Electra Glide in Blue

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 29, 2012

The first rule at the University of Missouri School of Journalism: Great photos don't need captions. This is the first time I can remember wanting to do a caption. While on assignment in LA. I'd stay at Gary's studio. About 5:30 in the morning all I could hear were fire engines, alarms, and a TV reporter commenting about a fire. I walk past Gary's bedroom and he was reading the LA Times. I asked him what was going on. He said "Nothing, It's just the crack house on fire again next-door." We both went through his bedroom window to the roof and this is a portrait I did of Gary. 35mm Nikon F2. His camera. Now you know why I don't write captions... They're too damn long!

To all the ships at sea. I’ve never gone to Websters unabashed dictionary to look up the definition of nostalgia. I was shooting some B roll for my documentary “In this Corner” and all of a sudden, something grabbed me. To be brutally honest, I don’t know what brought it on, but I thought about one of my all time great friends, and a true great artist, Gary Nichamin. Gary and I were friends from 1972 until the day he passed away very close to his sixtieth birthday. Gary did all of the photography for Chicago, The Beach Boys, and Blood Sweat and Tears. He was not only a great photographer, but a fantastic art director. Truly an amazing human being. Gary was not a teacher, he was a doer. Thinking back on all the times we spent together, Gary was always teaching me to push the envelope photographically. As a photographer, he had two Nikon F’s, one with a 35mm and the other with an 85. That’s it! Simple, straightforward, and always generated some great stuff. Netflix delivered Electra Glide in Blue last night. Gary would tell me a story about him and my best friend Mitch Phillips discovering Nick Nolte as an extra in Electra Glide in Blue. Gary absolutely stole one of the scenes in a mental institution. It ripped my heart out. We miss you Gary. JoeD

Scary Man, NIK

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 28, 2012

I had an opportunity to do a story on Scary Man. This is an environmental portrait that was originally done on Kodachrome 64 which I recently converted to a digital file. As you all know, I am not a Photoshop maven and I do believe less is more. The new term is a “worked” photograph. This is minimalistic NIK.

I finally got the NIK programs installed and decided to play with one digital scan. That was at 8:30 in the evening. By 3:30 in the morning I had tested all of the software and was starting to bleed from my eyes. While bleeding I had a huge smile on my face. I was like 14 all over again – my first day in a darkroom. These programs are absolutely awesome. They are simple, straight forward and easy to use and even an idiot like me can make them work. I don’t impress easy but I’m impressed.

George’s Son

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 28, 2012

“My name is Matthew (Skrba) Savacool. I am 42 years old. George Otto Skrba was my biological father and although we never met in our lifetime, I don’t resent that fact nor do I have any grudges against him for us not being closer.. I served for years in the Marine Corps and luckily never had to endure the physical and mental horrors of war that George did.. I am empathetic to what he must have gone through…. He seemed like a thoughtful and talented human being and I only wish I could have gotten to meet him before his passing..

-Matt (Skrba) Savacool”

I just received this comment and I felt it was necessary to make a second post.

The Land of Milk and Honey

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 27, 2012

It seems in the last ten to fifteen years that I have started a lot of dialogue with a similar phrase. It’s something like: “The world is moving at light speed.” “I can’t imagine you could possibly do that.” or “I wish this technology was available three decades ago.” That type of verbiage. There aren’t too many things in this world that are extremely important to me. There are the obvious: family, friends, and career, most everything that is free. Something very precious happened to me Sunday morning. I received a phone call from a very dear friend, Simon Jacob. You could feel the warmth, happiness, and the smile on his face in his words. He had just received four copies of my book “The Land of Milk and Honey”. It’s not a book that will ever be published, but it’s something that is so important to JoAnne and me, as well as Simon and his family. Who knew you could do something like this three decades ago? It’s a gorgeous piece of art. Not because of my or JoAnne’s photography, but because of the subject matter. Subject hmmm… there’s a word I barely ever use. I put this large, hardcover book together at AdoramaPix. In yesteryear you could only see a book like this at Random House. The quote from Simon is “It’s one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve ever seen.” His mother and family were thrilled. Even though, over my career, I’ve contributed to 800+ hardcover books, Simon’s beautiful words were better than any large paycheck I would have gleaned from any of my Fortune 500 clients. It’s all about the free stuff: family, friends, health, and happiness. It’s also great to have someone like AdoramaPix to execute your photographic design and vision. It’s all good.

