Le caractere

I love jakandjil's incredible portrait of Olivier Theyskens--like a ship in the night, if the ship wore ombre.

Character Play

Been out a bit more lately. At the good spots, it becomes clearer and clearer that the action's in the stillness--freeze-framed just for photos, people posing for tomorrow's blogs. It doesn't mean that the amount of care, precision, and packaging that goes into character dressing is lost, in fact, i think all these cats look pretty fantastic. And the army of G10's tells me i'm not alone. Don't you feel you know these people?


(spotted)








(Rocking Tay and his soon-to-be-mine Mapplethorpe tee)



But these are fashion's characters, and New York City is rife with it's own beautiful, larger than life denizens--perhaps not as self aware.

Strange Days

It has been an odd few weeks. Mid-July and I can't believe it. It's like the fulcrum between coming and going, before everything gets stirred up for September. It feels both inconsequential, and also, the time to get your ducks in a row. These photos were taken in NYC and the Berkshires.

K.O.

It's hard to know where to begin with my meal last night at Momofuku Ko. It was a whim and a discussion that prompted me to try for a reservation, and outrageous luck that i got it on the first try. Going with my handsome little brother (he's 19, ladies) was an added bonus--seeing him really and truly experience new things (foie gras shaved ice) and love every moment of the adventure, made everything.

Such a divinely orchestrated, guided, dream-inducing meal, and it still felt fun and easy--especially when Biggie Smalls and Beastie Boys blasted on the speakers. I had this urge to write everything down, email out details, take a million photos, and yet--david chang would have had me out on my ass. But also, it struck me as the kind of all consuming experience you'd want to keep as yours, and you'd want to keep being there, not thinking about translating it to someone else. Such a layered, dimensional, interplay of flavors: pepper and fennel and uni and olive oil and butter and salt and sweet. I'll write the menu, from what i can remember, below.

I did, however, snap photos of the bathroom, filled with completely marvelous cookbooks--all of which i want, though not sure i'd shelve above a toilet.

Rough Menu
1-Trio: hamachi crudo w. hearts of palm and almond shavings, a crispy pork rind, and a butter biscuit with pepper glaze (heaven)
2- Diced scallops with parsly and pineapple (?)
3- Pea soup- miso based w. Uni
4- Smoked "chicken" egg and caviar and fingerling vinegar potato chips
5- Saffron soup w. crawfish and pork sausage and fennel
6- Foie gras shaved ice w. lychee gelee (this was a difficult consistency but undeniably tasty)
7-Trout with potato rissotto and crispy leek
8- Deep fried short ribs w. summer onion medley
9- Cantaloupe sorbet and lemon verbena rock salt
10- Olive oil and creme fraiche ice cream, poached blueberries, and pepper ganache

The whole night got me thinking about food and fashion and taste and style, and when you experience something beautiful done extremely extremely well. It is all interconnected, along with art and music and architecture and other complex and expressive forms of beauty. Simply put, the rapture only jumpstarts more creativity, gratitude, excitement, and in my case, a bitch of a headache the next morning (the food was very rich). I took the below photograph on my way home.



And scene.

Tri-colore

post-war Italian wasteland. Anna Rachford, our lovely model, was so vivacious and smart.

And Another

This time, in film.

Matador/Cowboy/Spaceman/Mermaid

Photography: Alex John Beck
Styling: Natalie Toren
Hair: Yo-hey Nakatsuka
Makeup: Thomas McEntee
Model: Martin Cohn

*Mind the scribbled text--these are outtakes, not final prints!

Tribute to a King

sad and jubilant like a perfect pop song.

Bmore Love

This shot, from back in April, was staged across a narrow little bridge, over furiously rushing water, in a dubious-wooded area of Baltimore, at a very shady hour. She looks so Mad Men boudoir-ish, i love it.