ARTICLES
THE CHEATS MOVEMENT: Friday Night's WRIR Party Was Crazy!
The Cheats Movement got some great pics from WRIR's Party For the Rest Of Us last Friday night!
Miss Mess, by Richard Perkins
Taylor Surratt is a model/anti-model hailing from the concrete garden of NFK/Portsmouth, VA. Her style and attitude could blow through you like a fence-wrapped hurricane. Her essence is that of a black metal hipster, and her wit is sharper than her teeth. Taylor’s gutter glam casts spells in her photos, which make you pay attention and makes you want to be right there with her. Taylor Surratt mixes her “anti-model” physique with filth, beauty and crooked septums; she’s almost like a mix between Mallory Knox, Drew Barrymore and Paz De La Huerta. She models the same way she comes off, which is classically trained with streetwise expertise. She is blowing up and she secretly knows it.
This year her photos have been in RVA magazine, RVA's The Good, The Bad, The Ugly photo book, featured on a shirt for Shadowlawn Creepers, and all over the Internet on various blogs and art sites. She is also on the front page of recent VA publication Cannonball City, which you can almost find anywhere in the 757. Taylor may not be Vogue material, but she doesn’t give a fuck. She would burn Vogue down as long as someone got a photo of her doing it. Taylor will walk the walk, burn the runway, and make sure she reapplies her lipstick, all at the same time.
RVA No. 7: Anthony Hall (NSFW)
Tony Hall Shoots Rad Shit
“Anthony Hall is the kind of guy who has the audacity to embark on promotional campaigns that claim, quite simply, ‘I shoot rad shit’; yet for some inexplicable reason he attempted to pen a wordy academic statement to accompany his ‘Value’ series and present it as some sort of critical observation of cultural values and commodity-fetishism, which just made him sound like a pretentious douche. It’s bad enough he’s speaking of himself in the third person now… Maybe he just took photos of naked chicks rockin’ baller fashion accessories, okay?” –artist commentary for “Value” series
When I heard that Anthony Hall’s photographic work of “really interesting” nudes was going to be shown in Spur Gallery this past October, my curiosity led me to his website, anthonyhallphoto.com, for a little pre-exhibit research. I was immediately drawn to his well-composed, gritty imagery that combined the beautiful with the uncomfortable. Divine figures clothed in a secret sort of smirk and the raw sexiness of trash culture imagery. This guy knew what he was trying to say, and he had no qualms about blasting the volume of his message within each of his photographs.
Curious about what he was really all about, I clicked on the “About” hyperlink and found myself staring at a fashion shot: a t-shirt stating “Polite as Fuck” being stretched across the delicate frame of a blonde model. Anthony’s bio was pretty simple: “I Shoot Rad Shit.” “Great. This guy’s a fucking prick,” I thought to myself. “But his work is incredible.” Clicking on the “Contact” link took me to the artist himself sitting in a field, dressed sharply in a black suit, wearing aviator sunglasses, and talking on a cell phone. I smiled. I got it. Nice persona.
After seeing his installation at Spur, “Value,” a bold discussion of materialism using racy nudes as his podium, I was sold. I needed to know who was really behind the camera, and learn a little about how he chooses to focus his lens. When I visited him in his studio at Plant Zero, I wasn’t faced with the “pretentious douche” photographer persona that he described in his artist statement, but instead found a down-to-earth guy who took some time to step from behind his camera and share with me some background on himself as an artist and as an all-around swell guy:
RICHMOND ZOMBIE WALK Part 2: Ken Penn
On Saturday, October 29, local photographer extraordinaire Ken Penn extensively documented the 7th Annual Richmond Zombie Walk. His photos don't really need any introduction, so without further ado, here are some highlights:
And, after the jump, check out a rapid-fire sequence of shots documenting the carnage as a zombie mob overtakes a small group of living victims in real time!
RICHMOND ZOMBIE WALK Part 1: The Cheats Movement
Richmond zombies braved the cold weather on Saturday, October 29, and gathered at Byrd Park for the 7th Annual Richmond Zombie Walk. This tradition brings together zombies of all ages to find brains and fight cancer. This was my first Zombie gathering and I was blown away by the level of detail. See all the creepiness below.
