from nightlife to tea parties -

just to show that we're not all about

photoshoots and nightclubs,

some pictures from a highlight of the social season:

jo strettell's tea party.

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one of the things we love about jo

is that besides being one of the most highly skilled and innovative make-up artists

in the fashion industry,

she is one of the most humble and funny people you could hope to meet.

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she is also as british as the queen.

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hence the completely wonderful tradition of sunday tea parties,

all from scratch.

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home baked cookies, tea sandwiches, individual tea pots . . .

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and the irrepressible daughter, jasper,

who knows nothing is as entertaining

(or wildly disturbing)

as the family dog wearing a rabbit snout:

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today is the first day of the change you have been waiting for -

i was told this summer that i wasn't allowed to make any decisions

or to try and affect any changes

until october.

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i was only allowed to create.

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it's here.  so i'm advising this:

don't look back

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you have already been there.

look forward.

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something new is almost here.

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MR BLACK - LOS ANGELES - THE FAMILY PORTRAIT

before attending luke's new night,

i got to shoot him and his famille de nuit.

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talk about a willing and photogenic crowd . . .
i loved shooting them.

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kind of makes you want a reservation for next tuesday, don't they?

i'm pretty sure luke will let my friends in . . .

meet us at the bar?

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luke nero, mr. black (los angeles), and the chronologically most recent launch from our little group -

the thing i love the most about the people i've been playing with all summer

(and "play" is the proper verb regardless of the "work" involved in the learning curve and execution)

is that there is no predicting the direction that any one of them

will head off in,

dragging us all as willing participants along for the ride.

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for instance,

here we are with luke nero (far right) at the second week of his event,

MR BLACK,

which he decided about a month ago to import from nyc.

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(eduardo xol, jo strettell, the landis, luke nero)

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in nyc, the club was known for it's ability to mix celebrity and coctails and conversation,

waiters in no more than aprons and boots,

flash bulbs, closed doors, and club kids . . .

if you are lucky enough to remember it the next morning.

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from what we saw,

luke is off to a great start.

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we mingled over dinner first:

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(tim and michael anthony)

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the got up and mingled more with the crowd:

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(the russian doll effect came from the dark club, the french 75's, and lenora claire's red hair.  tim was confused.)

(krissy lindquist came later.  just in time to meet us on the dance floor.)

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(i just adore Larva.  she inspired my leather riding cap.  then trumped me with a feather!)

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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE ? i've spent the past few months figuring my part out. here's why. and here's how. -

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some of you may have noticed the drop off in posts here lately.

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perhaps even the distance between intimacy and arm's length in the posts that do appear.

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it's been quite a summer.

so this is your little update, the lifting of a bit of a curtain,

to bring you in a little closer again to what i've been up to.

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the initial plan was to spend the summer here:

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it being a "big" birthday and all,

we were going to head back to limoges to see my mother

during her two month stint as she taught and painted and cooked her way silly

through the summer, and then spend a few weeks ourselves

celebrating change and friends whom we dragged along

in the city we most love.

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but then, as has happened for many of you,

the economy hit,

and we had to face some realities.

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realities like:

we were both trying to start new (ish) careers,

in a new city,

at the worst possible time.

that my choice to direct and desire to shoot photography

coincided in a sudden dry spell with the work that i had previously seen burgeoning.

that the world had changed and was going to be far more competitive.

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and i'm going to do THIS:

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AND THIS:

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for the rest of my life.

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(there.  i've said it in print, finally.  feels like home.)

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so the summer became one of learning and exploring from home,

rather than celebrating and splurging abroad.

(i know, no tears argentina, we made the tough/smart choice).

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i've spent the last five months taking on some amazing,

challenging,

creatively free-reined,

and budgetarily TINY projects.

i've directed with a crew of people whom i've been lucky enough to assemble around me

over years of work (they did me some BIG favors)

and from rather recent connections (also with the favors).

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we've shot film for established but re-inventing designers,

for a small but chic cosmetics company,

for new clothing lines,

and more.

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and the print side has been amazing,

filled with a steep (but rewarding) learning curve on the technical side

(love and thanks to my mentor/tutor, brandon herman, the fine art photographer),

that is buffered nicely by some work that (personally) confirms the most important thing:

i have an eye.  and it's good.

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i hope you all know me well enough now to know that i say these things

from a place secure in my own vanity,

weak spots,

and inestimable good taste

(thank you, maman, for the skill to pick out the most beautiful objet in the room,

regardless of price or provenance.)

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i guess print and the art of catching the moment in ONE image in time,

has long been such a love of mine,

it's nice to see that i'm pretty damn good at executing it myself.

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the film side?  well, i can let that speak for itself over the next few weeks.

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which leads to the real meat of this post:

the unveilings.

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each week i'll be rolling out another of the projects that we've tackled over the last few months,

each week another creative veil lifted,

and i think you'll see that giving up what i thought was the "fun" stuff

(new clothes, travel, throwing parties, etc.)

these past months

taught me both how much i love to work when i love what i'm doing,

and about how far you can go

and how much you can take on

if you really want to do something new with your life.

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also, and this is important,

it never never never would have happened without him:

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but most things that surprise me in this life couldn't,

haven't,

and won't.

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thank you, my catalyst, my task master, my number one fan.

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i think you saw all this coming long before i did.

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i hope all your summers were as interesting/challenging/draining/eye-socket expanding.

i think that's the point of this whole "life" thing.

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coming home. to them. is the best. thing ever.

a week of shooting in vegas at the palms.

fun and crazy and dramatic and very very vegas.

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so coming home to grr and avec?

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you know all the waiting they've done,

the puppy butts and "singing" they do . . .

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it's just their way of reminding you

of what's important in life.

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the love of those you choose,

and the love of those who choose you.

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A LESSON ON HAPPINESS, FROM A MASTER. SOMETHING TO SHARE FAR AND WIDE :

on today of all days, 

it's important to remember the good.

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to learn from the past and focus on the future.

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i present my friend and co-conspirator,

jim, 

and one of the loveliest posts i have read in years.

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tell me this doesn't move you:

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JIM'S TIPS FOR HAPPINESS

JENNY HOLZER IS STALKING MY ASS :

who wouldn't?

you might ask,

and i'd be flattered.

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but for those of you unfamiliar with ms. holzer's oeuvre,

she is a master wordsmith,

who puts her insight and wit about our culture,

into (normally) solid objects,

as if wit is trapped in bronze or stone.

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sometimes they are installations that project light,

sometimes they are cut into marble,

i, personally,

would kill for any of her work in bronze:

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you may notice i've been a long long time fan.

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recently, she has begun to twitter.

amazing.

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just sporadic bursts of art,

delivered to your account.

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she is the only person i follow on my mobile device,

and her words coming to me,

randomly,

suddenly,

have become startlingly prophetic.

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right when i was disappointed that someone i cared about was not living up to their end of the friendship, i received:

YOU CAN'T EXPECT PEOPLE TO BE SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT.

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fine.

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when at a consulting job,

where things were winding down and i was feeling a little redundant,

this poster was being hung behind me in a cubicle:

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and holzer txts me:

A STRONG SENSE OF DUTY IMPRISONS YOU.

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gee.  thanks.

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when unreasonably angry last week:

MURDER HAS ITS SEXUAL SIDE

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uh. huh.

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when procrastinating about a difficult phone call:

BELIEVING IN REBIRTH IS THE SAME AS ADMITTING DEFEAT

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bitch.

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i'm beginning to think she's following me.

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