It’s Personal

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In Print: Scraper Bikes for The Guardian’s Scene Magazine

Finally, a little local love for this series.

In Print: Scraper Bikes for The Ride Journal

The Ride, a cycling journal out of the UK currently has a spread featuring my Scraper Bike photos accompanied by an article by the Scraper Bike King himself, Baybe Champ. It’s a beautifull publication and I’m honored to have my work included.

I’m thrilled by the continued interest in these photos and the Scraper Bike Movement. So far, they’ve been shown in Philadelphia, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, Sacramento, and The Oakland Airport, as well as the cover of Momentum Magazine with more in the pipeline.

You can order copies of The Ride online at www.theridejournal.com or find one at select retailers worldwide. In SF, you can get it at Pushbike on 24th. They WILL SELL OUT, so get on it!

Never Grow Up

This girl lives across the street from me. I believe her name is Dyrah, but I have no idea how to spell it. We’ve spoken a few times, while she was sitting in front of her house selling chocolate bars or homemade gelatin treats (above) to raise money for her school, an act I find to be particularly endearing, especially in a neighborhood where the kids are pretty tough and, for the most part, don’t seem to be that into school. I often see her playing on the block with younger kids or sitting out front with her mother. She just seems so nice and innocent, and for some reason it makes me kind of sad. This fall she will enter high school. High school is tough. I’m sure she’ll get good grades and stay involved, but for some reason I feel protective of her and don’t want her to have any problems. I don’t want the tougher kids to be mean to her. I don’t want boys to make her cry. I don’t want her to be left out. I don’t want her to feel pressured to grow up too fast. She’s so nice and I want her to stay just the way she is, forever.

The Memorials

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to spend some time with The Memorials, an amazing new band out of the East Bay that most notably features Thomas Pridgen, whose name you may recognize as the former drummer for The Mars Volta. His accolades are many: Guitar Center drum off winner at age 9, youngest drummer to be sponsored by Zildjian at 10, youngest recipient of a 4 year scholarship to Berklee College of Music at 15, grammy winner. He’s a beast. I was psyched to have the chance to see him play up close and, after doing so, there’s nothing I can say that doesn’t sound like an understatement. It was positively mind-blowing.

See for yourself.

The core of The Memorials consists of Thomas, vocalist, Viveca Hawkins and the hyperkinetic Nick Brewer on guitar. They play insanely loud and won’t remain unknown for long. Save for a few snippets, they’re keeping their recordings under wraps for the time being, but anyone who’s had a chance to see them live can definitely attest to the fact that these guys are face-melters.

Guitarist or model?

I caught up with them them during intensive rehearsals (their 1st show was the next day and Nick was in from South Carolina) in Alameda, CA and we did a quick location shoot before heading back to the studio, where I got to preview their live set. Thankfully, there were some extra ear plugs.

The next night, I did something I rarely do these days; I shot the show. The venue was packed and had no stage and I wasn’t about to fight my way to the front, so I hung back near the drums, which made for some ok shots of Thomas, but not really much of anyone else.

Definitely keep an ear out for these guys. You’ll be stoked.

In Print: Streets of San Francisco Guardian Cover

As simple as this may look, we had quite a time shooting it, trying to time it perfectly so that nobody got run over and the cable cars were in the shot.   Much thanks to Ayana Ivery for being an awesome model and a good sport, riding across California St. over and over and over until we got the shot.

Art Direction: Mirissa Neff

Asssistant: Sabrina Stivaletta