Porsche Jones is Especially Interesting

Tips from Screenwriters and Susan Carr

2012-02-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

"Screenplays are not theme-delivery vehicles. Theme, or “message”, is just framework — a set of motifs and a useful shortcut to structure. Your protagonist is your true message." -screenwritingtips

I read this on my tumblr dashboard this morning and it has been going around my head all day. It is absolutely perfect. Just replace “screenplays” with “photographs.” I might replace “protagonist” with “subject” - but no - protagonist is so gloriously specific. Sometimes, light is the protagonist. Sometimes it is a person. Sometimes, it is an action that person is doing.

Your protagonist is your true message. Your protagonist is your true message.

Another thing that’s been going around my brain all morning is a piece of writing by Susan Carr. I will paraphrase; she lays out the difference between commercial, editorial, and art photography. The difference is USAGE. I.e. the same image can be commercial, editorial, or art, depending on how it is used. I CAN”T COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES that art students—and professors!—have misused the word “commercial.” We go into a photo critique and they say, “this image is coming off as too commercial” or “your work is very commercial.” Commercial means is being used to sell or promote a product or company. Commercial is not a style of image. It is not a design aesthetic. It does not mean “clear and well-lit.” It does not mean “expensive to produce.” There are many misguided professionals who will hem and haw about this, but the fact is, every kind of photograph has been used by corporations to sell products.

I was recently solicited by an agency that repackages and distributes “art images” for commercial use. While I felt that this particular agency wasn’t a good fit, I have a strong feeling that this will become a very potent trend in the way media is sourced. The stock photography model can’t last forever, and pricing for assignment photography has become a bone of contention between producers and consumers. Photographers—and their clients—are going to need get creative to compete in the new marketplace.

Photos Published and New Work

2012-02-01T06:49:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen this month's issue of F-Stop Magazine, it's the portrait issue, and it's pretty awesome. It is really interesting seeing some of the best fine art photography from all over the world.

One of my photos was published in the Group Exhibition. It is from my "fake band" concept that I shot a few years back...featuring Anatomy, Kristina Murray, and Rachel Stephanie.

I have been working like a maniac the last few weeks on everything from advertorial campaigns to promotional portraits. But there's always time for art, right?

Speaking of which, if you are in Western New York, don't miss the opening at CEPA Gallery this weekend. I have a piece going on the wall and I'm really excited to see some of the stuff that's going up.

Porsche's Birdhouse 2.0 : NEW Porsche Jones

2012-01-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to announce my new website, Porsche's Birdhouse 2.0! It's LIVE NOW at http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com!

Art school didn't teach me how to do Web Design. However, if there's one thing I learned in art school, it's the value of context: and a star-quality photograph in a bad website will simply never be valued.

I am reworking all of my logos and branding now to try to "catch up" with the level that I feel my work is at.

New website!
New business cards!
New samples and promotional materials!
And new super cool party people (clients)!
Things are really heating up in 2012.

As Groove Armada put it, you gotta love the way it's goin' down.

New Art Photographs: "Party Games"

2012-01-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

"Party Games" is a new series of art images that I am very excited to release! They are based on a dream. Reckless, surreal: the images are designed to invoke universal memories and displace the viewer into an experience. They are all titled for old-fashioned party games.

Blindman's Bluff by Porsche Jones


Light as a Feather by Porsche Jones

Red Rover by Porsche Jones

You can preview the series on Flickr, or contact me to order prints.

For a little behind the scenes info: the images were made by sneaking around UB in the dead of night with 5 models in fancy dress--gowns and sequins--and stemware and strobes. If you thought you saw Misa Mew and Anatomy among the gamers, you're right; this one was an all-star cast.

Truth in Photography: Hoaxes, Staged Photographs, Manipulations, Fakes

2011-12-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

Last summer, I blogged quite a bit about a theme I was exploring: the "fake." In exploring the role of the artist as "con-artist," I shot a band, a wedding, a tattooed lady, a fashion editorial, and a sporting event, none of which were what they seemed. The band couldn't play music, the bride and groom were strangers, the tattooed lady had stick-on tattoos, the clothes were made of paper and rags, and the game was never played. But the images were "real" enough.

To continue in that theme, I have authored a short research paper about the historical role of truth in photography (especially in journalism). While the paper specifically addresses editorial photography, what it really speaks about is an evolution in the way people view photographs--all photographs.

A relevant segue. A hundred years ago, or rather, before halftone printing, all commercial images of clothing and products were illustrations. Mostly, they were engravings. Everything was rendered by a designer's hand. Now, society moves back towards viewing the commercial image as just an illustration, with the acceptance of digital modelling in commercial images. The medium has changed, but we use photographs, CG, digital drawing techniques, to describe products, not depict them.

Photographs are illustrations of reality. They don't depict reality, and should never be expected to. But people still expect them to. And violating that expectation is ethically tricky.

