New Website Update Coming Soon!
Been working hard on making some selections for a more Lifestyle-focused portfolio and I’ve got a new website in the works. Keep your eyes peeled!
Make it look easy.
New food photography work from your homie Justin Sullivan. Fresh macarons from the unstoppable Bottega Louie downtown Los Angeles.
BATTLE!
My good friend and fellow photographer Matthew Stacey recently challenged me to a bi-weekly photo battle. I got to pick the subject matter for the first one, and decided on dessert. Been thinking about playing with popsicles for a little while and this is what I came up with to kick it off. Let me know what you think in the comments 🙂
Claire Boutelle by Justin Sullivan
I made this portrait of Los Angeles based letterpress artist and owner of Small Press LA, Claire Boutelle. They do fantastic work, and you’d be doing yourself a favor to collaborate with them on your next press run.
So There’s That.
Just came across an editorial series by NY based photographer Pablo Ravazzani for Contributor Magazine of images of Los Angeles looking up. I felt like I could do better. So I jumped over to my instagram archive and grabbed a few things. Let me know what you think.
Moto Guzzi custom build by Justin Turner
I recently was hired to photograph a new project from custom vintage motorcycle builder Justin Turner. This bike was recently completed and has already been sold to a buyer here in Los Angeles. I haven’t done a lot of transportation photography and I’m pleased with the way that this series came out.
Initially we were looking at locations around his shop to shoot the bike but eventually settled on the freight elevator, as there are some great textures in there. I’ve been leaning away from using strobes in some of my projects lately, but brought them just in case we decided to light a little bit. Ultimately I ended up using natural light and I think it turned out nicely.
I just launched my print store! Check it out!
I’m thrilled to announce that after a great deal of time, planning and work, I’ve launched the first version of my online print store. I’m pleased to be working with Photoshelter, who have been working hard in the photo industry for a very long time to make things better.Â
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My first featured gallery consists of images that I’ve made on the go over the past year. It will be updated regularly, and all photos will be limited to 10 prints in each size run. Once they are gone, they are gone.Â
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Images from the Occupation – #occupyLA tonight
Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa announced that Occupy LA would be evicted from city hall at 12:01 AM today. I was on site from 11:50PM to 2:45AM and despite a huge police presence nobody was evicted from the park at city hall, and to my knowledge all of the protests remained peaceful. This is what I saw:
Shooting at the Fantasy Factory
Today I got hired to light a shoot with Rob Dyrdek (Rob & Big, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory) at his warehouse skatepark/office/tree fort in downtown LA.
Markus Paulsen was the photographer, and we were working together creating some new images for the upcoming launch of a new eyewear line Rob’s doing.
It was such a blast to get to hang out and work at the Fantasy Factory all afternoon and make some bold, iconic images to help launch his latest venture.
There’s a foam pit for learning new tricks…or just throwing yourself off the balcony into. That’s a trick right? I stuck it.
They have this slogan blasted all over the place. Really inspirational to see a dude who came up from skateboarding with a fresh new Ferrari with that attitude. Make your own luck indeed.
Rob was a great guy to work with, and really worked hard with us to make sure everything looked great.
Here’s a 360 panorama I took from the middle of the joint: http://360.io/Mvh6gF
Pretty rad!
Be on the look out for the images when the brand launches soon!
New Featured Article on LA I’m Yours: Poketo
I shot this interview with Poketo for LA I’m Yours recently. Check it out!
http://t.co/rll3l7rj
Staying Busy.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work on some really fun stuff over the past week or two. Hustling in a tough market in a tough town. Keeping up momentum.
Here are a few things I’ve snapped lately.
Feeding your creative well
As a creative person, I’m often struck by how easy it is to get bogged down and lose sight of what’s really important to me. When the work slows down, and the money gets tight, the all-too-familiar voice of doubt starts to creep up again. And all of the reasons I shouldn’t keep going seem to get louder and louder. The moments that spark the smile get further apart, and the path starts to look a bit hazy. It’s something that many artists have encountered before me, and I have no doubt countless will after I’m gone. But one of the best ways I know to remind myself why I’m here, (and why I have to keep creating) is to feed my well. It’s nearly impossible to create effectively in a vacuum, and creativity needs to be fed and nurtured. As a result, I’ve learned over the years that when I start to hit walls with my work or lose my way a bit, I need to replenish myself with creative material. I do this in a number of ways, but one of the best is to GO SEE ART.
