52nd City: Photography & Video

LucaBrasi Video Shoot:

A week ago, LucaBrasi played the Lucas School House on a bill with Fragile Porcelain Mice. This coming week, they'll be back at the venue for a video shoot on Wednesday, May 21. Though the event's not listed on the Lucas site, the group is looking to fill the room for obvious purposes. Matt McInerney fills us in on the details:

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52nd City: Give me the basics about this video shoot: the song, the hours you need people on set, the activity you'd imagine taking place in the room, etc..

McInerney: We will be letting folks in at 7 p.m. and shooting soon after. Every one who comes in gets a screen printed poster commemorating the shoot (courtesy of John Vogl at the Bungaloo) and a free LucaBrasi CD. It will be about an hour or two of shooting with the crowd and the bar will be open for business. It's your typical 'band in a rock club' shoot but there will be a funky technology used in the editing phase. It's mysterious and magical and I have no idea how it works. The great news is that after the shoot, we will hang out, drink more than we should on a Wednesday and have some fun.

52nd City: Why the Lucas School House?

McInerney: David Von Allman, who is the brain child of this video, scouted a bunch of joints around town to find what was in his head. He needed to be able to shoot from all 3 sides of the stage, which I believe was the number one issue... Lucas does the job.

52nd City: Tell me about the production company working on this event. They sounds interesting, esp. since they have multiple horror films coming up. How does the form of music video fit into their approach?

McInerney: It’s called Drive Productions and they are right here in St. Louis. You're right – they have a couple of horror flicks in the works, have a movie called "Say Goodnight" in the can and now our video. We fit right in there, Tom, as you can plainly see. Actually, David has a load of things swirling around in his head which is good. Just last week, when we played a show with Fragile Porcelain Mice, David, Karl Grable and I kicked around some Kazaam 2 and White Shadow remake possibilities for major motion picture productions... all in a night's work, Tom.

52nd City: What are the goals and expectations for this video? In the post-MTV-as-music-player age, I'm intrigued with how people want their work seen.

McInerney: Dunno, really. It's more about getting Drive a nice, final video for their reel while we have something nice to represent the band on YouTube and Myspace. It's all YouTube and Myspace these days, you know...

52nd City: Do St. Louisans still love the rock?

McInerney: It seems so. People have been quite receptive when they happen upon us. We aren't exactly the lightning rod for all things rock in the STL, but the response to what we've been doing has been great. We write the songs we love to play and people respond positively. Can’t get better than that.

52nd City: What's new with your Mammal clothing concern?

McInerney: It's been sleeping as of late, but thank you for asking. My wife Marie and I have been talking about a possible late summer tee shirt show at some point. The summer seems to bring out the tees and the events and we plan to make something kick ass for late summer... but I have no details thus far... except that we plan for it to be completely kick ass! So watch out St. Louis!! Kick ass-ness is coming your way!!!

Chris King: The Eyes of the South Side

Bob Reuter's photographs at Jenna Bauer's studio
Friday, April 18
By Chris King

It had been a testy night at the Tap Room. A small group of artists drinking, grousing about opportunities in this frustrating town, and arguing over self-respect. Not the best night in St. Louis.
Jenna Bauer got up to go and said if I wanted to "waste a little time" before driving home, I should come by her loft and see Bob Reuter's photographs.

What did I do? I launched into a self-righteous diatribe to the effect that I would never "waste time" willfully, it's too precious. Not the best night at the Tap Room. Best to go home.

But then I remembered the six years I spent in New York. How I heard from afar about all of these interesting developments among the people I had known and loved (and groused and argued with). I was homesick for years. Had I been in New York still, I would have longed to go to Jenna's studio and look at Bob's photographs.

So I went to Jenna's studio and looked at Bob's photographs. You should do this, too. Jenna is hosting a show of his photos Friday night, April 18 at her loft studio on Washington Avenue, just above Cummel's Cafe. Email Jenna at jensuzbau@hotmail.com for more information.

If you go, the show you will see is one I helped to hang, or tape up, that night. Bob’s photographs are not framed, as they deserve to be. They are just taped up, naked. There is much else naked about them: the emotion in the faces, the power of the compositions, sometimes even the degree of undress of the bodies. Bob has an eye for scary, naked ladies.