Anyway, that's just my conclusion. Here's the hard stuff:

Picture Proof: A History of Fraud and Contrivance in Photojournalism and Documentary. by Porsche Jones

"My Favorite Photographs of 2011" by Porsche Jones

2011-12-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite photographs I have taken in 2011.

Bridal / Wedding:

Product:

Architectural:

Art:

Portrait:

Self-Portrait:

2011-12-14T04:18:00.000-08:00

I have always thought of my work as very autobiographical. My work with models was always intensely controlled: a process that begins with fully erasing a subject's identity and replacing it with my own. Many of my model portraits are tableaux from autobiographical stories, and for each of them, I have always dressed the model from the skin up--determining every factor, from her pose, to her skin color, to her eyebrow shape.

This semester was a departure from my previous work in many ways. Firstly, I feel that I was able to experiment with interpreting texts that were not auto-biographical. I think that my images from Jenny Holtzer's truisms and Laura Esquival's "Like Water for Chocolate" were successful interpretations of those texts. I feel successful as a communicator, and also as an artist and a photographer, because I made those images in a style that is distinctive and recognizable to my own personal vision.

In the last few months, I have moved away from portraiture, because I don't know that my audience was ready for my inherent brand of sarcasm. I have started working more with video, and especially with space.

I am in love with organized and purposed spaces. I also used space as an elemental force in my big series this year, "Como Agua."

This is the Como Agua promotional Video. It's about 2 minutes long and gives you a quick idea of what the images are, and what they look like as objects. They are inspired by Laura Esquival's "Like Water for Chocolate," and by forces of elemental transformation and destruction. I am looking to show them next year, because they are really the kind of prints that should be seen in person.

I am really pleased with the work I've done this fall. Next week, I hope to do a month-by-month "Best of 2011" post, with photos from each month. I think it will show infinite improvement on my "Best of 2010."

I also look forward to posting the consummation of my research into the nature of photographic hoaxes and fictions. It's something I've discussed long-term in this blog, and I finally had the chance to write a scholarly paper on it.

New Artist Statement

2011-12-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Just checking in as the semester wraps up. Everything is going super great!

I started a personal journal on Tumblr, at http://haveideas.tumblr.com

I've also penned a new Artist Statement. I know what you're thinking: "Finally, one that isn't written to the meter of 'Fresh Prince of Bell-air!'"

Porsche Jones - Artist Statement

I see photography as an act of personal story-telling. I have many bodies of work that engage many different themes, such as sensation, identity, play, elemental forces of nature, and self-awareness, but tales on these topics are all told in the same style and with the same voice. Additionally, all of my images are very constructed, and the stories related tend to fall into a genre of fiction or even contemporary myth.

I use portraiture, like mythology, to call upon familiar archetypal characters. The hero (or, the hybrid, who is half man and half something else) is sometimes present. The vixen and the ingenue, archetypes of noir, are often used. The archetypal "artist" is sometimes referenced, or challenged.

When I make images that do not contain human beings, I still try and build settings that are based in stories and mythology. The presence of elemental forces, like fire, water, mountains, or metaphorical suns and moons, is imagery that comes from ancient mythology, but I also choose to reference current cultural mythology by photographing highways, diners, fire-escapes, and other settings from the collective consciousness.

Color is VERY important in my work. I see it as both symbolic of emotion and as an actual physiological manipulator of the viewer's psychological state. I also use color to control meaning, to alter space, and to place the viewer in a specific time and location. I am very fond of neon lights and colors as a signifier of space. Neon can place a viewer in a commercial space, an urban space, or even a futuristic space. Because these are the times and places in which my "contemporary myths" are often located, I often use bright or neon colors, and photograph either indoors or at night. Some reviewers have referred to this style as "Future Noir" or "Circus" style.

Light and contrast are also very important for creating that "mythological" feel. I am partial to chiaroscuro in some scenes because of how it is historically used in religious imagery. Sometimes I will switch to a softer, more "fashionable" light if I am depicting a more contemporary heroine. Any kind of light which really invokes a sense of time and place, I will use for story-telling.

VoDevil

2011-09-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Marc Frank: "I love the color of that car."
Me: "It looks like something out of a William Eggleston."
Marc Frank: "Who's William Eggleston, and why does he have a car in him?"

--

Me: "Man, I wish I could have a cup of coffee with Civil War Photographer Roger Fenton.
Marc Frank: "Really? I generally just take mine with cream and sugar."

--

I'm taking a History of Photography class this semester. So far, the actual history stuff is pretty generic-type material: Niepce, Daguerre, Fox-Talbot, and etc as we get on. However, the instructor (Gary Nickard) is putting an interesting spin on the class by opening the semester with a study of Anne Friedberg's "The Virtual Window." Between this text, and the accompanying lectures, I am really starting to develop and refine my ideas about the "fakeness" and "hoaxery" and "unreality" concepts I was playing with over the summer, including the idea that all artists are con artists. See previous entries. I anticipate this theme to generate some interesting work in the future. Possibly, even a paper.

