I’ve known Peter B. Kaplan for over four decades.  To say the least, Peter is quite the character.  We have a few things in common and we both get our own special fm channel on the radio that plays right through our brains;  almost like a stereo lobotomy.  But that’s not such a bad thing.  I guess it would be fair to say that Peter is one of the leading photographers when it comes to “height photography” and his work has been published all over the world.  Like many photographers, it seems like they all have some quirks or things that they are known by besides their photography, Peter traveled the world with an equally creative, crazy, bird on his shoulder by the name of Kasuku.  I remember the first time peter came for a day out on the sound.  We were going to do some sailing and some fishing.  He said he was bringing his bird and I said “Peter that’s not such a good idea, I have two English Springer Spaniels known for being some of the greatest bird dogs in the world”.  Peter assured me that his bird would have no problem with the dogs and that the dogs may be intimidated by Kasuku!  Knowing Peter the way I do, I just presumed it was an over-the-top statement.  Well, I was wrong.  Kasuku came in and stared down Tobasco and Ruffian.  To save face, lets say it was a draw.  Having said that, Peter would remind me that it was two 40 pound dogs and one relatively small bird.  One of the great things of having a bird like Kasuku, is that they usually live to be about 75, so there was a pretty good chance that the bird would bury Peter.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.  Oops, I didn’t mean it that way!  Last week, Kasuku was on Peters chest and passed away at 37 years old.  Peter, I’m very sorry for your loss.  It’s not easy to lose an old friend. Joe D.

Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Copyright JoAnne Kalish

Copyright JoAnne Kalish

Copyright JoAnne Kalish

His name was George O. Skrba.  He was born in 1950, was wounded three times in Viet Nam, manned a 60 caliber machine gun, was a Crew Chief on a Huey, and died November of 2011.  Like many other vets who came back from Viet Nam, he was not greeted with cheers and open arms.  The combination of the PTSD and the leftover metal in his body made life difficult and painful for George. For reasons I don’t know, the world erased George.

Copyright Brian Struble

He had no presence, no one knew much about his past, and his future is now in God’s hands. The powers that be chose to not have an obituary, wake, or a eulogy for George.  He was cremated in a day and for all intensive purposes he’s evaporated.  George’s and my path only crossed a dozen or so in the last three years.  I couldn’t call him a close friend, but I can say he had intense, beautiful but troubled eyes, a great smile, and was a thoroughly warm and lovely human being.  George was the Bobby Kyle Band’s sound engineer.  On one of our pro workshops, I said to George, I have to do an environmental portrait of you.  He was excited.  Unfortunately, that portrait sitting never happened. What does this have to do with photography?  Just this – Get off your Ass, get off your BUT and make the photos you want to make because they might never be made. Life is precious and fleeting. It moves at the speed if light.  That’s the lesson I choose to share with you today.  My good friend Bobby Kyle will be putting together a tribute to George and I will give All The Ships At Sea the date and time if you’d like to join us.  Big thanks to Brian Struble who sent me off a portrait of George that he made at our Pro Workshop that day.

George, I had the utmost respect for you. I will take off my Beret and say a prayer.  JoeD

Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Copyright Joe DiMaggio

As a working photographer and film maker, you very rarely have five consecutive great days.  It happens, but not all that often.  When it does, it’s time to get on one knee and thank God.  What do you do when you have forty great days in a row?  Dimaggio/Kalish have been on a roll, and that’s a great thing.  Had an amazing Thanksgiving with friends and family and had an opportunity to visit my former football coach and english professor Marv Weitz.  Any time I see the coach, I always go away feeling fantastic.  Thanksgiving was rapidly followed by a super evening out with my dear friend Bob Mladinich and his lovely girlfriend Gale as well as two other friends Paul and Maurine.  We started with a great meal in the West Village at Volare’s.  From the front of the restaurant I could see the Waverly Theatre (the first theater I ever went to) and three blocks from 63 Carmine St. where I was born and grew up.  What can I say?  The food and the wine were exquisite and as the end to a perfect evening, we went to see a play called Kid Shamrock.  Two of the main actors in the play were John Duddy and Mark Breland.  Mark and I go back to the late eighties when I was shooting for Sports Illustrated and covered the Olympics.  Mark is a former gold medal winner at the Olympics and WBA Welterweight champion in ’87.  John Duddy was a great Irish boxer who decided in January to hang up the gloves.  Both Mark and John are protagonists in my feature documentary “In This Corner”.  At the end of the play, there were a lot of hugs and kisses, and it was an absolutely great feeling.  Now let’s be honest, there’s no way it can get better than that.  Would you like to bet?  The play Kid Shamrock is about Bobby Cassidy, a fighter with 80 professional fights under his belt and the quintessential Irishman.  I thought I remembered photographing Bobby back in the day but I just could not put two and two together, so when I met him and he said “Joe Dimaggio, did you teach at Division Avenue High School?” and I replied “No, but my dad was a biology teacher, a PE teacher, and also the baseball coach” it all of a sudden came together.  I photographed Cassidy as he was playing for my dads high school baseball team.  Cassidy looked at me and said “Your father was an amazing person.  He wasn’t pretentious, he never put on any airs, always made you feel like an important person, everybody loved him, and no one, I mean no one ever had a bad word to say about Joe D”.  It suffices to say I could not help but to well up.  My dad has been gone for almost twelve years, but it was great to know that in 2011 he was still remembered in that way.  My dad was one of the toughest son of bitch’s around, a brilliant educator, a great baseball mind, and one of the finest coaches I have ever seen.  Life is great.  It just doesnt get any better than that.

What does this have to do with photography?  Well, if it wasn’t for my family, Coach Weitz, and coach DiMaggio, I probably would have never succeeded in my career.

Photo ©JoAnne Kalish

Under normal circumstances, I never worry about a lecture or giving a workshop. I think it comes pretty natural to me. The level of pain was off the chart but I had agreed to do this workshop a year ago and I come from a school of “if you give your word, you better deliver the goods”. Dylan, who is usually much tougher than I am and tends to be not only hard on me but hard on himself and doesn’t give a whole lot of compliments, said it was a great workshop. And you know what? He was right. Not because of what I did, but because of the participants. You guys. You made it great. Great questions. I learned a lot from you and you know what, you made the pain bearable. I was interviewed today for a magazine article and I started by saying that I am the luckiest guy in the world. It’s not only my friends and family and my photography but it’s because of people like you who make it worthwhile, and I’d like to thank you. And while I’m at it I’d like to thank JoAnne Kalish for coming out of a warm bed at 3:45A.M. and Dylan and of course Monica; she’s the power behind the throne, she works extremely hard and never fails to get the job done. Keep Shooting.

Photos ©JoAnne Kalish

Grand central is one of the most amazing architectural structures in New York City.  It has radically changed over the last thirty years.  My very first photo-shoot there was relatively dark, but now the light is absolutely gorgeous.  We had a total of eighteen photographers.  At times it was a little difficult but I’m hoping everyone had a good time.  I certainly did.

Copyright Joe Dimaggio

Copyright Dylan Dimaggio

Photo Copyright Dylan DiMaggio

I’m welcoming myself back.  Both JoAnne and I have been in Europe for the past six weeks.  On Sunday, three days after our return, we had a fantastic private workshop in lower Manhattan for the Plymouth Digital Photographers.  Like every workshop, each takes on a life of its own.  We had an amazing group of photographers from Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island.  Extremely knowledgeable, and from what I could see, some fine photographers.  I learned an awful lot and am looking forward to our next get-together.  The only downside to the program, in my opinion, is that it was too short.  Hopefully we will rectify this next time.

There’s an old cliché: “honesty is the best policy”.  I’m still recovering from jet-lag and being hit with the news that an old friend has succumbed to liver cancer is not making this any easier for me.  I had the pleasure of photographing Joe Frazier on several occasions over the last thirty years.  He was the consummate gentleman, an absolute straight shooter, and an overall great person.  Oh and, I almost forgot to mention, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.  I had an opportunity to film Joe at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn approximately eighteen months ago where Joe was kind enough to agree to be apart of my documentary “In This Corner”.  We spent an entire hour in the dressing room just catching up and shooting the proverbial.

Once I get my head screwed on straight I’ll do a follow-up blog on “Smokin’ Joe”.  For all the photographers in Sundays program, forgive me for bouncing around, I think that’s just what I do.  Call it genetics.  For all the ships at sea, we’ll try to get back into a rhythm after my one more assignment and two more workshops in the next 3 days.  Joe D.

Photo Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Photo Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Photo Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Photo Copyright Joe DiMaggio