Bob has an eye for many things. He has an eye for eyes, for alleys, for guitars, for surprise, for tattoos, for rage, for satisfaction, for children, for spontaneous outbursts of the inexplicable. If you wanted to narrow his work down geographically, and reduce it a bit for the sake of simplification, you could call him the eyes of the South Side. His core subject is the South City grotesque. Calling it "grotesque," of course, is not to suggest it is not often beautiful, at least in and through Bob’s eyes.

I am attaching shitty scans of two photographs I bought from Bob, via Jenna. They are the smallest prints in the show and retail for only $10. If I were more flush with freelance writing funds, I would have bought 10 of these smaller prints (or a few of the bigger and biggest prints, also priced to sell). But, as it was, I settled for two examples of Bob's pet subjects: performing musicians and a ringside scene.

The musician looks to be Sunyatta Marshall, a major muse in Bob's work. Whoever she is, she is feeling some urgent groove, in tight shorts and boots that go the better part of the way up to her ass, which is lost in shadow, like much else in the frame. To me, this is a portrait of the privacy at the heart of performance. It speaks to the mystical fact that you can’t reach anyone else with a song, really reach them, unless you disappear into yourself as you deliver it.

This boxing image, one of dozens, shows a nice sleight of hand on the part of the artist. If you know anything about boxing, you can see, in the foreground, a ringside judge handing up his score card to a blurry hand that must belong to the ring announcer. This clues you into the fact that the burly bald man hurtling down from the ring is simply making a stage exit after having performed some chore in the ring after the previous bout came to a close. But he seems to be barreling down toward another burly dude with his hands on his hips and a sour look on his face. This sourpuss is in center frame, so the eye is likely to see him first, and understand the man coming down from the ring as someone with some unpleasant business to settle with him. Somehow, in this quiet moment between boxing frames, Bob has captured the aggression at the heart of the blood sport.

I have known Bob forever, it seems, and seen him through so many changes. He was one of the first people who ever encouraged me as a musician, and I was among the first people ever to encourage him as a photographer (quite possibly, I was the first to do so in print – in The Riverfront Times, a long time ago, when that newspaper meant something that it no longer means).

I hear this sale of his work is motivated to pay for a surgery, but Bob and I end up arguing when I bring his health up in the context of his work, right, Bob? So, I say just go see his photographs and buy some because they are grotesquely beautiful, not because Bob needs the money. You'll have hundreds and hundreds to choose from. Unless Jenna rearranges her place, you’ll also see works in progress for her show with Wes Fordyce that opens May 9 at Fort Gondo.

Don't forget: Jenna’s studio, Friday night, April 18, on Washington Avenue, just above Cummel's Cafe. Email Jenna at jensuzbau@hotmail.com for more information.

We have an Arch? Really?!

Sometimes I submit my photography to the internet. I have an interest in photography, but I don't fancy myself any good. Specifically, I use this website: DeviantArt.

I decided to do a keyword search for St. Louis (also Saint Louis). What did I discover? We have an Arch. And an art musuem with a statue. And the occasional zoo animal. Oh, and portraits of what I thought was a man, but it was actually a very masculine woman with a horrible breast augmentation surgery. There were over 9,000 results, some of which were really good and interesting... others were okay in my book. (It's over 9,000! Wait. Does anyone actually get that DBZ reference?)

The occasional downtown St. Louis skyline came up in the results, as did a few of the more cultural areas, like Grand Center and Soulard. The interior of the Cathedral Basilica was a result, I think. The lighting in there makes it hard to pull out a decent photo, or so that's what I experienced.

Now slightly inspired, I pulled out 16 rolls of b/w film, my slr and the lenses I have lying around. And here's my post-graduate project: photograph St. Louis... but avoid the Arch, and possibly Forest Park. Though, the zoo is one of my favorite places because the animals love me and my camera. I guess I'm trying to prove to myself that I can dedicate myself to a photographic project and finish it. And to explore the city that I do live in, but rarely venture out to explore.