JoeD

PostScript:

It sometimes amazes me, the things I forget. Before Simon Jacob was a close friend, he was one of my students. Simon Jacob helped me make the move to digital.

Also, you may view the book on AdoramaPix’s web page.

Barbuto and Tommasos

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 24, 2012

It never ceases to amaze me how small the world really is. JoAnne had an assignment in Manhattan the other day and I acted as her chauffeur. We make it a practice of never going on one another’s assignment unless the client hires both of us. That’s the only time we work together. She had a long, difficult day, but a great one. We were very close to a new restaurant to us called Barbuto‘s. JoAnne knew the chef from back in the day and the food was magnificent. Here’s something you need to know: There was no salt, no pepper, and no condiments on the table and I doubt anyone would ask for them. The reason is simple, they really know what they are doing. Everything was fresh, well seasoned and off the charts. At the end of the meal Jonathan Waxman, the owner of the restaurant, came over and wanted to make sure our dining experience was everything it should have been. Many chefs and many photographers get a bad wrap about egotism, but Jonathan was simply a sweetheart. We mentioned something about the west coast and I said to him “If you’re ever in San Francisco you need to visit one of my favorite restaurants, Tomassos.” He informed me that he went to Berkeley and has been going to Tomassos for decades and it is one of his favorites. Carmen, he loves your restaurant! So after a long day of photography, film-making, or just a casual stroll in one of the two greatest cities of the world, stop by either restaurant and mention my name. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a free glass of wine next time I’m in! To all the ships at sea, 2.8 and be there.

©Joe DiMaggio MMXII

Kessler, America, Great

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 23, 2012

Hi Eric & Your Magnificent Crew

In many ways I’m just like everybody else. I’ve accepted mediocrity very slowly. I’m old enough to remember when a camera had a thousand machine parts in it made of brass, nickel, aluminum, steel and real leather. Slowly but surely I became accepting to the fact that anything from chairs to automobiles to tripods would just become garbage in a short period of time. I know you’ve probably heard it from hundreds if not thousands of your customers, but the quality of your products makes me proud of being an American again. Your quality in my opinion could not be better. If there is going to be a failure it will be in the operator, not in your equipment. Thanks for all the help you’re giving me and my students. I genuinely appreciate it.

As soon as I can put the gear to work in a non teaching application I will send you some footage.

Thanks

Joe DiMaggio

©Joe DiMaggio

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Joe, all I can say is wow and thank you! This might be the kindest and assuring email I have ever received. We are truly trying to do the USA brand proud. It is not always easy but there are many hardworking talented Americans that are willing to do anything to make sure what goes out the door is the very best. Many of them work for Kessler. I have a great team. Again thank you for letting you know you see our heart in our product. This made my day. If there ever is a problem we will be here to fix it for you.

Eric Kessler
www.kesslercrane.com
www.kesslerU.com

Eye VS. The Camera

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 22, 2012

As a photographer, you are constantly looking up, down, left, right, scanning the horizon line, and looking for photographs millimeters from your nose. That’s what we all do. One hundred photographers could walk down one hundred feet of New York City or Paris and if each one was limited to only three photographs, there’s a good possibility that none would be identical. That’s what makes photography so great. It’s an extremely personal expression of everything that you are as a human being. It is definitely intriguing.

While walking around the meat-packing district one block from one of my favorite restaurants, Pastis, I noticed several blue boards with “Post No Bills” on them. I took three frames and moved on. I then discovered a photo within a photo. If you allow the camera to expose for the background, the sunset, the foreground will be underexposed. If you expose for the foreground, the background will be blown out. Your eye and brain compensate for the foreground and the background so you are able to see the complete scene. For you to actually make that happen on a piece of film… oops… on a piece of digital material, you have to make some sort of adjustment. I always try to take the, simple, easy, straightforward way of making that happen. In this case by turning on the camera flash, reducing it by 1 and 1/3 stops I have balanced the foreground and the background. Very simple, very straightforward. It’s up to you as the photographer to make the final photograph the way you want it to be represented.

