206
I'm sittin' here geekin' out on a saturday night rendering video files , editing photos ect..ect.. and i wanted to post a little something about a scene i have followed pretty religiously for the past few years. It must have been back in 05' i started finding all these insanely talented cats from Seattle on myspace. Now, i love east coast hip hop and the Cali has a grip of talent as well but, wow the northwest has a stronghold on the hip hop something crazy. I think i stumbled over Macklemore & Kublikai first then Symmetry & Ryan Lewis and after that it was one talented soul after another. So, basically i wanted to write this to drop some names, pay my respects and enlighten others who aren't aware of some of what the 206 has to offer.
I won't be posting any of my work in this entry, instead links to all the incredible people that i want my readers to check out. Here is The Fake Empire Video project Featuring Macklemore and many others, produced by Ryan Lewis 09'.
And these next two short videos are from the making of "The Town" by Macklemore
Produced by Zia Mohajerjasbi who has recently become my new favorite videographer.
I really love sharing other peoples work thur my site and i hope you all enjoy me taking a break from posting my work for the sake of these hard working individuals.
They inspire me and i hope they do the same for you.
Here's some links to other Seattle folk that i dig.
Common Market Ryan Lewis Zia Mohajerjasbi
Blue Scholars Johnny Valencia Sabzi
sorry for the long post but, it had to be done
night yall
-j
6:00 in Oakland
I had the honor recently of being asked to put together a video for Raashan Ahmad. It will be uploaded to my Vimeo in a week or two so keep and eye out.
Here are some stills from the project.
Thank you to all that wished me a good birthday this past weekend and spent time with me.
And thank you! thank you! so much Jenni for saturday night!
your the greatest of all time!
have a good week ya'll
-j
Outcome (RIP)
So, it's a gloomy rainy friday afternoon in the hills of Oakland California today and i've have been prowling around the internet in search of inspiration. I posted some unfortunate news on my facebook the other day about my external hard drive going down on me and me possibly loosing 5 years of photography for good. A good artist always backs up his back up because technology can never be trusted and so is life, shit happens. I haven't heard the final word from the data recovery guy i sent it to and i am keeping my fingers crossed that at least some of it is salvageable but only time will tell. <-- scratch that last sentence, i just received the call that the drive is un-repairable and my last hope of getting the data back would cost me $900-$3900 without a guarantee of everything being recovered.
A lesson well learned john coyne
In an instant, years of hard work images & memories wiped clean.
My good friend Chris said was telling me just yesterday that if i don't get my work back, that maybe there is a reason for it. yup, maybe there is a reason this happened and some higher power wanted me to start over.
either way i have a clean slate and a new outlook on being a responsible artist.
I'm putting the finishing touches on Caughtinthescramble vol. 3 , a 200 page blurb book with many of the images that were on that drive.
Boy i'm glad i put it together when i did
I entitled it 2006-2009 but, i think i should call it R.I.P , whatcha guys think?
Here are some images i'm glad to still have, they are from the 09' treasure island festival
as sad as i am to have lost such important work, i still have my health , good friends , family and i'm loved!
starting a new chapter sounds good
have a good weekend everyone
32yrs old this sunday
thank you
-j
Black Patch War
Been a huge fan of Common Market for a minute now and it was very exciting seeing them perform for the first time last monday night at Cafe Du Nord. My live performance photography still needs some work but, i was simply just happy to be there. I will continue to grow & learn and they will improve as time flows on.
I'm feeling so much better today, I gotta persevere though all the hardships that life throws my way and believe in myself. I can't depend on others to give me confidence or self worth, that's all up to me.
I plan on hitting the streets this weekend so we'll see what i come home with and i'll be sharing it with you guys soon.
Thank you
-j
Bumps in the road
I wish i was better at being me sometimes......
I've been feeling way off these past couple of days and i'm not sure what exactly it is that's bothering me. It might be me missing my family & friends back home or my 9-5 or not seeing my girl when i would like to. I have been very negative lately which i am am sorry for and my confidence in my photography and myself has dropped right through the floor. Whatever it is , i don't like it and i hope to be back on track and happy soon.
Here are some links to some very talented people doing good things out there in the world.
Patrick Kawahara Alexander Richter
Amanda Lopez & Jenni Tay Mansi Midha
Here are some old hearts of mine
-j
Interview take 1
Posted plenty of images of my man Wordup in the past and as long as i keep takin them imma keep posting them.
Went on a walk with Word and Juan Medina awhile ago and documented the interview.
The outcome.....
-j
Ritas
This is a shot from my last visit home while strolling up and down South Street with good friends Gus & Holly. It was a super hot afternoon in the city of Philadelphia that day and some Rita's Water Ice was much needed. Thier son Dylan was along for the ride and i caught this while waiting in line for some icy relief.
Dylan
South Street Philadelphia 09'
-j
Lucid P.O.D Homestead
Somehow someway i have never posted about these two photographers that i truly admire.
First we got Jacob Schere "aka" M2C who pumps out some of the most memorable images i've ever seen of Japan. You can read up on him and check his work out at Lucid Communication Dot Com and make sure you check his design work as well. He's been shooting alot lately and posting so much i'm having a hard time keeping up with his blog!. (his aug 11th post with the golden rope is insanity!)
Then we got Trevor Christian "aka" Bones at Roam And Click Dot Com . This former San Franciscan shooter is also one of the only people i have ever gone out on a photo excursion with. His passion for vibrant color reflects in every pixel per square inch and i'm very glad to know this individual. These days you can find bones banging out shots from the streets of Burlington Vermont and back up to the haystacks of Charlotte. I hope to link up with them both sooner than later cause they are a very strong influence to my work and how i see the world around me.
The images below i should have posted awhile ago but, luckily everyone who was there that day pretty much posted them on the nets already!
I was recently intoduced to some pretty incredible people and i'm very happy to be in thier company.
Here are some links of those incredible folks:
-j
The Day After Forever
One last entry tonight , i promise!
I don't know why i haven't posted about this before because it's one of the highest honors i've had thus far as a photographer. I've been a fan of The Crown City Rockers since i was first schooled to them a awhile back and while working on my book i was offered to be a visual contributor to the new release "The day after forever"
I'm very excited about this and i feel lucky to know these guys.
The album is slated for release on september 29th and here is a quick listen and look of the final product.
"Soul"
Here are some links for the members of CCR and affiliated artists as well:
The Crown City Rockers Woodstock Myspace
Raashan Ahmad Myspace Moe Pope and Headnodic Myspace
Raashan Ahmad Filez.com Moe Pope and Headnodic dot com
Raashan Ahmad Videos The Grease Traps Myspace
Headnod Myspace Crown City Shop
and a lil' b-boy to close it out
Adios
-j