Grapes of Wrath and Hollywood style

February 11, 2005 3:33 AM

A flashy website ... but the photos are beautiful, especially the portraits. Some look as if they could have come straight from the pages of 'Life' magazine c.1935. Note: A couple of pics are NSFW
posted by essexjan (31 comments total)

Nice photography, too bad whoever designed the site has never discovered the concept of a preloader.
posted by Josh Zhixel at 4:04 AM on February 11, 2005

Argh, that wasn't what troubled me, there are some nice photos there but the scrolling just sped past and I stressed out trying to click to catch an enlargment of each image... Then one has to go back to the inane high speed scroller. Argh!
posted by dabitch at 5:04 AM on February 11, 2005

Oh, but the photos are gorgeous - you don't see those rockabilly people much. Carl Perkins! Beautiful NY photos, too. You can almost forgiven the bad site design. Almost.
posted by agentmitten at 5:31 AM on February 11, 2005

Yeah, the photos are great but I didn't care much for the interface.
posted by driveler at 5:33 AM on February 11, 2005

I had no problem with the scrolling speed, and the portraits are beautiful.
posted by Songdog at 5:54 AM on February 11, 2005

Scrolling speed is fine. Understand it is a proportional scroll speed. The futher up or down you move your mouse, the faster it scrolls. (Tried it on both IE and Firefox, both worked flawlessly).

The site is WAY over the top and pretentious to the point of silliness, which perhaps is the point.

With that said, I have to give the man credit. This is where photography morphs into true art, fine art, high art.

His picture of Keith Richards transcends, and has to be among the best photographs I've seen in my entire life.

Fantastic work. Please fire the web designer.
posted by Ynoxas at 6:24 AM on February 11, 2005

That man takes a damned fine photograph.

Really good stuff. While the Flash interface was a pitty (as it was completely unnecessary--the work spoke for itself), at least it wasn't that horrible. No spinning donkeys or dancing cursors.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:34 AM on February 11, 2005

Thanks for this! One of my favorite photos is his first Dolly Parton picture which I had actually seen before in print. It was also interesting that in the accompanying text, he corroborated and amplified what I had heard and thought of Ms. Parton - that she comes across as just the nicest person ever. She has frequently appeared on Weekend Edition Saturday to promote her last few albums; she typically steals the show.
posted by Verdant at 6:37 AM on February 11, 2005

God that navigation is impossible..which is too bad cuz I love his photos and his narratives.

Faves: Willie Nelson - did you see the size of the freakin fretboard on his guitar? Did he steal that thing from Segovia? Maybe Willie is doing the Billy Joel thing and becoming a classical musician.

Carl Perkins: I need a pair of those glasses.

Johnny Paycheck: This one pic should be used to shame every single modern country star back to the suburban gated communities they came from.
posted by spicynuts at 6:55 AM on February 11, 2005

Many of the people shots I've seen before on the covers of some very beautiful CDs.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:00 AM on February 11, 2005

I liked the people shots the most.
posted by Smedleyman at 7:02 AM on February 11, 2005

Actually, some of that was so good I decided to do some screen grabs. Take that, Flash!

What is so impressive about this guy is his ability to take notice of situations like this, which might normally get lost in the mundane if you pass too quickly. Or this shot.

But what I personally like most is that he has real command over the light. Plenty of people get lucky shots, but it takes discipline to make Traci Lords (actually SFW!) look less like a whore than a silver screen goddess. This might look like a simple shot, but it's unbelievably hard. Notice the butterfly shadow under the nose? Classic "Paramount" lighting (popular in the 30s and 40s). But the wall isn't overexposed--clearly he flagged the key light so her face "pops" from behind the wall. The effect is so subtle you normally don't even notice it.

I love this shot because the model's face is so washed out that she looks almost computer-generated. The blue in her eyes really stands out.

Finally, this is a fucking awesome photograph. Just how in the fuck do you spontaneously get a shot that well lit? The microphone looks like it's glowing from the inside. The one hairlight gives his head an "end". Agh. I want his talent.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:05 AM on February 11, 2005

Correct URL for that last shot.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:06 AM on February 11, 2005

Faves: Willie Nelson - did you see the size of the freakin fretboard on his guitar? Did he steal that thing from Segovia? Maybe Willie is doing the Billy Joel thing and becoming a classical musician.

Willie has only ever played one guitar in the modern era, Trigger.

