Midnight Movies at the Art Theater in Long Beach

Midnight movies are back! Though I never truly experienced them in their heyday (there is only so much John Waters and Rocky Horror one can take ... plus I was like three years old) the tradition has been resurrected at the Art Theater off 4th street (retro row). Tonight is EL TOPO, an underground allegorical cult hit that combines a europeans view of a spaghetti western with surrealist eastern philosophy (I know ... everything you could ask for right?!). I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I saw Jodorowskys other film HOLY MOUNTAIN, which is understood to heavily inspire Matthew Barney. 

Info for the Art Theater here. It only shows at midnight so you can pop into the espresso bar next door if you think you'll fade half way through.

CSULB BFA Photo Exhibition this Sunday 4/5

Its that time again, I get the opportunity to visit with friends at my Alma Mater and keep up to date on the amazing photo works they're producing. Located in two of the larger galleries on campus, the Gatov and Werby Galleries. There will be food, drinks, music or DJ and plenty of great art for your eyeballs and good conversation for your soul. I also heard that there will be numerous video projects for you video art fans (whoot!). Parking is free after 5PM ... not the meters though :(  I will shoot to be there later, probably 7-8. Hope to see you there!

Show Flyer:

Save Bergamot Station !!!

For those of you who frequent the LA art gallery scene, you may have caught wind of the discussion floating about that intends to turn Bergamot Station into a light rail maintenance facility. Bergamot Station is one of soc cals best and most culturally rich sites, featuring the Santa Monica Museum of Art and about 20+ smaller galleries that feature amazing local LA artists.

I, like many advocates of public transportation, am thrilled to see progress with LA's EXPO rail line. However, I also feel there are plenty of open spaces (or corporate plazas that have gone under in this economy?) where the city can plan a rail line maintenance yard. Bergamot Station used to be a rail station pre-twentieth century but has been defunct since 1953. Santa Monica purchased it originally intending it to be a light rail site, but turned it into an arts complex after the rail construction failed to materialize. Its too valuable an asset to lose now. Lets write, call, and email the project planners and city officials to let them know how we feel!

Below are the email addresses of project officials:

EXPO LINE STAFF AND BOARD MEMBERS:
Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority: gcollins@exporail.net
Herb Wesson, City of LA 10th District Councilmember: councilmember.wesson@lacity.org
Bernard Parks, City of LA Councilmember: councilmember.parks@lacity.org
Mark Ridley-Thomas, LA County 2nd District Supervisor: seconddistrict@lacbos.org
Zev Yaroslavsky, LA County 3rd Distrcit Supervisor: zev@lacbos.org
Pam O'Connor, Santa Monica City Council: pam.oconnor@smgov.net
Scott Malsin, Mayor of Culver City: scott.malsin@culvercity.org

Or email me and I will send you a pre-written letter in which your can sign and easily email out.

Thanks so much !!!

-Paul

Mt Baldy Trail hike Tuesday

So I decided I needed to get away for a bit ... and what better way to get away from everything than to climb a mountain. So I woke up (way) early for a sunrise hike up Mt. Baldy in the San Antonio mountains. Its an absolutely gorgeous trail with so much to see: including wildflowers, deer, bighorn sheep, waterfalls, and in yesterday's case snow! It was 37 degrees before the sun came out. I dressed warm but was wasn't expecting that kind of cold. The normal route is about 12.5 miles from summit and back and pretty steep ... so if you're a big fan of walking up stairs for 4 hours, this one is for you.

This photo is of a tiny rock that appears to have "snowballed" its way down the slope over the course of winter. I had to stop and admire it. Slowly turning over from its own weight and gathering more snow to form a beautiful spiral. Amazing. For the photographers out there, the photo was taken with a Canon G9 in RAW mode. The perfect camera for being outdoors/on the go without compromising quality.

Meredith+Armando : with recent addition Presley!

This is why we do this!! We photographed Meredith and Armando's wedding at Rancho Capistrano more than two years ago. Engagement session, then wedding, now their new baby girl Presley, we feel truly privileged to stay in touch with them over the years and know our art is adorning the walls of their home. Congratulations you two ... we look forward to documenting family's growth in the future! Oh, and once the sun went down, the light became wonderful but it got cold pretty quick in Ladera Ranch (hence why baby Presley is all wrapped up like a little peapod in a bunch of photos. We think it's adorable).

Jazz Festival this Sunday March 15th!

The Long Beach Shakespeare Company is putting on an event full of live jazz performances and art in the culturally rich neighborhood of Bixby Knolls, Long Beach. Should be a lot of fun! I know there will be jazz exhibits by LA Jazz Institute as well as plenty of art on the walls. I have two friends showing work as well, Chris Smith and Alexis Gregg ... can't wait to see what they're up to.

Doors open at 4. Music at 5. More info here.

Anavie+Mike : Maternity Portrait

Two of the most brilliant and genuinely sweet people we've ever met. Anavie and Leanne have worked together for the last three plus years teaching children art at KidsArt. She always greeted everyone with a warm smile and will be missed behind the front desk. But now she has plenty of time to dedicate all of her love and attention to their new baby girl Ever (who should be here very soon!). Mike helps run his family's bakery / decorative cake business ... and amazingly I might add (we used Goldilocks Bakeshop for own custom wedding cake, we had guests going back for seconds and thirds). 

It was a fantastic day to shoot together in the hills north of Laguna Beach. After the sun went down, the yellow from the mustard wildflowers began to glow and the sky had that "post-rain-storm" kinda awesome look to it. Congratulations to you two and your soon-to-be daughter!

Potentially Paul's Last Wedding Photograph

This photo was taken at Suzy & Co's Wedding August 2008 in front of St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Santa Monica. I thought Co had a big family until it was time to photograph Suzy's side (thats right ... just her family alone!). There were well over 80 people in the group shot and after careful posing I still could not get everyone in even with the 14mm on my D700.

So I decided to get up on the fence (which is what kept me from backing up to get everyone in the shot). Not one of the smarter actions I've taken at a wedding, but it goes to show I will go above (way above!) and beyond for my brides and grooms. The photo is an accidental shutter trip... a nice reminder, of my efforts :)

Gallery Update

I wanted to stick to my promise of keeping people up-to-date with current art events, so here is a list of just about every photo show I could find for the next couple of months (thanks Chris Smith for the compilation!). Click here for the document.

John Divola at Bergamot Station

John Divola's recent project DARK STAR is currently up at Gallery Luisotti, Bergamot Station Santa Monica. Its a culmination of his older works about vandalism and abandoned structures with an added conceptual touch of artist intervention. His images are amazing, I'm pretty excited. Its been up for a few months now and I've been meaning to get to it soon. The show ends March 7th, so scoot! Call me up and we can carpool!

Bergamot Gallery schedule HERE