The pieces received interest resulting in some upcoming meetings in January with art advisors. 

I’m optimistic about 2025 and I fully intend to hold my pact with S. to be more positive in 2025!

Cheers!