If you're interested. I hope this works, since sometimes the site gets kind of cranky. DA: St. Louis Search

Moustaches

So many of them, sported by South City residents of all sexes and snapped by one "Dave Bug."

Who do you know in these pics, I ask?

Thanks for the link, Barbara Cliffe.

Photo Show Closure: Friday

After thinking, "what is it that I'm supposed to blog?" for, oh, about five days, I was just reminded, thanks to an e-mail from one of the photographers in the show detailed below. This Friday night, the Obscure Postcards show has a closing party, with an evening get-together at Fort Gondo, near the intersection of Cherokee and Compton. Info to follow, compliments of BB:

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Obscure Postcards - March 28th

Obscure Postcards presents local photographers Brett Beckemeyer and Alan Palmer with photographs from around the world.

Themes focusing on urban formation, urban decay, and the built environment unite a variety of photographic vantage points ranging from the photojournalistic to the abstract.

Bangkok, Chicago, Montreal, Tokyo, and Quebec are among the cities represented in the respective works.

Abandoned Illinois

A reader sends along a site dedicated to abandoned homes, businesses and other structures, with a few pages dedicated to Illinois... but none in Missouri, interestingly enough. The site's abandonedbutnotforgotten.com and here's the page directly heading towards Illinois.

Worth looking at if, you know, you're into this sort of thing. (Thanks LJL for the pass-along.)

Arts Note 2: Phots at Gondo

Photographer Brett Beckemeyer sends along word of a photo show at everyone's favorite Cherokee gallery - uh, oh! I've said too much! - Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts. It's a sorta/kinda resurfacing of Beckemeyer's photo gang, who recently/collectively showed at the neighboring Beverly space. And part of my personal blogging goal for 2008, is to note any show/event/etc. that would be of interest to Ecology of Absence. I think this show would qualify:

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Obscurcir Carte Postale Press Release

Obscure Postcards presents local photographers Brett Beckemeyer and Alan Palmer with photographs from around the world. Themes focusing on urban formation, urban decay, and the built environment unite a variety of photographic vantage points ranging from the photojournalistic to the abstract. Bangkok, Chicago, Montreal, Tokyo, and Quebec are among the cities represented in the respective works.

Opening reception will be held Friday, March 14th from 7-10 p.m. at the Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts @ 3151 Cherokee Street.

Looking Ahead: Photography at Beverly, 10/12

More on this in a few weeks, but a quick note to lock in a piece of your October 12 calendar for this event, in the Cherokee arts corridor. Had a chance to see some of the work as it was being assembled and this show's mix is a must-see for fans of architectural and urban photography.

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"Solitary City3" showcases local artists Brett Beckemeyer, Nate Sampson, and
Alan Palmer with photographs that explore patterns, textures, and forms within the urban-industrial expanse. Each series is arranged according to form and theme with the intent of creating a dialogue between individual works. Opening reception will be held Friday October 12th from 7-10 p.m. at the Beverly Gallery (3155 Cherokee St., adjacent to Fort Gondo).

Another Keaggy Book

In the understated, even cryptic style we associate with Bill Keaggy, he's noting on flickr the arrival of a new book, based on his "Sad Chairs" imagery:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bk/1231966124/

"A. (anonymous)" Coming on DVD

The Dan Bowers-produced and directed flick, "A. (anonymous)" is being released on video, according to one of the film's stars, George... er, Gavin Tartowski.

A motivational speaker and former barrista, Tartowski says the DVD will arrive in the form of a three-band, one-showing party at Mad Art Gallery on Thursday, April 19. That evening, Walkie Talkie U.S.A., the maybe-they're-broken-up-maybe-they-aren't Red Eyed Driver and Tight Pants Syndrome will play, after a screening of the short, mockumentary feature.

Tickets will be $8 in advance, $10 the night of the show. Doors will open at 7 p.m., with the film screening at 7:30 p.m. The DVD itself will cost $20, with newly-minted t-shirts going for $12; all proceeds will be reinvested into promotion costs and festival fees for the film, which has played a variety of showcases and fests around the country.

For more information, Tartowski points the interested party towards his myspace page: www.myspace.com/gavin_tartowski.

