Actor Corey Haim passed away a couple of days ago. Best known in his child-actor days for the movie The Lost Boys and for being interlinked with fellow actor Corey Feldman. They earned the nickname, the two Coreys, and it followed them into adulthood.

I photographed the two Coreys in 1987, a few months after The Lost Boys premiered. I was working with a publicist doing PR photos for a nightclub, the Tunnel. It was the first client I had acquired on my own and my first assignment for them.

The two Coreys were 15 and 16, out partying and checking in on a fashion show at the Tunnel.

Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and models. The Tunnel, New York City, 1987.

Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and models. Andre Van Pier Fashion Show, 1987.

I don’t know what they went on to do that night. I called it quits at about 1am but was asked to run the film to the NY Post immediately. I eagerly obliged my new client, happy at the prospect of a published picture but not knowing that the Post was at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and that the photo editor wasn’t due in until 7am.

*Miles Davis at the Tunnel: Re-Birth of the Cool.

Photographed this past fall, NYU Dental School’s new Oral and Urgent Care suite struck me in how much it reminded me of the house in North by Northwest.

Vandamm House, North by Northwest

The house in the movie, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, never existed in real life. The exteriors were painted mattes composited with live action foreground images.

NYU Dental School’s new suites:

Larger versions of the last two images are on my web site in the Architecture>Commercial gallery, here and here.

Hey, I admit it. I Google myself every once in a while. It’s a good way to keep up on how my web site and my blog are being indexed. It’s also a convenient way to find out if photos of mine are appearing online. You never know what you may find…

A few days ago I came across this:

It’s the home page of an Austrian art gallery, Fotoforum West. They are having an exhibit of Miles Davis pictures, highlighting portraits of him along side his paintings and prints. Pretty cool. Even cooler is that that’s my photo as the lead image for the show. Cooler still is that I’m in great company – Annie Leibovitz and Anton Corbijn. You can’t ask for better than that.

The show is getting a lot of press in Austria and I’m even being lumped in with Annie and Anton as a starfotografen. Google translates that as a “star photographer” though it’s more likely a “photographer of celebrities” than the other way around. Not bad for an image of mine which is just over 22 years old.

There’s only one problem… I didn’t know anything about it. No one contacted me and asked me for permission. But what’s odder still is I don’t know how this gallery came up with a print. The photo has been published twice. Once in Rolling Stone (1987) and once in the book, The Art of Miles Davis (1991.)

Miles Davis, Rolling Stone, November 19, 1987.

I’ve never sold or given away a print of the image. So, as much as I am surprised to see the image re-surface, I’m curious to know what path it took. The only method I can think of is that someone copied the photo out of the book. I have begun to see if I can find out. The gallery in Austria has not returned my emails and a gallery in England (the exclusive agent for Davis’ artwork in Europe) knew nothing of the show nor my image.

An interesting side note to this – the portrait was taken within a few months of my having started out on my own. I was freelancing in New York and had fallen in with a publicist whose core group of clients was nightclubs. Davis had a show of his work at the Tunnel.

I remember getting a frantic phone call from the publicist telling me to hightail it over to the Tunnel to photograph Davis for Rolling Stone. Just like in a movie, I could be heard to say, Rolling Stone – this is my break! First problem was that I didn’t own any lights outside of a couple Vivitar flashes. So, I ran over to Lens & Repro, rented a Norman 200B, a stand, and an umbrella, and then cabbed it over to the Tunnel.

I set up my light and waited my turn. I was waiting a long time when I was told, “We don’t need you. Rolling Stone sent their own photographer.” I couldn’t believe it. This was my break, I was not giving it up. I don’t remember who I spoke with but I pleaded my case, pointed out the expense of having rented equipment (something the Rolling Stone photographer did not do), pointed out that I was already set up and ready to go, and asked for a minute or two with Mr. Davis.  They gave me one.

1o to 15 seconds of it was spent photographing.  I got off 6 frames in color slide on one camera, 6 in b&w on another. The remainder of the time was spent getting Davis to move back into position. He kept wandering over and standing directly under the one light. Long story short, the Rolling Stone photographer somehow messed up. His images didn’t come out so Rolling Stone ran mine.

In the end, I can’t say if this was my break (is there ever one?) or that it led directly to other assignments. A few years later, Davis passed away. I was able to see one of his last U.S. concerts. It was an amazing experience made all the more so by having had a few moments with him at the start of my career.

Miles Davis, November, 1987.

Team Fordham wins the Partriot League, 11/17/07.

The ‘09 to ‘10 jump has been a time of teams. If you have teenage girls in the house then late this fall it was Team Edward or Team Jacob. Apparently, Team Jacob ruled the roost but considering that I couldn’t even make it through the first movie, it was well off of my radar.

Lately, in the press it’s been a battle between Team Jay and Team Conan, pushing Team Tiger vs. Team Common Sense out of the news. None of this, of course, matters in the scheme of things. Looking at world events in the past week there is one team everyone should be on – Team Haiti.

Fortunately, there are many ways to help and be a part of Team Haiti. These are but a few:

American Red Cross or text “HAITI” on your cel phone to donate $10. You can also donate to the ARC in Apple’s iTunes store.

Yele Haiti – Musician Wyclef Jean’s Foundation, or text “YELE” to donate $5 via your cel phone.

American Jewish World Service – AJWS provides support to native NGO’s. They have long-standing partnerships with grassroots organizations in Haiti.

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund – formed at the request of President Obama and led by past-Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Community Coalition for Haiti – a faith based NGO, based in Virginia, which has been working in Haiti providing medical care and building schools for many years. My friend, Cameron Davidson, is on their board. For more information Cameron has posted a few recent entries on his blog.

These were shot last month during my Berkshire jaunt.

James Pethica, English Professor, Yeats Scholar.

Frederick Rudolph, History Professor emeritus.

Mike Glier, Art Professor, "Along a Long Line," paintings project based on longitude.

Jennifer French, Spanish Professor, Center for Environmental Studies leader.

Gretchen Long, History Professor, author "Doctoring Freedom."

One quick story, Fred Rudolph, pictured above, is eighty-nine. He was a pistol to work with; kept me on my toes and kept me laughing the whole time.

Here’s one exchange:

Fred – Too bad you’re not shooting film.

Me – Film? Why?

Fred – Well, then you’d be done! You’d run out and have to leave.

On that note…

–

Related post: Berkshire Juggernaut.

John Askin Jr., vice president of finance for The Standard Group, photographed this past October for a cover story.

The Atlantic Yards project cleared a major hurdle yesterday when New York State was granted the right to use eminent domain for the development. The project has had a long political history pitting the developer, Forest City Ratner, against local groups, and an equally interesting design history, moving from an all Frank Gehry development to ceding the design of the Barclays Center/Net’s arena to the firms Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects while leaving the rest of the project design open to question.

MaryAnne Gilmartin is Executive Vice-President of Forest City Ratner and the point person on Atlantic Yards. I photographed her in 2008 from a perch overlooking Atlantic Yards for an editorial profile.

MaryAnne Gilmartin, Executive Vice-President Forest City Ratner, April, 2008.

Ace assistant, Dan Mezick, gets a Macbeth card into the frame.

On location on Tuesday. I’ve used this method a few times when a subject is high up but still within reach of a light stand. Time to hoist the Macbeth card. The camera is in the foreground, on its back, and pointed straight up to photograph the ceiling details.

More info. and final photos once the images are published.