I didn’t have much to do this weekend. I was bored, so I decided to go to 5 Pointz again to try to get some work done for this project. It was cold and windy and I was not expecting to get any good shots that were any different from the ones I have already taken. There was no one in site, the place was empty. Then, I went to the parking lot. There were these two guys just standing there looking at the walls covered with graffiti. When they saw me, they asked me if I was the photographer. Photographer for what? They were waiting for a photographer to come for there photo shoot with a bunch of girls to promote their business, Dimez4All.
Rabbit, the one in green, was not a shy guy. He was really interested in what I was doing. He told me he is an artist that airbrushes for rappers. He and his friend wore his work on their cloths. Aside from airbrushing, he also does videos and of course photography. He told me to stick around and watch the shoot and hang with them, so I did. It was really cold, and the girls weren’t wearing much, so to get everyone warmed up, Rabbit turned on his car stereo and blasted Beyonce, danced to it while yelling to the them, “Make love to the Camera!” and “It’s 100 degrees out here!.”
When the photo shoot was done, Rabbit and everyone left and I stayed behind and took more shots of the graffiti. That’s when a bunch of guys in low rider bikes, came with a photographer to do a photo shoot. I couldn’t believe that I would be in the middle of two different photo shoots in one day. I spoke to the photographer, Jeff, first. He was shooting the Drop Kranked Crew (Dredel, Ed & E.J.) for a magazine. The Drop Kranked Crew is just a group of guys from Astoria that hang out and ride in low rider bikes. I spent most of my time with them, hearing their stories, and observing how Jeff photographed the guys. He used a fish-eye lens for the shoot and listened to a lot of their ideas of what and where to shoot. Later they asked me if I wanted to be in their crew and I said sure. They said all I need is a low rider bike and I’m in. My boring weekend turned into a great one and now I can’t wait to see what I’ll run into next.
I absolutely love the work you have up so far. I personally think that in color it works better than in black and white, which you had previously. Great job!
The play of city structures, artwork and personalities on play is brilliant. Its also a blessing that you had good weather to work with. These guys really seem like a community because of all the communication between them, in art and words, that you capture. Thanks for the field notes too.
I think the pics of the college students wearing customes are charged with irony, especially since you took it from an agle that reveals their pose is calculated. Great.
Hey, I’m trying to get paid some extra money and just started looking on the internet for online businesses, and I was wondering if anybody was doing a startup in addition to what they were doing.