The last time I glimpsed the Statue of Liberty with my own eyes, it was a year after the World Trade Towers came down. I made this photograph with the Statue in the distance from the base of Battery Park. Well, I should clarify that. The last time I glimpsed the Statue of Liberty with my own eyes in this country, it was a year after the towers came down. I actually last glimpsed the Statue of Liberty with my own eyes a little over a year ago about four thousand miles away. The original Statue of Liberty which was officially called La Liberté Éclairant le Monde, which translates to Liberty Enlightening the World, was sculpted in 1870 is located today in le Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.



Many people know that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in 1886 to celebrate the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What fewer people know is that there are three more Lady Liberties, two in Paris and one in Maceió, a city just outside of Brazil. And one more bit of obscure information is that the enormous Statue of Liberty that currently stands in New York Harbor was fully constructed over ten years in Paris before being dismantled and packed in hundred of crates for her journey to America.

The original inspiration for the Statue of Liberty was actually to serve both the United States and France. In the mid nineteenth century, France was wrestling with the idea of returning to a monarchy and the Statue represented a more democratic vision that could focus the people of France on the idea that it should remain a republic nearly 100 years after the French Revolution of the 1790s.

Frédéric Bartholdi enlisted the engineering help of Gustave Eiffel, yes that Eiffel, to help design the huge copper sculpture after Bartholdi's original 1870 design.

Today marks the first day since September 11th that the public will be allowed to climb up into the crown. However in 1878, thousands of Parisiens were given the first chance to climb into the crown, although the head of the Statue was temporarily installed on the ground.

I've spent the better part of the 4th of July Holiday reading books and continuing my research on the histories of the United States and France and how incredibly intertwined they are. Both counties would be very different today without the other.

I recently aquired a 1967 edition of Mon Cher Papa, Franklin and the Ladies of Paris by Claude-Anne Lopez, an expert on Ben Franklin's time in Paris from 1777 to 1785. It had been a library book in Hopkinsville, Kentucky before finding it's way into my hands. And in another odd coincidence, Hopkinsville is not far from Louisville, Kentucky which is named after King Louis XVI, who Ben Franklin met with at the Royal Château de Versailles during his 8 years in Paris to secure money, troops, ships and weapons from the French for the American Revolution. As he blended very well into the French culture, he even gambled at the Palace with Marie Antionette.

Franklin spent his time in Paris in Passy at 66 rue Raynouard, which is now part of Paris proper in the 16th Arrondissement on the Right Bank, a short walk away from the Eiffel Tower.

So why all this research on the French and American Revolutions and Ben Franklin, Louis XVI and Marie Antionette? It's a bit of a long story. But in a nutshell, it all began during my travels to Paris during the last 15 years. Whenever I travel abroad I take it as my responsibility to be a good ambassador. I love learning about other cultures as well as myth-busting those of my own. And during the unpleasantness of the Bush Administration I found myself having to do a lot of explaining in Europe.

The more I examined the histories of France and the United States, I found, even more than I had suspected, that both countries have needed and have benefited by good relations in the last 250 years. Relations that had become a bit strained until very recently. Both of our current systems of government were born out of the time when Franklin was a guest of Louis XVI's Court, during our and just preceding the French Revolution. It's hard to imagine what the United States and France would look like today without the other.

Last February I was standing on what had been French soil a little more than 200 years ago in New Orleans, Louisiana. Airport signs there in English, French and Spanish, still bear this out.


The lightning rods installed on many of the historic buildings of Paris were originally put there by Ben Franklin himself when he was in his late 70s. I have looked down on his old neighborhood from the top of Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe.

There is a very compelling photographic story in this history and one I have been diligently working on for the last several years. It's a bit like the thesis I never wrote. Until now. And that I will do it in both photographs and words.

So today as we celebrate the 4th of July, I give a grateful nod to Franklin and the French who helped make it possible. And in 11 days, I will also celebrate Bastille Day, which commemorates the French Revolution.

Vive la France, et vive les États-Unis!

When I was in college, I really loved photographing my favorite bands in concert. The only problem was that it was illegal to do so. The good thing was that security was little more than a pat down and we came up with all kinds of ways to get camera bodies and long lenses into the show. In the days before metal detectors.

My Pentax K1000 body fit pretty nicely in one of my socks and was more than once mistaken for a flask and let pass through. The lenses were more difficult. Sometimes smuggled in a box of tampons with my female friends, sometimes in someone else's sock. We managed to get a complete camera and lens set in a few times.