Some other things I have been working on: a series called "Untruisms," featuring Anatomy and some of Jenny Holtzer's truisms. Also, I recently posted some photos from Buffalo Fashion Week. A few of them will run in the next issue of Generation Magazine, alongside an article by Raissa Huntley that actually mirrors my own distaste for commercially produced fashion shows. Are they commodity fetishism for the capitalist aristocracy? Ad-vomit from our corporate overlords? Or just a "society" take on the strip club? This one was all three: a meaningless money-machine all geared up to sell Vitamin Water and the Benz. But, the photos came out nice.

"They say the camera never lies. Well, it always does. It always lies." - Gary Nickard.

Photo Essay

2011-08-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

"who talked continuously seventy hours from park to 

              pad to bar to Bellevue to museum to the Brook- 

              lyn Bridge, 

       lost battalion of platonic conversationalists jumping 

              down the stoops off fire escapes off windowsills 

              off Empire State out of the moon"

              --from HOWL (For Carl Solomon) by Allen Ginsberg

Spread Out!

2011-07-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

So I finished off June by shooting 2 weddings and a black tie awards ceremony. I am still getting a feeling for pricing on large events, but I think I will have a really nice wedding portfolio all set to go by the end of July.

Shooting a wedding is an odd sensation. I feel like I am telling a story, with my own voice, but it's someone else's story--and its a very private and intimate one. It's really kind of moving. And there's cake.

Editing has been a bit of a drag, though. It's way more work than I expected. However, I am looking forward to some really exciting shoots next month! I am even shooting with the famed XclrMoon.

I also added a few new sections to my portfolio on www.porschesbirdhouse.com recently, including a collection of nudes, so check it out!

Going UP

2011-06-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to spend an hour in an elevator with alternative models Vena-Kayta and Rika LaRogue.

This brought me back to the early 90s, when every side-scrolling fighting game had an elevator level. Bright colors, high contrast, two-tone gradients, and a BOSS at the end of every zone...just your average Porsche Jones production. Never mind the awkward moment when I (and two alternative models in ultra-high heels) are setting up a bold contortive shot and the elevator starts moving. Or the doors open. Or one of my teachers gets on.

Custom prints are available for order! You'll see some samples on flickr this weekend, or you can make an appointment with me to view the full 38 photo set.

Reprise (hoaxes and media)

2011-06-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

An addendum to last week's post, and a salute to the power of The Onion:

http://literallyunbelievable.org/

People. Will. Believe. Anything.

Also, new cool photos on Flickr:
"I have a train inside of me"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porschejones/5854415540/in/photostream

"You won't need shoes where YOU'RE going!"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porschejones/5846554305/in/photostream

New Tattoo Pinups...Circus Style:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porschejones/5841928685/in/photostream

The Stripteasers of Roxy's
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porschejones/5811233733/in/photostream

Old woman with condoms:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porschejones/5811232071/in/photostream

AND new updates to http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com (now with weddings!) Bridal photos, and my long-awaited first attempt at a CV.

Seriously McDonalds: Hoaxes, Subjectivity Reality, and Modern Media

2011-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been doing some work with artificiality and synthesis. I synthesized a band by assembling models with instruments and photographing them. I synthesized a fashion editorial by creating clothes out of found objects, and photographing them, then destroying them after the shoot. I also have been synthesizing wedding scenarios and tattoo pinups (with fake, rub on tattoos).

This kind of hoaxery is actually an old beat. Sure, it's common to the age of photoshop, where people think that super models actually walk around with ultra-smooth, airbrushed skin and sparkly, over-sharpened eyes. But media has been synthesized since there was media. People questioned whether or not the moon landing was real. People question whether the Mona Lisa in the Louvre is the "real" one. Nowadays, images are thrown into question every day and every second. Every one of the billions of images we are surrounded with is questionable. Are her boobs fake? Is this sculpture an original, or a forgery? Is that the "real" color of your eyes? Does this salad come with the ingredients in the picture?

What makes a fake...fake? It's failure as a copy to match an original? Isn't that called...originality?

The nature of media is treasonous and deceptive; ask Rene Magritte. People think that pictures of things really are those things. There is only one way my generation can face this constant effrontery: to live in a state of totally subjective unreality. Much like Charlie Sheen.

But seriously. Check out the recent McDonalds hoax. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people believe this is a real notice. Maybe it was. Maybe it is actually McDonalds (and the news article) who are lying to us.

Personally, I think it was 'shopped. This clever contribution to the global unreality was another birth of 4chan and the internet elves who go around producing metaphorical landfills and libraries of content. They fuel our generational skepticism, and the widespread belief that no images are "real," or rather that all images are equally representative of nothing. I personally embrace this view. I think "fake" is another word for "original." Subjective reality means we get a totally abstract, digital, disembodied mindspace where ideas are born constantly...and mutated constantly. It's a good space for creatives. Con artists are, in fact, a type of artist.

