iLL-Literacy

Last week, I had the chance to do some promo shots for Bay Area-based hip-hop group iLL-Literacy. The boys were packing up to move to NYC, and were trying to wrap up a music video shoot and a photo shoot two days before getting in their van for the drive cross-country. I met them last year on a shoot for Hyphen Magazine, and had the pleasure of hanging out with them again at SXSW, so when they hit me up for this, I was stoked to work with them again.

They had life-sized Lego heads custom-made for the next leg of their promotion, including shows, which made the shoot fun and a little creepy at times. If I ran into three guys in dress clothes wearing giant Lego heads in an alley, I would probably run the other way. It was a great shoot, and definitely fun to hang out for a while before they left for the East Coast.

Here's some photos from their music video shoot, which included a diorama of a "club" for toys and action figures:And some of my favorites from the shoot:Playing tag in a field:Keep an eye out for their video, it's sure to be amazing. I even got to shoot a time-lapse section of it, which was hilarious. And give these guys a listen, the music is tight.

home is where the heart is.

spent a few days last week down in ventura for the VJ Multimedia Workshop through the Brooks Institute of Photography. it was a lot of fun to get back in that workshop mentality again - pounding the pavement, reporting and editing on deadline, missing out on sleep, making new friends, and sharpening the skills that so quickly dull when you're not pushed by an editor for daily content.

here's the piece i put together. i met the Larimores at the Lemon Wood Mobile Home Community after previous story ideas fell through the cracks. Jo and Larry have been married for almost 60 years, and they were so open about letting me into their home and talking to me about the intimate aspects of their relationship. it was beautiful to interview them separately and hear them mirror each others' answers, to sit back as they finished each others' sentences, as they bantered and laughed and still remained so in love after all those years. so here's a small slice of their story.