by erin, on February 10th, 2013 Was she getting under my skin, or was it simply my vanity? A newly minted Columbia College grad stood in front of me steaming a glittery, hot pink t-shirt that changes colors when it’s exposed to heat. No, she wasn’t my assistant, just some young fool working for cheap and I couldn’t wait to see her fail. It takes years of torture to be a killa photo stylist, such as I. Pity the fool who shows up in some over accessorized Forever 21 outfit and thinks they can own it. Pifff!
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched. She sang along to music and even preformed a few air drum solo’s. SO FIRED, I thought.
Then I was humbled by this oddity. She was good. Real good for a newbie and I knew I had to up my game. How was this happening? This was like watching someone [...]
by erin, on April 23rd, 2012 I don’t think that creative people need to suffer in order to produce art, but I do feel they need poetry in their soul. I just got back from a five-day location job where I learned something surprising about myself. I’ll do almost anything to be accepted and liked. Including ditch my poetic sensitivity and possibly join a cult. Well, maybe not a “cult” … but maybe an Elks Lodge if they would have me.
I’ve just returned from a job that had me in the wilds of northern Idaho. I was the only “lady” on this gig. The guys all knew how to handle a fishing rod and all sorts of guns. They had volumes of incredible near death experiences involving exotic travel and true macho man skill. Everyone swapped stories about BIG fish they caught and as the exchange of conversation rallied, I sat on the edge of my [...]
by erin, on March 25th, 2012 Work is slow. Idle time can make me worry and think, “crap! am I washed up? Is this it? Am I a hack?”
The photo biz in Chicago is a bit stagnant. It’s all in far away places, or hidden from me. So, I’ve been watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s and feeling a lot like the main character, Holly Golightly.
I’m nothing fancy, but like Holly Golighty, I delight in the treasures life puts before me. It helps take the edge off my rotten anxiety. It’s not just a gem from Tiffany’s that I find attractive. Simple beauty in life moves me. I get excited by things like a feather, a glass marble, a wrinkle in someone’s skin. I love color, shapes, texture. I melt looking at beautiful photography.
Here is an excerpt from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s:
Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds? Paul Varjak: [...]
by erin, on March 22nd, 2012 … before I take a picture of it! Cooking with family is one of my earliest and most fond memories. There is something about food, not just the taste, but even the preparation that I find comforting. When I was five years old, I would watch Julia Child and wish so much that I could be a guest at her decorated table. If invited, I would even bring the wine.
Soon curiosity lead me into the kitchen where my parents eagerly taught me basics. First, was learning to stir things like eggs, or ratatouille. Then making meatballs, and hamburgers. By the time I reached junior high, I mastered baked Alaskan, béchamel sauce, the perfect steak, and homemade French fries. While my roommates in college where living on Jimmy John’s sub sandwiches and pop tarts, I would sit down and with white-gloved hands, I’d eat my signature dish, chicken piccata.
Now, my passion for food has developed into food styling … not easy! Rarely is food [...]
by erin, on March 17th, 2012 “You brought some crazy stuff, ” said Mac Hauser, referring to the wardrobe I brought for our photo shoot.
Crazy? Wow. I’d done it. Mac Hauser, the iconic portrait photographer who absolutely embraces the freaky, was calling my suitcase full of stuff, “crazy”!? This, coming from a man who four hours before our scheduled photo shoot, emailed to request that I bring a large, live snake.
I told him I was afraid that the snake might escape while I was driving and slither around my neck. Then I would freak out and get into a car accident. Or, I would arrive at the studio with the snake and it would wind up in the rafters of his studio and I would have to shoot it.
“Good crazy, or bad crazy? ” I asked.
“Good crazy. I like everything except that ugly suede vest thing with the sun on it, but I’ll shoot it. [...]
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