The downside is that there are now a whole generation of young artists, models, and musicians, striving for a level of legitimacy that soon will not exist. They're holding out for that big record contract, for agency representation, or trying to get published in legitimate magazines...instead of becoming their own media hubs. They still worship the Gods that were, Gods who are quickly becoming obsolete as the maverick media changes the way it is sourced. Just ten short years ago, the steriotypical cigar-wielding media giants were controlling trends in music, fashion, and even high art. Now, you can make your own magazine with 3 people and the Adobe suite. You can not only record and produce your own record at home, you can be Rebecca Black or Souja Boy. You can be Theirry Guetta and sell a painting for 2 million dollars at your first show.

And no one will even know that you're a "fake."

Freak Out

2011-06-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

me: "Photography should blow you away. It should knock you over. It shouldn't just be eye-opening; photography should lay you down and eviscerate you! And I can't get there, I can't get there!"

Marc Frank: "Are you sure you aren't confusing photography with...guns?"

---

This weekend I shot the last bout of the 2011 season for the Queen City Roller Girls. Working with them has been a BLAST; I learned and developed SO much. I never thought I would get so excited about sports photography, but when there's 18 seconds left in the bout and the score is 145/146 and people are getting SMASHED to the floor and the whole crowd is screaming and chanting...well, it's actually pretty exciting.

And very athletic, running around with that little 35mm prime. Though, I recently bought a new fast zoom lens...it doesn't focus as quick as the prime, and for some reason I feel like 35mm focal length is really underappreciated.

I also shot the 2011 Buffalo Gay Pride Parade today, which was amazing. Especially when the Stripteasers started chanting my name from their float.

I freak out sometimes, and ask myself if I am actually any good at photography. Or art. Or whatever. But it helps when people are chanting your name.

Lots of editing to do...to work!

Police Truck

2011-05-31T18:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, there are those photoshoots where everything just goes wrong.

After exchanging almost 50 emails (over the span of 3 months) with an out-of-town designer, I was so sure everything was all set to go. Models were confirmed, make-up artist booked, assistant hired, and the location was confirmed via phone and written proposal. I was especially excited because I received special permission from the NFTA to shoot in the underground train stations. Everything was all planned and paid for.

Then, 6 hours before the shoot is supposed to start, I get an email from the designer telling me she has to cancel. Oh well - it happens, right? But, I really didn't want to disappoint my whole team on a holiday weekend! So I spent the next 3 hours going door to door to every boutique and clothing shop in the city...just in case any wayward designers or artisans wanted to jump in. I mean, the photoshoot itself would be a value (already paid for)...plus my audience and site-traffic is a HUGE publicity boost. "This is a great opportunity!" I noted to all of the skeptical, baffled, or bemused counter-workers. "Really!"

So, after embarrassing myself all over town (and getting a sunburn), I called up the models and laid out the situation. We made the party BYOW (bring your own wardrobe) and on we went.

Unfortunately, hair and make-up (which looked AWESOME!) took a little more time than I had budgeted. My fault; just a poor estimation. By the time we were all ready and arrived on location, two of the three models were counting minutes. When we finally all got there, we had about 40 minutes to shoot.

Forty minutes? Seriously?

Then, to make matters worse, the cops showed up.

The NFTA was supposed to inform the cops we were coming, and tell them to provide security for us; instead, the nice police officer proceeded to give me a hard time. See, he had never heard of me. However, upon my repeated squawking invocation of the name of my NFTA public relations contact, he left us be with a warning that the station "wasn't safe."

He turned out to be right. When we left, several of our vehicles were blocked in by police emergency vehicles, who were tending to a run-of-the-mill ghetto-stabbing. And then, this happend.

Which is, making lemonade, the best image of the night, and one of my favourite images...ever.

I have to say though, this shoot was MEGAfun. I love the energy on group shoots...I can't wait to do it again...

Hallwalls Artists and Models 2011: Rapture/Rupture

2011-05-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Artists and Models is the must-be-at event for Buffalo, NY. It is the biggest art-based party of the year, and showcases massive installations, performance, eclectic music, lasers, funny smells, weird costumes, booze, bbq, and a whole circus of other wonders.

Last year, I was completely blown away by the "Stimulus" theme, and this year's Rapture/Rupture theme was equally awesome and perfect. Since religious ecstasy and revelations-based apocalypse are some of my peculiar fascinations, I was super-psyched for this event. And this event lived up to all the hype.

I ended up taking more video than pictures, but the photos I did take are in a set on Flickr. I think, as a photographer, my favourite thing was this; a massive, full-room cave installation by Josh Cleminson and Monte Burman that looked fresh off an 80s video set. God, how I wish I'd brought a model and some green and magenta gels. This light sculpture by Jody Hanson was also really beautiful.

The one downside was that somebody seemed to have turned on like 4 fog machines to full power and then forgot about them. The last thing you need, logistically, in a huge, abandoned warehouse (full of gutsy, conceptual art and COMPLETELY packed with a bgillion people) is a complete lack of visibility. Oh well. Art is danger.

