Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past.
I was looking at the previous post and it reminded me of Australia and how much I miss it. I remember after my honeymoon (the first one), I was presented with the option of either going back to New York, or living in Australia. I could either go back to New York as an assistant photographer, live in my small, dark, rented room in New York that had a very small window that overlooked a beautiful dark airshaft, filled with pigeons (half alive, half dead) and the airshaft was filled with garbage. OR, for the same price, I could live in Australia as a photographer, rent a beautiful, fully furnished holiday flat that was sun filled and overlooked the beach. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, in my NY apartment I had two roommates, and one time someone tried to break into the apartment while I was there. Now, going back to the Australian apartment, it was just me and my wife and had a beautiful cross breeze. So yeah, I stayed in Australia.
Now, you’re probably wondering how I stayed there. Well… My good “friend” got me a resident visa, but that’s a whole other story. That definitely falls under the category of “I plead the fifth amendment.”
It was a great Visa. Let’s put it this way, every time I left or entered Australia, the customs agent said, “Who are you?!” I just replied with a smile.
I learned a lot of things in Australia. Here’s two important things that I learned. The first is this: If you stick to something long and hard enough, you’re gonna get results (that’s what she said…heh heh). You see, I worked my ass off pounding the pavement looking for work and eventually you get a break from someone. If you stick to something long enough, you’re gonna get a break. You just gotta stick to it. Don’t quit. I still remember the fashion editor and the magazine that gave me a break. It was a tough one. They gave me ski wear to photograph. Now, Australia isn’t really known for its ski wear, so I pulled a slight of hand trick. I made the clothes second to the image. In other words, I made great photos and the clothes just became an element to the image. I hired Olympic level arial jumpers to wear my fashion clothes. I rented a trampoline, got some parachutes to cover it, and covered the whole thing in fake snow. The acrobats wore short skis. They did back flips and all sorts of stuff. The images were cool.
Anyway, that story launched me on my three decade long career as a fashion photographer. So yeah, someone will give you a break if you stick to your guns. It might just take a long time, but it will happen.
The second thing I learned, and this is important: always follow up on what you say you’re gonna do. I presented many stories to fashion magazines. And believe me, they remember what you propose, so you gotta followup on what you say you’re gonna do, and that probably applies to everything.
That’s about it for this week. Just remember, if you go to Australia, as a photographer, remember the light is strong there. It’s a lot different from here. I remember the first time I got my film back (that dates me). I thought there was something wrong with my film or that lab’s processing. Everything was so contrasty. You see there’s a lot more ultra violet light there. You become used to shooting in that sort of light. It’s not so much about changing your settings, but there are little tricks you can do, like shoot in open shade, backlight, that sort of stuff. You can deal with it. But the first time I saw it, it freaked me out. Which reminds me of one other thing I’ll say: man, watch out for your skin! Hell, they took off half my nose a few years back because I had skin cancer throughout my nose. That’s because I surfed, wind surfed, and worked outside all the time. Just be careful to cover up.
OK, now that’s it. I’ll talk to you guys next week. This is B. Nice signing off,
Oh, please watch this again. I keep pushing, but eventually the right person will watch this:
