March 19, 2017

Whenever my health assistant comes over to help me cook, I tell a story while I'm waiting for something to cook or bake. My health assistant asked me what really sticks out in my mind, and it's always three things: 1. I remember I was in New Guinea. I must have been about 11 years old. I had long blond hair. I met a tribal elder at a "Sing Sing." A peace party where two fighting tribes make peace. The tribal elder was mystified by my hair so I gave him a piece of my hair. He gave me some bows and arrows from his personal stash. When he was giving me the bows and arrows, he held my hand, pet my head and said something. I'll never forget his hand. It was a cross between a human hand and the rainforest. Amazing.

The second thing I'll never forget was one time I was location scouting in the forest. I was just standing in the forest looking around. I heard a noise. I looked up. There was a gigantic bald eagle nest right above me. All of a sudden, one single feather fell out of the nest and landed at my feet. It was a gigantic feather. Pretty cool.

The third thing I'll never forget is when my daughter was born. It was cool. I was the first thing she looked at after they suctioned out her eyes. She just looked at me after I said, "Welcome." I think she smiled. But kids, when they're just born aren't able to smile. But I think she did.

That's all for now. Here's a link to my other blog where I talk about the present.

February 27, 2017

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past.

Let's call this blog: Lighting, ladders & long tables. I'll explain everything.

Lighting. Well, I worked for this one photographer that said lighting was the key to taking a good photo. When I'd get to a location, I'd walk around, I'd look lackadaisical, but I was slowly taking everything in. You see, I tried to light without light. I used what available light there was to take a photo. A good photo. You use what's given to you. Right? Anyway, the photographer I worked for always told me to really look at my subject. Figure out what I wanted to do and go from there. Some photographers like to control the situation and light everything. I like to stay as natural as possible.

Ladders. I say ladders because I used to always shoot using a ladder. One time I was in the studio in New York on a very tall ladder, you know, like 18 feet high, I was shooting down at a mattress. I think I told you this story before. I was shooting for one of those cheap men's magazines where they advertise beer, women and cars. It was kind of like a soft porn magazine. Anyway, I was on top of the ladder laughing. The shot was to be 3 girls in bed with one guy. The guy they got was a real model boy, you know, a Zoolander type. Anyway, I said, you know, use an average everyday guy. Use one of my assistants. So I made one of my assistants crawl into bed with these 3 girls. The guy had a smile on his face from ear to ear. We were all laughing until one of my clients came in from the studio next door. She happened to be shooting next door and came in to say hi. She was very very conservative. Funny, I never worked for them again.

Long table. When I was an assistant, we always had breakfast at this long table in the studio. We would get bacon and egg on a roll, coffee and the morning paper. On one particular morning, we happened to be doing a casting. We were casting for young women for a swimwear shoot. Anyway, I was on the phone and the doorbell rang. A model showed up for the casting. The photographer said, "OK, put your swim suit on in the bathroom." The model said, "Oh, I didn't know we had to bring a swimsuit." Then she said, "No problem." And she took off all her clothes. I misdialed my phone number. The other assistant spilled his coffee all over himself, and the photographer who was holding the newspaper dropped his newspaper. The model was wearing a pair of form fitting flattering lingerie. I had a feeling this whole thing was planned out. Anyway, she ended up booking the job. The girl went on to marry a very famous actor. Gee, I wonder how she got him to marry her.

That's all for now. This is B. Nice signing off. Check out my other blog where I talk about the present.

Love, B. Nice

www.briannice.com/mypointofviewproject

Heart Show Photos

Valentine's Day 2017

You know, my dad always said, "There's a big difference between saying something, and doing something." I agree, but I'd also say, "You should always reach your goal even though you're limited in what you can do." And by the way, there are no limits.

 

Every day, just about every day, at 5 o'clock, I draw a heart for my daughter. I've been doing this for a few years. I always wanted to see the hearts up and all together in one place. So, on February 14, 2017, we packed all my hearts, all 600 of them, into two suitcases, drove into the city, went to the loft where I had my first brain bleed, put up all 600 hearts, looked at them, took photographs, watched the sunset as all my friends arrived. Then, had a good chat. Then, took down all the hearts, packed them up and went home. We had a classic pop-up art show. We all talked about doing it, and then did it.