Civil: I believe the microphone *IS* lit from inside. Note the shadow dispersion across Mick's face. Those shadows are from the "grates" of the microphone.
posted by Ynoxas at 7:10 AM on February 11, 2005

Willie has only ever played one guitar in the modern era, Trigger.

Ynoxas, is it a nylon string guitar? I've never seen a steel string geetar with a neck like that.
posted by spicynuts at 7:24 AM on February 11, 2005

Well, I'm going to go against the grain here and say: These are freakin' awesome photos.

Oh wait, that wasn't all of it. It was: ...and I actually like the Flash interface. Yes, there should be a preloader. Yes, the opening is ridiculously pretentious, but I took it as tongue-in-cheek, it's so over-the-top. Once inside, the access to the photos is quick, simple and straightforward... for those of us who have ever encountered proportional scrolling before, anyway. Leave the web designer alone.
posted by soyjoy at 7:25 AM on February 11, 2005

Gorgeous, in a beautifully gritty way. Thanks, essexjan.
posted by Shane at 7:46 AM on February 11, 2005

Wonderful photos - thanks!
posted by carter at 7:59 AM on February 11, 2005

I actually find these too contrived for my taste. Maybe that's because I love the real Life magazine stuff and the street photography of days past. My favorite photos have way more mistakes than this guy's stuff has.

That said, he's obviously a master of the medium who can pull out an effect that enhances his subject matter.
posted by spaghetti at 8:50 AM on February 11, 2005

"Some look as if they could have come straight from the pages of 'Life' magazine c.1935."
Minor clarification from a collector. The first issue of
LIFE magazine was published in 1936
posted by X4ster at 10:11 AM on February 11, 2005

I believe the microphone *IS* lit from inside. Note the shadow dispersion across Mick's face.

I don't think so. I think either the light if reflecting off the mike into his face, or (more likely) one light is for the glare on the mike, while a second snooted light with a pattern in front of it is directed just on his face. Not including the hairlight.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:21 AM on February 11, 2005

The first issue of LIFE magazine was published in 1936...

'35/'36? Close enough for gov't work, horseshoes or hand-grenades.
posted by Shane at 11:17 AM on February 11, 2005

while a second snooted light with a pattern in front of it is directed just on his face.

Civil, if one were going to go to so much trouble setting things up so as to fake the effect of the light coming from the mic housing, why not... you know... just put the light in the mic housing?
posted by soyjoy at 11:18 AM on February 11, 2005

Ynoxas, is it a nylon string guitar? I've never seen a steel string geetar with a neck like that.
posted by spicynuts at 9:24 AM CST on February 11

I'm having trouble finding a link to verify, but to my knowledge it is nylon strung. He had an old guitar that got smashed, and he used the original pickup and had it placed inside Trigger.

The hole in the front is because he plays with a pick, and classical guitars are meant to be plucked with fingers, not strummed with picks.

I'm still unsure about the "glowing mic" picture. It is a fantastic effect either way.
posted by Ynoxas at 12:40 PM on February 11, 2005

Civil, if one were going to go to so much trouble setting things up so as to fake the effect of the light coming from the mic housing, why not... you know... just put the light in the mic housing?

Because if you know what you're doing, it would take longer to hollow out a mike and put a light inside and you'd have less control over the results than using some light modifier tricks-of-the-trade.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:08 PM on February 11, 2005

C_D, the "model" you spoke of - with the eyes - is Allison Moorer. Her voice is even better than her looks.

I've seen a lot of these shots, or ones from the same sessions, on CD covers (as jacquilynne sez - the "model" shot is the cover of one of Allison Moorer's CDs) and in the alt-country mag No Depression. Great stuff.
posted by notsnot at 7:12 PM on February 11, 2005

And Allison Moorer is the sister of another "model" on there, Shelby Lynne. Dynamite photos here, nearly all.
posted by raysmj at 8:08 PM on February 11, 2005

And Allison Moorer is also the girlfriend of Steve Earle, who is pictured in the collection.
posted by essexjan at 2:08 AM on February 12, 2005

Thanks essexjan - loved the work - hated the site. Maybe he will read this thread and get the point - it would be nice if his works were easier to access!
posted by madamjujujive at 8:00 AM on February 12, 2005

I never noticed before this how much Tiny Tim looked like Carl Sagan...
posted by Enron Hubbard at 8:09 AM on February 12, 2005

I thought the site was unique and quite slick in design, I had no troubles navigating after a few seconds of learning......impressive.
posted by wtfchuck at 3:43 PM on February 14, 2005