Runnin Down a Dream

2011-05-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

For every day of questioning, there is a day of winning.

Today started with a tremendous equipment upgrade, and its not what you expect: I got new lenses in my eyeglasses. Same prescription, but these are the CRIZAL lenses. These are the Hasselblad of eyewear. They are water resistent, scratch resistent, dirt and dust resistent, fog resistent, and completely 100% anti-glare. They also come with a 2 year warranty. I highly recommend them to anyone in the visual arts who wears glasses.

Then I checked my email, to find that the one and only Julian Kilsby had responded to an inquiry I sent. I wanted to know how his cityscape images with Ulorin Vex were accomplished. Not only did he take the time to reply, he gave me a play by play of the lighting set up and the photoshop. This proves that, in photography, you don't need to be an arrogant ass in order to be a balla. I'm always surprised when I meet rock stars who are accessible and down-to-earth.

This afternoon I had a shoot with a new model, Calie Fae. Young, alternative, and exceptionally promising, she is everything I would expect in Kayte Dies' sister to be. That's right, sister. My God, those are good genes.

We even had a run in with a friendly policeman. I always feel affirmed in my life choices if the police show up to shut me down; of course, he was very nice and helpful and let us go with a kind warning. I've been doing a lot of urbexing and on-location lately, and had a few close calls, but so far my method seems to work: don't touch anything or bother anybody, and leave politely if you're asked. This is how I managed to photograph the inside of Tonawanda castle last Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, my Saturday shoot with Kayte was fantastic as well. I published a miniset on flickr, but I'm keeping the good stuff under wraps for now.

Portfolio or Garbage?

2011-05-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

Portfolio or Garbage?

Its a new art image, part of a collection where I recreate scenes from a story, the allusion to which remains somewhat mystified.

I'm feeling very "meh" about it, but this was a troublesome location to shoot at.

Speaking of Garbage, tonight I am shooting some Garbage-punk wearables with local model Kristina Murray. Check back for updates.

Let's Be Etsy Friends!

2011-05-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/shop/porschejones

Today I added 14+ items on my etsy. At 20 cents a listing and with built in SEO for each one, its pretty much the cheapest advertising you can buy.

Go, look, click "favorite" - and buy something to hang in your bathroom or on your cat. Each piece of art doubles as a finely crafted shoe-mat.

I finished the slew of portfolio updates at Porsche's Birdhouse. There are still a few things I feel are lacking: I need to add more product and band photography, and put together a better Beauty portfolio. Also, under "Art Collections," two of the subject headings are still dead text.

I am shooting every day all summer and big things are in the plan. Stay tuned.

Pop-tart Cat, Playoffs, and the Library Window

2011-05-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

I'm looking at a really full and exciting summer this year, as I set about the task that drives many artists and photographers truly mad: organization and self-curation.

I hope to be able to go back over my vast body of work--old, new, edited, unedited, sorted and unsorted--and make some kind of sense from this mess. I am putting together updated portfolios (which I have neglected for a year), finishing what is unfinished, and tying up loose ends together into a web of thematically interwoven collections.

I've made some good progress so far with the website, http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com. I am really pleased with the design that I settled on last winter, and now it comes down to content. Tons of content just went up in the portfolio today and yesterday: check it out! You might find yourself. It's not as exciting as a cat that is also a pop-tart, but its close.

I've also been booking shoots, and I am still working with the Queen City Roller Girls! Come on out to the Playoffs May 14th; I'll be whipping my camera back and forth. If you want to see photos, I recently did a display window at the Crane Branch Library featuring some shots from this year.

This month I look forward to working with some of my favourite models and two out of town designers. I'm also REALLY looking forward to Artists and Models - don't miss!

In addition, I have two internships working for some amazing local artists coming up. More on that later.

Don't forget to stop by the website; ciao!!!
http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com

Charcoal and Tears: The Official Colors of Art School

2011-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

1 hour to pack kit & props for today's shoot
1 hour to do my own makeup and styling
1.5 hour bus ride
2 hours styling the model
1.5 hours setting up studio exactly how I want it

=

7 hours of work before I realized that the triggers for the strobes in the UB photo studio were missing.

Now, I have my own triggers, and I even have a sync cable. What I do not have is an adapter to plug a sync cable into the back of a 750watt strobe.

Funny story!...no one else has this either.

The lab monitor couldn't help much, ARC was closed, the tech wasn't in. I had two choices: either shoot with hot lights, or go home.

The real irony here is the background to this story. I've been feeling very frustrated with UB lately. I'm getting bored and a bit overscheduled. All of my projects have become assignments--empty technical exercises and tedious chores. Parameters become irritating constraints instead of stimulating challenges.

SO, as a solution to this deepening funk I thought I would schedule a photoshoot as a little pick-me-up. I planned to do some conceptual-art-meets-satire-meets-good-ol'-fashion-studio-portraiture. In other words, FUN! Yes, that's right: I decided to make art that was NOT for art school.