So when I was invited to photograph Heavyweight Dub Champion at the Chicago House of Blues this month - with a photo pass this time, all those old memories came flooding back again. No need for smuggling and dividing up camera gear.

The band asked me to shoot from as many places as I could including on stage with them. Great fun and much better than stolen photos from the upper balconies of years past.

The only downside when shooting a concert is that I’m so focused on making the photographs I really only hear about half the show, even when I’m three feet away from the musicians making the music.
______________

You can see more of "Heavyweight Dub Champion at the House of Blues" online at billysheahan.com in the Gallery of the Month.

Postcard subscriptions through the mail are $25 for 12 months. Details here.

Thanks for all your support.

Billy

I was talking to my great friend Rick on the phone the other day. Rick moved his whole life to a Ranch in Montana about a year ago. He sounds great and happy, which is good, because he deserves to sound great and happy.

A lot of things have changed back in Chicago since he's left. This is a photograph I made this week of what was his favorite hot dog stand - Hot Diggity Dogs. It's now a vacant lot.

But that's ok. Those hot dogs were probably killing him anyway. He's been slimming down with all the walking and fresh air and everything in Montana. Which also means he'll probably be around a lot longer. Which is also a very good thing.

Plus the sign in the photograph says "200 Steps to Paradise," so that's gotta be a good thing too, right?

June has flown past. I mean I'm pretty sure yesterday was May. I've been working on getting the June postcard ready this evening, but it's been a bit of a battle because I have so many recent photoshoots I'd like to use for it.

I'm going to get some sleep and see if that helps me decide which image to go with.

Oh and speaking of changes, I updated the look of the blog, which, if you're reading it at billysheahan.com, you've already noticed. The photographs seem to pop a little more and the sidebar navigation seems a little easier to figure out.

Change is good.

One of my favorite things about having a web presence has been getting emails from all over the world for the past 15 years. It's also great fun to see who's been visiting billysheahan.com.

Today I noticed a new country on my list. Iran. Happy to see that just before the election a few people had time to check out my art. So, to the three people visiting from Tehran, I say hello and welcome. We're all with you... unless of course it's the Supreme Leader looking at things he's not supposed to.

As Chicago continues to suffer through the rainiest early summer I can remember (this first photo was taken at noon last Friday), we can all at least be happy in the fact that warmer temperatures have finally arrived. It feels like summer, although maybe summer in a rain forest.

And after what seems like an eternity, I've managed to carve time out to create some personal photography work. Work I'm extremely happy with. Although the cost of that has been that I am ridiculously behind in the work of my photography business. Ah balance, you elusive creature.

I am currently editing a beautiful commercial for my director's reel with footage Jillian Ann and I shot while she was in Chicago. I could not be happier with how it's turning out. I'll resist the urge to put the rough cut out in public for now as we're fairly close to being finished with the post production on it which will give it that little extra polish. I've been getting lots of requests to direct commercials the last six months based on my still photography work and this one will really add something special to my reel. Thanks Jillian!

It was incredibly fun to work with new people the past few weeks. Shooting Heavyweight Dub Champion at House of Blues was stretching in a different and rewarding direction for me, followed by a week of shoots with Jillian, Asphyxia and Amiria Divine. Those collaborations fed my soul in ways I haven't felt in quite some time.

It was good to get back behind the camera and create something again that was just about the art and emotion of it all. Trying and succeeding and experimenting and failing at some is so exhilarating to me. But the results are unmistakable. I've been away too long. I'm back.

And I have a list of new collaborators that are anxiously waiting to shoot or shoot again for that matter. An oasis in my photography desert it seems.

One of the more funny failures, although it will probably be revisited again once we work out the kinks, was Amiria taking a 30' by 15' piece of while silk seamless that I've been saving and creating a very intricate jungle of intertwined drapings on my bed canopy that she and Asphyxia were going to hang in as I photographed them.


What we failed to realize was that all these connected silk pieces required us to follow the fairly specific rules of gravity like a multidimensional teeter-totter and after a few minutes of balancing and falling, I manage to make only a few photos before we collectively decided it was a good idea, but was going to need more work to figure out and we temporarily abandoned the idea.

