Ruby Marx is a fresh face in the Atlanta Burlesque community who was referred to me by Charles of CBPhotos
(Side note, let’s pause for a minute and take a second to give a much needed shout out to Charles himself. If you have attended any of the many wonderful burlesque events here in Atlanta you probably are familiar with this man and his talent for winning raffles. His live work is wonderful, and he sure knows how to make the best at a large assortment of various lighting).
But, back to Ruby. She invited me into her home and we set to giving her the best photo experience possible. Afterwards we had a lovely chat, and I can’t wait to come up with something new for us to shoot together.
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Abby Div - 2019.
I’m honestly not sure how Abby found me. But I do know we have been trying to work together for at least a year now by my count. After several instances of being in the same place at the same time I’m happy that we finally made plans to work together.
Abby and I captured so many great images in our short time together, far too many to share all of them in this post. Maybe a little down the line after these have time to marinate a little bit more I’ll share a few more.
Until then, give these a look:
If you can’t get enough of Abby, or want to book her yourself, make sure you visit her website. And of course because I’m not ashamed to share projects I am fond of, you can also see Abby (and so many others) in Nikola Tamindzic’s book Fucking New York.
Andie - 2019
A lot of the same things that were said about my previous post can be echoed here. I met Andie last year while being introduced to Julie, and we were supposed to shoot then.
I’m super happy that we were able to meet up this year, and I’m glad we had some extra time to talk day jobs and other interesting activities. I don’t want to share too much info to you internet strangers, but let’s just say this, this lady is doing some fantastic work and has really found her calling.
I’ve been trying to get this up for over a week now, but have just been crazy busy. So without any further ado, ANDIE!
Julie - 2019.
I first was introduced to Julie a year ago. A friend of mine let me know that she had some friends coming into town for the Days of the Dead horror convention that wanted some new photos taken. After some brief Facebook conversations back and forth we decided to shoot some basic headshots during the convention.
However, it just wasn’t meant to be. A wave of food poisoning hit at the least opportune time, so we decided to push things back. When the convention came to town this year we decided that we would revisit the offer.
We only had about 30 minutes of working time before it was time for the VIP party, but I am still very happy with how things turned out.
This was also the first time I used the portable V-Flat system from V-Flat World. I have to say I am very happy with how portable the whole system is, and can’t wait to learn how to use it better.
The Most Important Photos I Have Ever Taken:
Clickbait aside, I really do have some strong thoughts about these last few photos of 2017. Please forgive me while I wax poetic for a little bit.
I'm pretty lucky, all things considered, to be able to have made it this long and still have all four of my grandparents still alive and in mostly good health– (as far as I know anyway).
They have been around for my entire life to this point, and aside from a few minor complaints–
(we don't see eye to eye about politics, I'm probably not getting married anytime soon, certainly not having any children, and sometimes I only need to eat one plate of food instead of an entire stove's worth)
they have always been there to learn from and to love.
So where did all this come from? Strap in, this is gonna get a little dark.
Earlier this year there was a death in my extended family, and although we weren't very close it still hit a little closer to home than I would have liked it to. I looked at the social media feeds of my grandparents– (they SOMETIMES use facebook to...I dunno...look at old people memes or something) and came to the realization one day they will die.
(That realization came to me a while back, but just bear with me...I tend not to think about the death of my loved ones on a regular basis).
When that time came, it would be up to Myself or another member of my family to find a photo of them for a memorial service of some sort. And very quickly we would find that the photos that existed were either very old or taken with some sort of smartphone with the resolution somewhere between a potato and an iPhone 5. And to be honest, I just couldn't let my loved ones have to be remembered that way. So I made it a point while I was home for the holidays this year to sit everyone down for a formal portrait session.
I got about 5 or so minutes each before everyone got a little antsy, but I'm fairly happy with the results none the less:
James "Jimmy" (Paw-Paw) Griffin
Gladys "Granny Grump/Nana" Griffin
Lula "Granny Lu Lu" Wilkerson
Olin "Papa Charlie" Wilkerson
If you ever wondered what I am going to look like in 40 years, here is a pretty good idea. With each passing day I see more and more of these four people every time I look in the mirror.
I wish they could be around forever, but at least I have a record of how they will always be remembered by me.
Is it a little dusty in here for anyone else? Or is it just me?
On a happier note, I would just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year in the next few days. 2017 has been an interesting one in many ways, and I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support.
I may be consistently tired, I may be a little grumpy sometimes, but I always enjoy my time spent behind the camera. Whether you are my subject or just a follower on this journey. My best wishes are to you and yours in the coming year.
See you all on the other side.
-B