Nandi, Gay America - CO

Emanuele Ancorini

Here's some shots that I did last week of the multi-talented model, actor, producer and amazing figure skater, Emanuele Ancorini. We met years ago when I cast him in one of the Red Cross ads I shot that were all over city phone booths and airports. He was the guy that "didn't dress like you but would save your life in a heartbeat". When I came back from NC a couple of weeks ago I was greeted by two huge backlit posters from the campaign that are still running at Laguardia and figured it was trying to tell me something. Still makes me so happy to see those pictures in public making a difference. For these shots, I wanted to see what we could come up on the fly at his pad. We tried some stuff inside but that pink staircase in the hall was just calling out to me from the moment I got there and ultimately is where we ended up. He was such a pleasure to shoot and get to spend some time with. His girlfriend was in and out during the session and she is also an actress and model. When my leg heals, I think I'll plan a shoot with the two of them. You can also see a snapshot of him on the blog by his Vespa and Red Cross phone booth ad in the archives from April 08, titled "Red Cross Redux".

NY, LA & Paris Classic Architecture

Some random architectural shots from three of my favorite cities, New York, Los Angeles and Paris. The first shot is of the exterior of the balconies on the residential building at 200 Central Park South in New York. It was designed by Wechsler & Schimenti and built in 1963. The building's design was described by Robert Stern as "a kind of aggressive, self-referential Modernism that had hitherto been largely absent from Manhattan." In my opinion, a great way for Seventh Avenue to meet Central Park. I love it. The second image looks out over Los Angeles from the Griffith Park Observatory on Mount Hollywood in the Cahuenga Hills. The building was finished in the mid thirties and houses a planetarium, exhibit space, a huge telescope and offers some of the best views of the city. Definitely check it out if you visit. And finally, the third shot is an interior view from one of the many salons in the Lourve. The museum is a city unto itself and when I lived in Paris, I would often visit. It is truly incredible and one could easily spend an entire vacation taking in not only the art, but the architecture of the buildings themselves, which I always preferred anyway.

Anthony Ruivivar

I have really enjoyed how the photo editors over at Retna have found such great new images in my archive of work to syndicate. This shot of actor Anthony Ruivivar surfaced with a recent submission and I'm liking it. Anthony is most known for his role as Carlos Nieto on all six seasons of NBC's "Third Watch", which also starred his wife Yvonne Jung during the last two. I photographed them both a few years ago at The Village restaurant, on West 10th St in the city. A great looking guy for sure.

HIV Prevention Campaign

I had drinks last night with an old friend, who was the creative director behind a bunch of ads I did, including this campaign for NYC's Department of Health. The shot of the guys on the street with the umbrella was all over the city on subways and phone booths. Even after eight years, I still think these are such great images. Ironically, I believe that only one of these guys was actually gay. Go figure. Seems there's 'gay for pay' even in advertising...

Santa Fe is Calling...

In about a month, I'll be heading out to Santa Fe for my annual pilgrimage, a photo workshop and hopefully a few days of skiing. I really miss it out there, having called it home for about five years before I moved to NY in '96. I am so excited. Green chile breakfast burritos and margaritas are some of my favorite things... Here's a shot of Rulan, a local model and dancer, that puts me in the mood. It was taken a couple of years ago along the Rio Grande in Los Luceros, an old historic homestead, just north of Española between Santa Fe and Taos. Beautiful.

Moonscape 39

Been traveling, which is the cause for the break from posts, but having an amazing time meeting and photographing a bunch of lawyers for the ABA Journal, a new client that I'm loving, down in Houston, Nashville and Summerville, Georgia. These guys are living legends and the best litigators of our time, all of whom are around eighty and still working. I really took great interest in their lives, reading about their careers beforehand which served me well on the shoots. I'll post some shots when I'm able. In the meantime, here's another new moonscape that I made by dancing with a telephone pole between me and the ball in the sky.