 

Going back to the scene of the crime was kind of like giving the finger to my brain bleeds. It was kind of a big FU to my brain bleeds, my brain surgeries, my seizures, etc. It didn't bother me going back there. It was kind of a challenge, but it felt good.

 

You know, I just wanted to say thank you to my family and all of my good friends. They were really helpful. I couldn't have done this alone. No way. So, thank you to all my angels. The only regret I have is I wish Sam, my daughter, was here to see this all. So, if you see her, please show this to her. She lives in Texas. I hope you get to check out all the photos. It was pretty cool. Not a bad Valentine's Day present. Right?

 

This is B. Nice signing off. Love, B. Nice

November 17, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past. Now, I'm gonna combine Halloween with Veteran's Day. Sounds bizarre right? Well, after I tell you the following story, you'll know what I mean.

The following story takes place in Australia, around 1990. I used to go to events all the time, to photograph people at the events. You know, things like air shows, parades, etc. Well, one Veterans Day I went to a parade. I photographed these veterans on a wall. I then got the film back and looked closer to the left, and you know what? There was a creepy kid in the left corner. He wasn't there when I took the photo --- doo dooodooodoo doood oood ooodoooo. Kind of creepy right? So whatever you do, do not show this photo to anyone.

I'm gonna do another story. I may have told you this already, but it's kind of cool, and since it was election time, I thought this story would be appropriate.

The following story takes place in Washington D.C. around the early 80's. I apprenticed with this guy in New York. I did stuff like clean floors, toilets, kept the studio clean. You know, stuff like that. I was third assistant. Anyway, I overheard the guy I worked for say, "Hey, let's bring the new guy to Washington." Well, I was all excited because it was gonna be my first trip. I had one job. Very simple. I had one claim check and one stand bag to look after. That was my job. Well, it was a good trip going down there. I was all excited. We went to the Capitol Building to photograph the Senators' wives. It was great. We got VIP treatment. Barbara Bush met us, and we set things up outside of George Bush's office in the Capitol Building. Well, I was all cocky and full of myself, until I realized, I left my one bag at the airport. The stand bag. My cock behavior went from cockiness to pure TERROR. (And you wonder why I have a brain bleed.) Anyway, I overheard the photographer say, "Tell that kid he's got 30 minutes to get the bag. Otherwise, he'll never work for me again." Well, I did something you could never do nowadays. I RAN through the Capitol Building. Jumped into our station wagon and made incredible time to the airport. I think I broke the sound barrier. I got to the airport, opened up all the car doors, left the keys in the ignition, left the car on, I left the music on really loud and ran inside. When I got to lost baggage, I saw the stand bag behind the counter. Only problem was there were about five people ahead of me. Well, I kind of pushed my way to the front and jumped up and down and said, "That's my bag, that's my bag, that's my bag." Everyone was staring at this young idiot jumping up and down. Well, I threw my baggage claim ticket at them, picked up the bag from behind the counter and started running through the airport. I got to the car, threw the bag in (oh yeah, there were a lot of police around the car) and yelled, "I've got to get to the Capitol Building, Sorry." I shut all the doors and sped off as fast as I could. I saw in my rear view mirror, I saw the police scratching their heads and looking at me. I think I stunned them. It all happened so fast. Well, I got to the Capitol Building and there was a long line at the X-ray machine. I pushed my way to the front and said something about Barbara Bush and they let me through. I made it back to the photoshoot and the photographer was just finishing his egg sandwich and coffee. He put the NYTimes down and they just started coming out from hair and make-up. I set up the lights on the stand and we started working like nothing happened. Yeah, I dodged a bullet on that one. That night, we went out to dinner with the hair and makeup artist. The guy wore a three piece suit. He was a real strange guy. He also worked on Ronald Reagan's hair and make up. We got him all liquored up and asked him how Ronald Reagan put on his make up and did his hair. Well the guy, turned on a dime to Mr. Serious. He looked at us and said, "That's a matter of national security. I cannot discuss this." The guy freaked me out. I was thinking let's change the subject before this guy takes a cyanide pill.

The guy worked for always said I was the worst assistant, but I turned out to be a good photographer, he said. That's always reassuring.

Talk to you guys next week. Love, B. Nice

Here's the link to my other blog.