But failure is good. I always feel like I'm closest to creating something amazing during the failure process. We'll try it again another time. There is something there. We knew it, but we just couldn't find it that time.

I've also been continuing my research into an odd pet photography project of mine involving Benjamin Franklin. What do Benjamin Franklin and inspiring women have in common? Quite a lot it turns out. Things that were sadly neglected in my school history classes or I would have paid much more attention when I was 11 years old.

Several years ago, during the United States government's yet again embarrassing foreign policy foibles of French bashing and Freedom Fries, it occurred to me that we have a very selective memory when it comes to our relationship with France. Some of it remains to this day when the cries of the horrors of socialized health care threaten to quash any progress of remaking our own very backwards health care system.

The very defensive recoil of the Obama Administration's, "No we're not talking about turning out a health care program like socialized medicine in France," makes me cringe. The very diametrically opposed health care philosophies of profit vs. prevention in the US and France seem to be the basis of the argument. And a very silly one at that.

Why does there need to be profit in health care? There is no profit in local streets and sanitation, yet we all seem to be comfortable with that. There is no profit in public education and even many private institutions. The idea of profit without consideration for future generations has all but killed our automotive industry. Is that good?

I think we could stand a little more French in our thinking.

Which brings me back to Ben. What most Americans don't realize is that during the birth pangs of our country, for about seven years, Ben was thousands of miles away in Paris. In the years before the French Revolution, it was the French who supplied our inexperienced, outmanned and outgunned army with critically needed ships, money and weapons to fight off the British.

If it weren't for the French, we'd all be speaking English now. Wait... bad example. But you get my point. We'd certainly have a King George of a different sort anyway.

Americans always remember rescuing France from the Germans in World War Two, but they always seem to forget that Ben Franklin spent years behind the scenes in Paris making our precious freedom possible. And he did it by being the best American diplomat we ever had or will probably ever see by becoming very French.

Much as I returned from my travels in Paris learning a new take on the balance of work and enjoying life, he quickly mastered the art of conducting business without seeming to be working. As I continue to read many books on the subject, my awe of him only grows.


And then there were the ladies. He was very taken with young women with artistic bents and strong intellects and opinions. I can certainly relate to that. As he approached his 80s he was the toast of Paris. His circle of friends included French Royalty, philosophers, scientists, inventors and anyone else who enjoyed critical thinking. Regal or not.

He had little time for those who would profit at the expense of the middle class. Thomas Jefferson also spent time in Paris and because of this, the new post revolutionary French Government as well as our own were born of similar ideas that were discussed at length in the Parisien Salons of the day.

So enough of my little history lesson. This is one photography project that will probably take me a few more years to realize. But I look forward to it.

One last thing, and more directed at my lovely model friends. I was speaking to one of them the other day about a modeling job offer she had received from a "photographer" (using the name John Stewart) who was casting models for a clothing catalog. She was a bit apprehensive because it sounded too good to be true ($600 up front before the shoot and another $1400 after the completion of the shoot - without even meeting her, I might add) and the number of grammatical mistakes in his correspondence with her was at best, unprofessional.

She sent me the correspondence and sure enough, after a google search for this photographer and his clothing designer that turned up nothing we found a thread about a model scam that's been going around with nearly identical wording to what my model friend received. Basically identity theft. The thieves ask you for all this personal information that looks like they are just getting ready to send your personal measurements and other information to the designer so the clothes will fit, but the information they ask for goes way beyond what is needed.

An except from the correspondence....

It's really nice reading back from you and here are more informations about the assignment is a $2000 pay Fashion job (Assignment) for you, My client wants to update her Catalog with her new year release Fashion outfits and to host one of the 2009 model event with her new fashion from Italy this assignment is to encourage the upcoming models in the industry she is affiliated with the Academy Art,you don't have to be worried about your experience or present look because we have specialist stylist and make Up artist who will bring the real beauty out of you,I'm a professional photographer/Manager with 8 years experience :). Find all details for the job below..

Job Location
The shooting will be hold at a rented photographers studio in your location,so you don't have to worry about traveling,the name and address of the studio will be forwarded to you a week before the date of the shooting,all make up will be taken care of in the studio.You can come along with any body of your choice on the day of the shooting,your mum,dad,friend,body-guard anybody you wish to come with just for you to feel more comfortable.

Job details
You have 12 different Fashion outfits to cover,which would be provided by our client on the day of the shooting.