Silly me. Self portraits are always hard, and this was a self portrait involving hot lights, honey, glitter, and a model.

There is now glitter in my gums, nose, stomach, cleavage, and eyes. BUT, I don't think the day was a total loss.

Explaining pictures to a dead hare. See more on flickr.

Credits: model is Emily Marx. Title of this post is from Fuck Yeah Art Student Owl.

Design and Dreams (Runway Fashion 2011)

2011-02-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

I recently shot a fashion show with some amazing models and designers. You can click through 115 sample images on my Flickr.

It was tough to shoot--I didn't use a lot of flash because the CFA atrium was lit with these gorgeous blue gels (and the models were lit with harsh yellow hot lights) and I'm simply addicted to color. I really enjoy some of these images, though, especially some of the more fantastic and outtlandish designers (like Christina Kim, a fellow UB student, and DMattalliano from Syracuse.) I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed the set by Lovesick Teenagers Vintage.

I am working with a couple other designers in March. Stay ready.

Drums

2011-02-23T11:13:00.000-08:00

I pushed the round elevator button. It lit up. As I waited, I heard the whir and groan of the large elevator moving.

There was no one around me, just silence. Then, a set of double doors opened to my left. The man who appeared was young, thin, and had a short beard. I noticed a young girl jotting down notes at a little desk.

The man walked through a second set of double doors, into a very large room. In that room, there were drums. There were more than 100 drums in many different sizes. Three men walked around the room, tapping on the drums. They made assorted sounds.

The elevator doors opened. I entered. They closed behind me.

These are the type of eerie events which call up my muse. She never pulls images out of the ether; she pulls them out of the pale blue eyes of that young girl scribbling notes. She composes them from the sounds of incessant tapping on 100 mysterious drums. She breathes them out like the quiet whir of the elevator.

Photography on Canvas

2011-02-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Photo On Canvas by Zaza Gallery - love it. Nice finish, sturdy frame, great price, quick turnover. Cheaper than Kinkos. One note: beware of your aspect ratio, photos on canvas always appear to be cropped weirdly.

Also, if you are in the Buffalo area and are a fan of music, please stop by Spiral Scratch on Bryant sometime in the next week or so. If you do not do so, I will assume that you HATE MUSIC.

For Artists and Photographers new to Buffalo NY

2011-01-22T03:49:00.000-08:00

I am adding these recommendations for my OOT (out of town) friends coming into UB or just new to the area in general. Here are some local businesses we absolutely could not live with out:

Hyatt's

http://www.iprintfromhome.com/ Love these guys. Tellem I sent you.

Avenue Art and Frame

Elmwood Framing and Interiors

CEPA Non-profit resource.

Verdict is Still Out About Delaware Camera and Continental Camera. I had a nice print done at Delaware Camera . It came out good, but they roll their prints. At either place, it is considerably more expensive to buy new items than buying equipment online, BUT the Used equipment case at Continental is often full of goodies.

Also a new service I am trying out: Photo On Canvas through Zaza Gallery. Will let you know how it goes.

Personal Definition of Photography

2011-01-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

I know this essay has been written before, but I haven't come across a simple, short, contemporary version yet. If I do this semester, I will post it. I am mainly writing this in response to a discussion I recently had with my roommate about the nature of photography: what photographers are, and what we do.

I often find myself caught up in an age old discussion with other artists. It's a debate that questions the legitimacy and skill level of photography in comparison with other media--primarily drawing and painting. Most notably, people often refer to photography as more "truthful" or "realistic" than drawings or paintings, which are generally thought of as more interprative and expressive. I disagree strongly with this antiquated opinion.

My problem is with the word "real." All artists--indeed, all owners of eyeballs--have a different perception of the way the "real" world "really" looks. Many of the more abstract or interpretative 20th century painters expressed a desire to communicate the world as we "really" see it--a series of shifting shapes or colors overlaid and transformed by the positioning of light and shadow. The truth is, there is no absolute and objective way things REALLY look. The images we see in a normal sitting room are just interpretations made by the settings in our eyeballs (and the brains they are connected to.) The eye itself is a camera: balancing for colored light, adjusting to darkness, making choices about how to portray the world around us as an image. This is the key phrase: making choices. There are a series of semi-deliberate decisions that go into seeing. There are a series of VERY deliberate decisions that go into photography.

When you walk into a room that is almost entirely dark, your eyes automatically adjust to the very low light. The objects in that room start out all one way: black, shapeless, indistinct, with no lines or constract. Then, the eye chooses to adjust and change the way that image looks---much the way a painter would change the colors on his palette. Black becomes orange-grey, or faint blue. Shapes emerge. Depending on where you are standing, those shapes can have different textures. You might choose to move around. Very often, we make these choices automatically.

