Nov 23, 2008
Los Angeles, Ca
I am off to Japan in a few days – two weeks there for more images for “Wok the Dog” and then home to Taiwan to spend the last couple weeks of the year with my family. Which means that I will be back to chronicling adventures on the road here real soon.
But first things first. I did a photo shoot on Thursday for an update of my commerical portfolio (yes, I work as a commerical photographer as well) and one of the shots I executed was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s honeymoon protest where they were in their bed at their honeymoon suite for all the media to see. They effectively turned something that is supposed to private into something public, an event that is a celebration of their love and union into an event with greater global implications. Not to mention that is not a bad piece of performance art.
All of this got me to think about “where does the revolution start?”
In the minds and hearts? Then does that not really begin in the subconscious? In sleep – while you are dreaming?
This began simply as an exercise to update my commerical work and now I feel like maybe there is some truth in it. The revolution starts here – in our minds – in a fundamental place – bed – in this case.
I have always felt a bit like a rebel when it comes to my commercial photography. I can shoot pretty girls in clothes, standing there, all day long. But I reject it somehow. I want the images to have a message, to have a narrative, to have meaning. To be more than just a body, a pretty face and the product of the day. I strive for something more, a sense of humor, a bit of intrigue, irony and sarcasm, a message that does not distract from the ultimate goal of advertising and yet provides you with just a little bit more.
If President Elect Obama is really ushering is a Brave New World, then I hope that we will start seeing advertising to go beyond the traditional and communicate a better message.
