For the vast majority of my adult life I've made a living as a unit stills photographer. I go on film and tv sets and create the images that get used for posters and press. This girl from Brooklyn got to go, see and be part of things I've never dreamed of. This portfolio will be about my most memorable moments... a work in progress. Stay tuned!
Last Exit to Where?? My first complete film as a unit stills photographer was Last Exit to Brooklyn, from the Hubert Selby book that was banned in England and the United States in the 1950’s. Irony of ironies because I had spent my entire youth trying to get out of my borough of birth, Brooklyn. This was long before it was a hipster magnet. Dyker Heights, in the 70’s and 80’s, was a mob stronghold, where every muscle car’s horn played the theme from The Godfather and every other day a young woman fell off her platform shoes and twisted her ankle.more
The Worst Job Gets Even Worse. The company had landed back in Los Angles after arduous weeks in the Utah desert. The film was Dark Blood…Judy Davis, Jonathan Pryce and River Phoenix. Tough jobs bring out the best in crew members. I’ll never forget our caterer. He was a Vietnam vet. He told me all he wanted to do now was to take care of people. On the morning of November 1, 1993 I was driving down LaBrea Avenue. The music cut on the radio. There was a little dead air. The DJ announced that River had died of an overdose the night before. I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop. more
Dear John. The director, all 6’4” of him, stood in the middle of his outdoor wedding set, “Ok, everyone, let’s get back to work.” No one moved. We were 2 miles north of Juneau, Alaska on a grassy lawn overlooking Gastineau Channel when a giant pod of whales decided to breach and breach and breach some more. We were slack jawed, rooted in place. On the trip up to the set we’d passed a stand of trees with 27 fully matured bald eagles having a hang. Most of us came from places where people out numbered nature. Not here...more