Nicole Qualtieri: The Real Abby From NCIS
She is the lead Pathologists’ Assistant in the Department of Pathology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She works under the supervision of the pathologist and performs dissection of surgical organs and post mortem examinations (autopsies). Every day, she uses her training to help diagnose and stage cancer, identify infections, and recognize disease processes with surgical organs. While performing autopsies, she aids the pathologist in determining the cause of death. She even has a collection of medical oddities that she is proud to show off to her students and guests. Pathologists’ Assistant is not just a job title for her--it is her life. Anyone could pick up on that from her infectious enthusiasm when she talks of her career.
Who is she? She is Nicole Qualtieri. She is who many jokingly call the real Abby Sciuto, the character portrayed by Pauley Perette on CBS TV series NCIS. Obviously, Nicole is not Goth like Abby, nor does she even occasionally sleep in a coffin. But the similarities that exist between the two are uncanny. Nicole’s youthful pale skin, asphalt-black Betty Page locks, pallid lab coat and kaleidoscope of tattoos make her Abby’s oddly fascinating doppelganger. The two not only have similar physical attributes, their professions are equally similar. Like Abby, Nicole has a passionate fixation on death, and her pursuit of its causes is relentless.
Last Brain Drain by Richard Perkins
Here's a good idea of what's to come at Brain Drain w/ Jillionaire this Saturday.
Check out the entire set HERE
The Maloof Money Cup, Washington DC
Maloof Money Cup: Washington DC
September 2-4, 2011
Usually when I think of the Maloof Money Cup, I think of everything that is wrong with skateboarding. Massive money prizes, live broadcasts, invite-only "best pros in the world" lineup--overproduced, corporate-sponsored madness is usually what comes to mind. I went to the Money Cup in NYC and it started to change my mind, but the overcrowded, snot-nosed kid-packed contest with Greg Lutzka winning over my favorite (and arguably much more skilled) skaters kept my opinion in the red. Mind you, the weekend of the Money Cup is packed with skateboarding-related parties, art events and so on. However, in NYC I felt like everyone was at these to see and be seen; the bars were packed with scenesters and pro hoes. DC, my friends, was a whole different story.
PHOTOG : Franklin Obregon
The work of local photog Franklin Obregon.
Check out more at franklinobregon.net
Or in the RVA photo book we just put out...
PHOTOG : THOMAS FIELDS
Thomas pulls from his everyday. Whether that's the river spot, VA Beach or late night hangs getting into trouble, the dude's work is honest. You can see a number of his photos in our new photo book HERE.
The First Daze of Summer @ Steady Sounds
Swing through Steady Sounds tonight and peep Kate Jennings photographs of the first week (maybe week and a half) of summer. Perfect way to start the holiday weekend!
WHO: Kate Jennings
WHAT: The First Daze of Summer
WHEN: Friday, July 1st 2011, 6PM
WHERE: Steady Sounds
Richard Perkins DATDA @ Contemporary Art Center
Richard Perkins who was featured in our current Summer issue has a one night only solo show tonight in VA Beach at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. Do not miss this.
WHO: Richard Perkins
WHAT: Defence Against the Dark Arts
WHEN: Thursday, June 30th 2011, 7PM-9PM
WHERE: Contemporary Art Center of Virginia
"Too me...the Contemporary Art Center is a fine tooth comb. I think I'm about to break all it's teeth off."
-Richard Perkins
PHOTOG : BACK TO THE FUTURE
This collection is by Irina Werning. You can check out the full set HERE.
I love old photos. I admit being a nosey photographer. As soon as I step into someone else’s house, I start sniffing for them. Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today... A few months ago, I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future.
2010 ONGOING PROJECT... by the way, this project made me realize I'm a bit obsessive...
Looking for some cliches now...someone with an old picture:
in LA next to the walk of fame
in NY posing with statue of liberty or times sq
in Paris next to tour eiffel
in Berlin next to the berlin wall
- Irina Werning
http://irinawerning.com
PHOTOG : VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
We love lurking thru flickr. Thought we would share a series that fits the gloominess of today.