Types of cloths
Jeans and Jackets

Name of client
Marie Thomas

Company Name
Beth Designer

Job percentage
The total pay for the jobs is $2000 but you will get $600 as upfront part payment before the shoot and the remaining balance of $1400 will be paid to you in cash at the shooting venue immediately after the shoot.

Shooting Date.
the date for the shooting is not fix,i will have to make arrangement for that ahead from now,I will email you the exact date for the shooting a week before the shoot as soon as the arrangement is completed with our client.

Requirements.
Very Attractive,Classy,In Great Shape,Extremely Outgoing & Personable,out spoken,Must be Reliable.

Payment Policy.
As part of my working policy and ethics,i receive part payment from any client before I proceed with any job and balance immediately after the shooting,this is to identify a serious client and ascertain the job,I hope you comprehend this fact.
I will keep you updated as to when our client wants to make upfront payments

Expectation.
you need to have good and attractive poses .(start practicing) Basically this is all required of you,for your make up my client will be taken care of it,you don't have to be bother for any make up,please get in touch with me if you will take the job and we can go from there,just let me know if you will take the job to commence with next arrangement.



Please I'd like you to check your email on a regular bases, I might have updates for you.

And then the part that will get your identity stolen if you respond...

If you agree to take this job and will obey all rules and regulation guiding this assignment get back to me with the following informations below:



1. Name in full :
2. Date of Birth:
3. Address and apartment #:
4. City:
5. State:
6. Zip code:
7. Country:
8. Phone number :
9. Height:
10. Weight:
11. Waist size:
12. Clothing Size:
13. Three photograph of your self:
14. Email address:


This is all very sad, as so many girls will fall for this thinking it is their big break. As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No authentic designer or photographer will hire inexperienced models for such a sum of money and tell them to "practice" in the meantime. Fashion models usually have to be a certain height. While my friend is lovely to photograph, she is not 5'8", which is the minimum size for most clothing models.

And because you have all been so kind to read what may be my longest blog in history, I have peppered it with some beautiful images from the last week with the lovely Asphyxia.

It seems like everything is arriving late in Chicago this year. We're all still wondering if we're done with rainy 50 degree days yet and it's mid June. And I finally got a few days of freedom for the first time in I can't remember how long. My Memorial Day Holiday had to wait until mid-June as well.

But I've been making up for lost time, with what else, personal photography work. The business of photography is always wagging it's finger at my like my 8th grade teacher, so finding a few days to stretch my creative vision is always welcome.


Jillian Ann and Grant Chambers arrived in Chicago last Sunday to stay with me for few days while they were in town for their Heavyweight Dub Champion show at the House of Blues on tour with Sly and Robbie. I love their music and this was the first time I was going to get to see them preform live. Although I was photographing the show at the same time, so my ears were only half paying attention. What I heard was very good, and what I saw was excellent.


HOB agreed to let me have access to pretty much wherever I wanted to be, which was nothing short of incredible. The band wanted me onstage with them to get lots of interesting angles and it was great fun to be on stage with them. I just tried not to trip over any cables or step on anything important as I made my photographs.

I really enjoy shooting concerts. The lighting at venues like this is always first rate although usually a little dimmer than cameras like, but my cameras do very well in low light and I never use a flash because I don't want to ruin the ambience, both for the musicians and the photographs.

The next day, the band, crew and I met up at Chicago Diner for a nice mid-week brunch. It was great spending time with everyone, including the other members of HDC, Todder Todd and Stero-Lion. Good food and conversation and a nice moment of relaxation before everyone headed out on the rest of the tour.

Heavyweight Dub Champion will be back in town later this summer at Wicker Park Fest, and I would encourage anyone in Chicago to come to the show on July 25th. Good music and brilliantly talented people.


Jillian and I have been working together for about 8 years now and I have been fortunate enough to spend time photographing her during that time. She and I always end up with great photographs. She's a very inspiring model to work with.

We spent some time in my studio the day after the show and shot a few nice sets and I even shot some HD video of her to use for a spec spot for my director's reel. Lovely, classy and beautiful. I'm anxious to begin cutting it all together.


Before we knew it, she was off to another part of the country and I had a half day to catch my breath before the next wave of photographic bliss. And get the studio in shape for the next round.