A photographer does not always make these choices automatically, but in accordance with a design. There are thousands of difficult choices to make to attain the desired image: not just changing angle, distance and focal length, exposure, color balance, but changing the mise en scene itself (for example: turning on a lamp!) This is the same process that a painter experiences: planning out an image, then using techniques to render that image perfectly.

"But what about, you know, PLAIN photographs," you might say, "the kind I take with my cell phone? That just capture how things look?" You may not be making decisions about how that image looks, but they are being made by your camera's automatic functions. The camera is trying to match what your eye chooses to see. Sometimes this can be quite a good match, and we think of the image as "accurate" or "realistic." The important thing to remember is, there is no absolute way that things exist. Everyone has different "settings" and a different experience.

My personal perceptual settings, for example, are about f/22 and generally pretty dark. Puntastic.

Portland is a City Where Young People Go to Retire

2011-01-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

First off, a couple of announcements: before my trip I made some serious updates to my website,

http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com

I've finally unified the design and color scheme of the site, added links to portfolios in the "Art" section, and generally made every section of the page match (in both form and content). There is still a lot of work to do, but Rome wasn't built in a day: keep checking for updates!

Secondly, I am doing a Twitter sweepstakes. Follow me on Twitter @DissolveHer and, when I reach 50 followers, one of you will win a big prize!

Third: let's talk about Portland. I spent a week in Oregon on holiday and it refreshed my spirit. Now, it's tearing up my photostream! Check out this set featuring four, fantastic Portland-local models. Some of these photos are from a great big romping group shoot (love these) where we conquered Lincoln Hall and made it our photospace for a night. I love doing on-location, guerilla photography. I think people derive a great energy from being places they're not necessarily supposed to be. Its empowering: to be able to repurpose space for your own personal ends.

Travel is so liberating. There's something about getting on an airplane and turning off your cell phone and literally being...unreachable. Oh well - back to the grind!

Shout out: I would like to thank Avenue Art and Frame for the nice job they did with my submission for the CEPA members show. It looks beautiful!

More photography coming soon: a fashion show, a lingerie party, a waterfall.

2010 in Photography: Favourite Photos of Porsche Jones

2010-12-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite photos from 2010. I still have some prints available, if you would like to buy them! I need to sell them so I can buy new lenses in 2011! My face is so sad when beautiful photos sit around in a heap!


January 2010

March 2010

April 2010

July 2010


October 2010

December 2010

Anatomy

2010-12-18T21:08:00.000-08:00

Anatomy is one of my favourite models, and I have the great fortune of being able to work freely with her here in Buffalo. My article this week with Sacredfem will feature some photos of her (from back when she had dreads!)

Also, make sure you check out my flickr ASAP to see brand new photos I shot with Anatomy on Thursday.

FAQ #4 (Concept Statement)

2010-12-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

Q: What's the deal with this "Neonine" series?

A: "Neonine" (or "Neon Signs") is not about sexuality, and it's not about female gender identity. It's about light and space. It's about how a SIGN can organize an empty space into something very specific and categorical.

Photographic Presentation

2010-12-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

I've always been pretty opinionated on photographic presentation. From day one, I've stuck to a pretty simple (commonly modernist) philosophy:

present your images as images
not as art.

In large shows (museums, large galleries,) I get really overwhelmed by high-end matting and framejobs, and I start moving too quickly and taking everything in formally/compositionally before it even occurs to me what's going on in the image. I use my camera to take notes at big shows and I often competely miss the meaning of a piece until I get home and look at the digital files: something was so beautifully framed and lit and hung and placed, that I certainly never bothered to question its validity. The instintive questions that we use to understand what images are trying to tell us ("what's going on in this picture? why is it being pictorialized? why is it pictorialized in this way? who/what/when/where/why/how?") gets swept up in a wave of "ooooooooooooo."

In smaller showings, like say, at a restaurant, a nice heavy framejob really separates the image from the context. Not good! Images interact constantly with their surroundings! For example, say in a restaurant, you have a photograph of a man holding a bottle of mustard. Putting two types of matte board and a heavy frame around it says "this is art, and should be examined as such." Suddenly, the content of the image is irrelevant to the surroundings, as the form becomes more important. That restaurant might not even serve mustard at all! AT ALL!

There are ways to present images that keep the attention on the image and make them clear loci of attention and curiosity. In the past, some of my favourite ways to present photographs and prints were such:

Destructive

-Push Pins
-Sticky Tac
-Fishing Line attached to safety pins directly embedded in prints
-Foamcore Mounting
-Plaque Mounting

Non-Destructive

-Glass and clips
-Binder clips and magnetic strips
-Clothes pins

And, by far, my favourite,

-Digitally.

We live in an age of digital art, digital images, digital slides, and powerpoint presentations. I am thinking it is much easier for most people to name their five favourite youtube videos or flickr groups/contacts than to name their five favorite public art projects.