Angelo, From Your Lips to Gods Ears

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 7, 2012

I walked into my private office in the learning center (I very rarely go in there) and there sitting on my desk was this boxing glove that
Angelo was kind enough to give me. The inscription read “To Joe, Keep Punching”. It hit me like a ton of bricks. All of a sudden I realized one of the most beautiful people in the world has left us. Angelo I’ll make you a promise. I’ll keep punching until the last ten seconds of the last round. Thank you, JoeD.

Chinese New Year Workshop

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 6, 2012

Chinese New Year. It gets better every year. One of the greatest things about mentoring other photographers is actually to see their photographs getting better. It is extremely satisfying. My mentors made it clear that I had an obligation to share their knowledge and experience which is part of my life experience. Wow, it just gets better. Thank you for the kind words. Cant wait to see a few more photos. I think everybody did a great job!

“I had an awesome time beyond words!!! My children were envious! I Thank you so much for the “wisdom” and if i may say, all the practical advice you provided is so much appreciated. Thank Dylan as well for his time shared and support to us!

I’m really looking forward to more opportunities to be a part of you workshops in the future, God-willing.”
~Marie-Vic Palu-Ay

“Thank you, so very much, for taking the time out of your precious weekend to share your knowledge, stories and laughter with me. I had such an experience. I can’t say enough about the day, the fun or the wonderful people I met. I was and am so intimidated by the talent that surrounded me, I am in awe of you all!!

I’m sure I’m not the first to say… I walked away from this workshop seeing the ‘light’ and thank you for pointing it out to me!! One can read and read and read about it, but until it ‘clicks’ it means nothing. Joe – the moment you showed me, it clicked, and from that moment forward, I saw everything differently, you have no idea the world you opened up to me. Thank you.”
~Barbara Schweighauser

“Thanks for a wonderful workshop.

I also started a blog: http://photoexperimental.com/
Also, here is my dad’s site (he’s in Calgary right now looking for wolves) : http://ericsambol.com/“
~Drew Sambol

“Joe, had a great time Sunday. Here are a few of my pics. Hope this doesn’t blow up your server!

Hope to make it to Coney Island in June.”

~Steve Ellis

Angelo Dundee: A Dear Friend.

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 2, 2012

The first rule you learn in journalism is to stay totally objective and never become close to the person you’re photographing or writing about. It isn’t an easy thing to do. In the case of Angelo Dundee, it was absolutely impossible. I met Angelo back in the 70’s and did major stories on him for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and Ring… too many to mention.

I think anyone who’s been around boxing can tell you there’s a dark side, and at some point everybody either goes there or experiences it. Angelo Dundee never had a dark side. He is the epitome of sportsmanship, a true gentleman, and the ultimate motivator. He was the total package. One of the most gentle people God put on this planet. He made a perfect ambassador for the sport of boxing. I met several hundred people in boxing over the years, from the very top to the very bottom and never heard one bad word against Angelo. Whether it was Budd Schulberg, Bert Sugar, or a journeyman fighter in Mississippi, they all loved him. Angie treated everybody like they were an important person. He never forgot a name and he had that beautiful smile and those beautiful eyes. He was always warm and attentive. Did I mention his sense of humor?

Here’s an Angelo quote sent to me today from one of my students, Steve Ellis:

“Joe, just want to tell you how much your call meant to me. Really nice gesture.

I was sorry to see the news about Angelo. He seemed like a really interesting guy. I remember when he was a commentator during the ’88 Olympics. During one of Riddick Bowe’s fights he was really critical about all the obvious mistakes Bowe was making. Angelo said ‘If this kid’s lucky, he’ll have a spasm of lucidity.’ I always remember that expression.

Steve”

Anyone who knows me knows that I can go on and on. I’m going to bring this blog to an end and I will revisit Angie and his memory at a later date. One of my last experiences with him is when he was kind enough to give me a few hours of his time for an interview for my documentary In this Corner.

P.S. In an interview I did with Jake LaMotta, “The Raging Bull”, he told me that he gave this kid Dundee one of his first jobs.

I can see Angie with a water bottle and a towel, cooling down Saint Peter as he’s entering the pearly gates. Rest in Peace, my friend. You’ve got a lot of champions on the other side.