North City Postcards

If you've not yet seen Claire Nowak-Boyd's Postcards from North St. Louis, well, it is eye candy of the best sort. If it were real candy, it would have vitamins and minerals, it wouldn't be a source of empty calories at all. The aim is to present upbeat, quirky, colorful images of the Northside at large. The Hyde Park mural is one of my favorites, also the newly-posted silhouette painting of a car mechanic on the side of Clemons Auto Repair.

Photos of Cacti

Basically, I've always wanted to type those words into a title line. And now I have. Because of this:

A Prickly Affair
Thursday, November 30, 6 to 8 p.m., Duane Reed Gallery, 7513 Forsyth Blvd.
The Garden boasts a magnificent collection of rare and beautiful cacti and succulents, but most are infrequently available for public viewing. Duane Reed Gallery, in conjunction with renowned photographer Michael Eastman, is hosting an opening and auction to benefit the eventual construction of a new Desert House. The exhibit, “Succulent Palladiums,” features large limited-edition palladium prints of cacti and succulents, several of which were photographed in the Garden’s greenhouse. Basic tickets are $25. Tickets at the patron level are $100 and include a signed Eastman poster (a $100 value). For more information or to purchase tickets, call (314) 862-2333.

Dana Smith: Photos @ Firecracker

Note the end of this release. Thinking of going as Eric Woods, I am. But, anyway, back to our pal and contributor, Dana Smith:

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Recorduroy presents -
No Rest For The Wicked
Sat Oct 28 7pm - 11pm
The Mighty Gallery (@ The Firecracker Press)
4251 Chippewa
St. Louis, MO 63116

Photographs by Dana Smith

Come see rare and candid photographs taken over the last couple of years. The photos primarily deal with musicians and artists in the St. Louis area doing what they do best, performing, writing, recording and creating.

Portraits include:
Ben Hanna (Grandpa's Ghost)
Larissa Dalle (The Wormwood Scrubs)
Sam Thompson (Off Broadway)
Jim Atkinson (3WK Underground Radio)
Jeb Venable (The Dirty 30's, Pizzasaurus Rex, Rock Solid)
Riley (The Dirty 30's)
Fred Friction (The Highway Matrons, MorganFLOORed)
Jason Hutto (The Phonocaptors, Walkie Talkie USA)
Erik Carlson (El Diablo)
Galen Gondolfi (Fort Gondo Compound for The Arts)

Plus many more...
There will also be a Halloween costume contest at 9 p.m. sponsored by the Firecracker Press.

Wm. Stage's "Pictures of People"

Longtime RFT contributor Wm. Stage has produced an entertaining book of photos, capturing a cross-section of St. Louisans during the 1980s and '90s, mirroring his time with the Riverfront Times. The book, the simply-named "Pictures of People," focuses on faces that'll immediately register, along with some that'd be anonymous to you without Stage's low-key, relatively low-tech approach to portrait photography.

Many of the shots were taken from impromptu sessions from his (in)famous "Street Talk" feature, a staple in the paper during the Hartmann Years. Others were shot during Stage's regular rambles through City neighborhoods, barrooms and courtrooms.

On KDHX's "The Wire," tonight, Stage will share some of the stories behind the photos, as well as giving info on where the book can be purchased. If you're around a radio, it'll air from 7:30-8:00 p.m. this evening. If not, catch the episode as a podcast or via streaming audio, free for the next four weeks.

"Ghost Town: While St. Louis Sleeps"

Originally envisioned as a collaborative book, featuring several St. Louis photographers of diverse styles, "Ghost Town: While St. Louis Sleeps" is a marvelous addition to any St. Louis bookshelf. Containing the work of photographer Eric Post, the title doesn't lose any punch by having one contributor. In fact, this page-turner shows off a truly accomplished artist, able to capture the remarkable subtleties of our city in the evening hours.

Very few people are ever seen in the book, but it's alive with the small touches of architecture - and demise of the same - that make this area so unique, with a heavy emphasis on the City of St. Louis. Post's targets include some immediately recognizable imagery; cynically, one might look at the cover photo of an illuminated Arch as a must for sales, but it's also a beautiful shot, the icon almost lost in the busy, criss-crossing train trestles that dominate the image. This isn't the "classic," staid image of the Arch we've become used to.