However, we also live in a consumer age, where images are used to sell consumer goods. As far as presenting and selling photographs, something I've really become fascinated with in the last year is objects: how can I integrate my photographs even more with their environment by making them into objects? I've seen some really cool solutions for building lamps, purses, shoes, or t-shirts, clocks, and other household items. In the future I'd really like to get more into presenting my photos in ways that are integrated with practical and vital objects. Ideas?

Important Updates!

2010-12-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Check out my photography and article, published on the Sacred Fem Blog.

Check out these UNBELIEVABLE DEALS on limited edition framed photoprints for the Christmas season.

Lastly: I am working on photos from my shoot with Robin, they should be up on Flickr later today. Let me just say this: cheekbones, cheekbones, cheekbones.

Photography: Interesting. Sock Terrorism: Very Interesting.

2010-12-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

I did a shoot today with a new model, and it went fantastically. We shot a fashion editorial about DIY Statement Necklaces and I got some unthinkably beautiful photos. I am so excited to look through them, AND so excited for tomorrow, when my first photoeditorial for the SacredFem blog goes live!

Anyway, the important thing is, I was feeling adventurous on the way home, so I took a 35 bus. We drove down Sheridan a bit, then the driver pulled over and went into Mighty Taco to pick up his dinner. Then, TWO ARMED POLICE OFFICERS BOARDED THE BUS, WEAPONS DRAWN. They began to yell questions at a man at the back of the bus, barking at him to hang up his cell phone. The man looked genuinely surprised. He proceeded to pee his pants in fear.

Apparently, the man was suspected of impersonating a police officer and shoplifting some socks. No joke. They took him away.

FAQ #2

2010-12-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

Q: Why did you take all of your photos off your website?

A: There were too many. I am still playing around with the format of the site, and I've seen some that I like, but the massive 500+ image web-portfolio wasn't working. I'm really growing frustrated with how to arrange and display my work: chronologically, by genre, by subject, by style, etc. I keep changing my mind. Right now, the best way to see a broad cross-section of my work is to go to my Flickr and click on "sets." Or just add/follow me on Flickr.

What I'm leaning toward (in the future) is displaying a few photos from each Art Project, Series, and Collection that I've done, with a detailed artist statement about that project. Some of these collections:

-GHOST
-Guerilla Photography
-Landscapes and Cityscapes
-Urban Organic
-Neonine (Neon Signs)

I am still suspicious of this format. Band photography, and general commercial work...portraits, promo, sports glamour, etc....doesn't really fit into it very well. So then, I'd need to have a separate commercial portfolio for when I have to do something horrible, like photograph a wedding.

Jk, put me down for the chicken.

Porsche Jones is Getting More Interesting by the SECOND

2010-12-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Word to your mothers.

A couple quick announcements: first off, I have accepted a position as League Photographer for the Queen City Roller Girls. And the peasents rejoice!

Secondly, I recently launched a very silly art video to youtube, as promotional material for my project "This is the Last One." You can find a link to the video at the bottom of that page, or on my facebook!

Now, I thought I would take some time to answer some frequently asked questions about myself, my photography and art, my business, and etc. Obviously you can find some basic information on my webpage,

http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com

Especially in my "bio." However, there are many questions I commonly hear which are not addressed by any of my publically available explanatory material. Nor do I have time to answer your questions individually; I'm having a taco.

Q: Porsche Jones, your portfolio is exceptionally diverse in subject matter; is there a unifying theme or voice?
A: My subjects are very diverse. I will photograph anything and draw inspiration from many different types of images. I don't really plan on changing that in order to "narrow my focus," as it were.

However, my philosophy in regards to photography is that a photograph is a phase of light. All of the other elements--the shapes, textures, hues, values, movement, message, emotion, etc, are subject to the two main elements of a photograph, which are light and darkness. I think this is where my style comes from--the high contrast aesthetic, the color "schemes" using only two or three main colors (or less), and the content of the photos are all trying to highlight the way in which light interacts with darkness in both a literal and a metaphorical way. It's super metal.

It's also super religious, actually. I'm really looking for the drives and behaviors which are primitive and natural and intuitive to human beings, which tend to be expressed in one of two ways: religion or sex. Or else both, simultaneously, like in fertility-Goddess worship. The binary between worship and sexuality, like the binary between light and darkness, is perfectly embodied by the female form. We all see the virgin/whore dichotomy predominant in the imagery of western civlization, and all of that symbology is very subliminal to the way in which we interpret images of women. Certainly I am a structuralist in this respect, utilizing the image of a female in different roles in my photographs because its something naturally infused with nearly-subliminal coding.

NEXT QUESTION.

Porsche Jones is Especially Interesting

2010-12-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my professional blog. Please also take a moment to view my website:

http://www.porschesbirdhouse.com

My flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/porschejones/

My professional facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Porsche-Jones-Digital-Arts-and-Photography/112164108825341

Or my brand new twitter:

http://twitter.com/#!/DissolveHer

I am also on Etsy, Zivity, ArtIgnition, and ModelMayhem.

I have 6 email addresses.

I have a livejournal, but its private.

I do also have a real life in real reality also.