"I adore mannequins. I don't think I'm alone here. Fantastic, strange, larger-than-life, beautiful dolls. Even the eerie have a scary kind of beauty that you can't quite look away from. I like to try to create a little life for mine. I prefer to photograph them unposed by me in any way, as if I caught them mid-living (although the people who own and work in the warehouse shuffle them about a bit as newbies come in and others get sold)." - ravenmaden
For more, check out ---> http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenmaden
ART FEED: Who is Earp?
Its becoming harder to find an original take on photography. You might not like this stuff. You might love it. Either way, it's different and has us hooked.
Find out at y8t.tumblr.com
Earp is Wyatt Clark with some photos taken by Jacky Tranter
SIN & SALVATION IN BAPTIST TOWN At ArtGallery
Winky takes the .40 and checks to see if there’s one in the chamber, stepping behind the abandoned building where the teenagers often hang out. POP! POP! POP! He shoots three times into the air. The woman raking her yard with a child 100 feet away doesn’t pay him any mind. The other kids are startled and Brandon jumps up and hurries away saying, “Damn Winky! That was some dumb shit.” They stash the gun under the abandoned building and continue rolling blunts, waiting for the cops to show but knowing that they won’t. Winky tells the other kids they’ve “gotta be hard”, and as the oldest of the group at 27, they believe him. He was sent to prison at 14 for seven and a half years. How can anyone expect a young man to reintegrate into society as a productive citizen after that? … from photographer Matt Eich’s blog, IN MY BACKYARD.
Commissioned by AARP Bulletin in April 2010 to make photographs for a story about rural healthcare, photographer and photojournalist Matt Eich headed to the blighted neighborhood of Baptist Town, an impoverished African American community in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood. According to Eich, the minute he stepped foot in Baptist Town, he knew that “it was magic.” After spending only 4 hours in the historic blues community, Eich instinctively knew that this was the first of many trips he would make there.
It was soon after his initial visit that Eich’s photographic project, SIN & SALVATION IN BAPTIST TOWN was born. This project represents the first chapter of a two-part exploration of contemporary race and class disparities in Greenwood, Mississippi where, says Eich, “neighboring communities are separated by fear, distrust, and a history of exploitation.”
Cut off on all sides by train tracks, Baptist Town is home to a population of 500 with an unemployment rate estimated at 90% and a host of ever-present social ills. According to Eich, the photographs, made between April and November, “focus on the dichotomy between light and dark, sin and salvation”. As Eich so thoughtfully states in his blog, “In a place like Baptist Town, Mississippi, there are two paths you can take in life, but the people I have encountered tread the line between the two, walking both in light and shadow. They are neither good nor evil, they are simply human.”
In 2011, Eich will literally step across the tracks surrounding Baptist Town and document Greenwood’s affluent white community “in order to visually introduce neighbors to one another in an honest and intimate way,” he says, adding that he hopes that by doing so he can “help foster understanding, dispel uncertainty and fear while bridging the gap between these two worlds.”
RVA NO.3: KENCREDIBLE, An interview with photographer Ken Penn
Girls falling from the sky, women towering over a landscape, guys cutting through time with knives... Ken gets paid to push you outside the everyday, disrupt your train of thought, and even scare you sometimes. For this reason, I wanted to sit down and ask him about his roots, photography and fighting the mainstream.
PRINTED IN THE NEWEST RVA MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ISSUE.
Notes2Self: The HALLOWEEK photo shoot.
Whenever we are planning on doing anything strange, dark, otherworldly, sacrificial, possibly offensive, we tend to work with David Kenedy. The guy is fearless.
Ken Penn is "Kencredible!"
Richmond native and current Philly, PA resident, photographer Ken Penn stylishly shoots everything from tatted chicks to entire tatted families. Although his subject matter hasn't changed much from his start over two decades ago, Ken still prefers to shoot something with a little edge or controversy to bring an image to life. His current portfolio has a wide variety of images from fashion and entertainment to lifestyle and fine art that capture a certain energy and uniqueness that sets Ken apart.
Check out more of Ken's work here.
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