There are some wonderful galleries and museums in this city. While they aren’t all 100% “on” 100% of the time, I feel fortunate that there are so many passionate people involved with curating shows that they are excited about that push things forward. This weekend I went to LACMA for the California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” exhibit.
Afterwards, walking down Wilshire I felt suddenly lighter. It was as if the simple act of going to see some of the best design of the era from California designers empowered me to create on my own. So I took a few pictures on the way back to the car, and headed out to Venice.
Architecture and Sculpture on Wilshire
More Architecture
Gesture
Composition in Green
Ron English has a show at Post No Bills on Abbot Kinney currently called English 101 and it was definitely worth the trip. Here are a few highlights:
The next time you’re feeling stuck, go see something that inspires you. Then throw yourself back into your work, and see if it doesn’t make things better.
No, seriously. I don’t suck at this.
New product work. Click to enlarge if you are so inclined.
Justin Sullivan Photography
Lister
I first became aware of Anthony Lister’s work last year while traveling around the US. I took the month off to go explore and see what there was to be seen. I spent a lot of time in New York photographing street art and there was one particular mural in Williamsburg that stood out.
The more I looked at it, the more I liked it. Turns out I wasn’t the only one.
In the time since, Lister has become one of the artists in the street community that has been getting a lot of traction, and rightfully so. Fresh perspective and a style that shows a great personal voice. He’s definitely an artist that I keep my eye on, and I always get excited when his work pops up in LA where I live. He’s even had work commissioned by The Standard hotels in Hollywood and New York, and had a wonderful solo show that I attended recently at THIS Los Angeles Gallery.
Here’s a recent mural around my neighborhood downtown that I liked
My friend Bobby over at The Fox is Black has a fun slideshow of a Lister show from 2008 at New Image gallery that’s fun too:
Quit Your Sobbing and Call me in the Afternoon
Here are a couple of videos that are worth a look as well.Thanks Vimeo, and BOOOOOOOM for inspiring the post.
MEGGS x LISTER x KID-ZOOM from itdrewitself on Vimeo.
Anthony Lister from Spencer Keeton Cunningham on Vimeo.
TRASH TALK DESTROY
I spent an evening with Trash Talk and my friend AJ in July during their show with Fucked Up at the El Rey Theater here in Los Angeles. I made these photos with my Aimex 35mm camera, Canon 430ex flash and Ilford 400 film.
If you have the opportunity to see this band perform, I highly recommend that you do.
Olivier Zahm exhibits in Los Angeles
This evening I took a trip out to the West Side of LA for the opening of Olivier Zahm’s new photographic exhibit, “The Secrets of Photographing Women” at Lead Apron. The gallery is a beautiful space with a fantastic bookstore attached. The work was classic Zahm: women, statues, some snippets of his life, all with the flair of someone whose existence hinges on something besides having to work tremendously hard. Visually, the imagery is certainly evocative, and in line with what one expects from the founder and editor of Purple Magazine. Sexy, stark and bold. What the man lacks in technical ability, he makes up for in access and brashness. Overall I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and found Olivier to be a pretty plesant fellow. The event was well attended, and I ran into a few friends, as well as being pleasantly surprised by Jared Leto and his silly Ugg slippers. Haha.
If you get a chance to pop by Lead Apron, it’s worth a look. The prints are reasonably priced at $500 apiece and are of course a limited run.
Special thanks to Natalie Toren for taking the photographs this evening.
Los Angeles, I’m Yours
My collaboration with The Fox is Black (formerly Kitsune Noir), Los Angeles I’m Yours, is going extremely well. I’ve been shooting up a storm the past two weeks and can’t wait to debut the new work! We are in the process of building the website with a team of designers so that it will be ready to go by next month.
I’m so happy to be working with such great people and meeting so many wonderful talented artists and creatives.
One picture for now, then back to editing!
Artist Tim Biskup
Justin Sullivan Photography Blog 