Also found are quickly-IDed spots like the Planetarium, the Lemp Brewery, the still-in-renovation Continental Building and Steinberg skating rink. Others are a bit more subtle, capturing places that you know by sight, but you've never seen in this, partciular, lowlit perspective: the Forest Park Fieldhouse, Southwest High School's main entryway, the Social Security office on Chippewa. The latter, a mundane view during the day, somehow comes to life before Post's camera.

Post shows some steely nerve, too. Anyone who's been past the Ebony Motel at night knows that you don't snap a picture there without looking behind you. (And to both sides. And then behind you, again.) Several of the grittier images clearly suggest: 1) a photographer who's out with an associate, they keeping a keen eye on his back, or 2) photographer who's able to steady himself in the most quiet, dark, dangerous spots that we've all hustled past during the nocturnal hours. I tend to think he's in this second group, which makes the collection of these shots even more impressive.

"Ghost Town" is a really beautiful book, one that you'll want to savor with repeated glances.

Eric Post will be heard on the KDHX talk show "The Wire, on Monday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. The book party for "Ghost Town" will be held at the Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester, on Friday, December 16, from 7-10 p.m.

Mike D

The Riverfront Times has employed a very small stable of photographers over the years, with only three main shutterbugs finding an editorial home there over the last two decades-plus. Prior to the long, continuing run of Jennifer Silverberg, Mike Defilippo held the post for a number of years, creating a host of evocative cover shots and interior images; all of that work came during a time when the paper utilized considerably more photography on the cover.

One of the best features produced by Defilippo was the weekly "Big Picture," a single page devoted to a single image caught that week, often while the photographer was out on another shot. Taken as a large group, the works combined for a classic "slice of life" perspective on our town, a fact proven by a show at Flo Valley a couple years back.

Though still employed by a wide variety of corporate, political and editorial concerns, Mike's work hasn't been as public in recent years. Though that's changed with a new feature on Mayor Slay's site. (Though the photos, curiously, don't feature the photographer's byline.) It's nice to see my old co-worker's snaps in a new, digital format. Already, the breadth of work is starting to show, including a pic of City Museum "finisher" Mary Levi, the most recent addition.

Are You Chicken?

My trip to the Missouri State Fair over the weekend was sort of a bust. It rained almost the entire weekend so I didn’t get to shoot all the film I wanted…no carnies on the midway, no dusty cowboys in stiff Wranglers, no chubby preteens carrying wilting paper plates of funnel cakes. A downpour forced me to retreat to the poultry building, where I quickly burned a roll of film on an astonishing number of breeds. The birds were freaky; crazy Tina Turner types with feathers sprouting like fountains out of their scalps, roosters with combs as big and thick as my hand, and one variety that looked like a giant tan powdery puff—no trace of a face.

I briefly became enamored with the idea of raising chickens in my backyard (like I need another project). Normally, I wouldn’t consider such a daunting responsibility as animal ownership except that my parents already have a small brood of chickens. Listening to a crowing rooster at daybreak brings a special satisfaction—the world seems entirely wholesome during those indifferent interludes of cock-a-doodling. So I did some quick internet research, which revealed that the city of St. Louis allows four chickens (as pets) per backyard.*

However, further investigation caused me to question my plan. Over the last ten years many possums and raccoons have called my deep and lush backyard home. I haven’t had much luck persuading them to live elsewhere. I’d be crushed if these critters were caught in the hen house. So the whole idea quickly became complicated. I need to think about it some more. Right now, I’m too chicken to try.

The website Path To Freedom has all sorts of useful urban homesteading advice, including raising chickens in the city.

* C. No person shall raise or keep chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guineas, peafowl or rabbits within the City, and the raising or keeping thereof is declared a public nuisance; except that such animals may be raised or kept within biological laboratories, hospitals, pet shops, slaughter houses, stockyards, zoological gardens, or itinerant or temporary shows; and except that such animals may be raised or kept where not more than four in the aggregate of all animals, including domestic animals and a pot-bellied pig, are kept as pets within any one parcel of property unless the owner obtains a noncommercial kennel permit. (Ord. 62853 § 7, 1993.)