morals fiber hired me to shoot a quick set of lookbook and linesheet images for their newest season of gear. the concept was to shoot in “the saw bathroom” a.k.a. a grimy, generally gross looking location.
well we found what is arguably the nastiest bathroom in the ala moana area (no i won’t tell you where it is, why do you want to know anyway, gross). of course there wasn’t any available lighting and of course it smelled like death in there…not even bathroom smell, just that decaying food smell. in order to preserve the moody, dark, sort of gritty feel that the bathroom needed to look sketchy, i kept the strobes dialed in at lower settings, relied on snooted strobes and stopped down aperture to keep the light nice and moody.
i’m happy with the results, and the shoot was…well, it was good. but i’m glad its over. and i’m glad that the office i’m sitting in at the moment smells 10 million times better than that place did.
-a
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Center Of Thought
I get the look, but the swastika tee would get you shot in the head here in New York…
Feb 08, 2010 @ 9:02 am
aaron
maybe the swastika is controversial, maybe it shouldn’t be.
what you, and a lot of people don’t “get” is that the symbol is sacred and still in wide use throughout india and asia, as a buddhist/hindu/greek icon it is a common symbol that is a part of many ancient cultures.
in fact, the icon represents the sun, or good fortune…and the fact that cultures from india to japan, and even greece have all used this symbol means that it came from a shared heritage. in other words, it’s evidence that we all come from a common past, and that we are actually all part of the same human family.
and for the record, the nazi swastika is bent the opposite direction from the traditional suastika.
it’s a symbol that should be appropriated for positive use, and one that has represented positive things to a lot of cultures for a long time. basically it was cool till a bunch of racist white fucks messed it up for the rest of us. ah well, that happens all the time i guess.
peep the wikipedia article.
Feb 08, 2010 @ 10:43 am
ckaweeks
dope stuff.
but yeah, whoa, that’s a pretty heavy symbol. no matter what it really means. in certain areas it’s no joke to be sporting that thing. it’s still a heavy symbol in the prison systems. thats pretty ballsy to put on a shirt. maybe the wikipedia link should be attached. or make a “USO family” one for the poly’s. lol.
the symbol bent the other way in hawaii represented the gang BTK (born to kill) out here in Waipahu.
Feb 11, 2010 @ 11:15 am
Center Of Thought
Aloha Aaron,
Yeah - I’m familiar with the etymology of the symbol (but thanks for enlightening). I see why repping the symbol in it’s original spirit is a positive, for sure. Most cats in Bed Stuy arent familiar with ancient subcontinental Asian culture and would likely act with an impulsive, charged sort of reaction; that was basically my point. Most people can wiki it, sure, but people in the hood are gonna see what they think they see…that’s all
btw, the lines angled to the right (the same as the Nazi symbol) are used in traditional Hindu and Vainakh cultures, too.
Anyway, nice seeing your work. Your lens is the bomb, and it’s always cool to check the scene from back home in the 808, while I’m hibernating here in cold f*cking New York…
Feb 16, 2010 @ 11:43 am