Asphyxia is a model I've been wanting to work with for some time now and she was arriving from the East Coast just as Jillian Ann was leaving for more modeling projects and to catch up with her band. Asphyxia showed up at my studio with Amiria Divine, a great beautiful Chicago model. We had dinner on my roof and then got to work.

We all hit it off immediately. I love when shoots are equal mixes of fun, laughter, collaboration, and beautiful work. It's a rare thing when everyone manages to find their groove right away upon a first meeting and this was one of those times.

Asphyxia is a tremendously expressive model. She shows up with enthusiasm and great ideas. Her expressions are always spot on and she has a host of emotions that make any photographer giddy.


We all went through my wardrobe collection looking for things that seemed inspiring to us, playing dress up and trying out different looks. Great fun.

Amiria was tagging along to help Asphyxia navigate Chicago, but before too long she was jumping into the fray after finding one of my New Orleans masks. She too has a great series of expressions and I'm looking forward to working with her again, now that we have discovered each other here in Chicago.

We're just about ready to begin our third shoot in three days in a couple of hours, so this little tease of photography will have to do for now. This has been one incredibly productive photography week. I always appreciate creating time like this. I always feel alive when I have such generous and amazing subjects to work with.

I really enjoy writing. When I have so much going on that I don't have time to sit down and clear my head and get my thoughts out, I find that my head gets a little soggy. Sometimes I just have to make time to write to enjoy a moment or two of peace.

I find using my Twitter account isn't quite the same as composing a few well thought out paragraphs. It's great for passing on things like the great article I found the other day on The Guardian's website about French Vogue Editor Carine Roitfeld and why I love to read French Vogue so much more than American Vogue. I let my subscription to American Vogue lapse a few years ago, but held onto my subscription to French Vogue even though it costs ten times as much to get it in the US.

But Twitter doesn't give me enough room to tell you why. My blog is better for that.


1) Much more creative photography
2) Fewer celebrity for the sake of celebrity covers
3) More compelling article topics (But you have to be able to read French)
4) The more pleasing attitude of how you present yourself rather than who you're wearing
6) The lovely pace and attitude of Paris I've tried to adopt in my own life
5) Much more creative photography (It's so much better it deserves to be mentioned twice)

But back to writing...

Even though I find Twitter a great way to keep up with photography related topics as there is a lot of great information being shared out there, it's really not a great place to discuss anything at length.


Often I find myself with something to say and I have to stop and ask whether this is something that is better suited for the 140-characters-or-less in Twitter or a more lengthy discussion in my blog, or perhaps even a better idea for a new chapter in my book. So many choices.

My book is an even better place to tell you about my philosophy of traveling around the world and how I really found Paris and the lifestyle there so appealing to me. I can take the time to tell you in big photographs and complete chapters about my experiences there. A much more complete picture.

These days, I fear that having the ability to quickly jot out 140 character thoughts could be distracting me from taking the time to form more full bodied writing the last few months. My book is still proceeding along nicely, although I think it's going to take longer to complete than I originally thought, of course. And I feel pretty good about the frequency of my blog entries, but I think the number has lessened due specifically to Twitter.

Although, honestly, I believe that Twitter cannot solely be to blame for my shrinking writing time these days. It seems just as I should be ramping down my work level to enjoy the long overdue summertime in Chicago, I seem to be busier than even with photography and advertising projects. I'm certainly grateful to be busy and working, but I'm also feeling like I'm on the verge of forgetting to slow down.

It usually happens for me about twice a year, when I clearly pass the point of needing some time off. I start to make mistakes, not because of carelessness but because I don't realize the hours in the day than I am working are slowly creeping up past the point of what is healthy on a number of levels. I should be getting more sleep and a soggy mind has difficulty being truly creative.

The last few weeks have been so busy I'm feeling I have passed that point once again this year. It's that feeling that I'm not really quite present no matter what I'm doing. I'm there physically, really trying hard to pay attention, but probably only processing about half of it.


The pictures above are various photographs I've taken while walking around Chicago with my iPhone, part of my plan to keep my eyes open to ordinary things around me, even though I seem to be rushing from place to place. Stopping to make a photograph makes me pause. In a good way.

This last one is the current state of my kitchen counter. It's a perfect photographic representation of how my life feels right now. Things piling up. Some very wonderful things, but too many of them at the moment and it's going to take some much needed downtime time to re-discover the clean clear surface of the countertop... and my own peaceful state of mind. Hopefully I find some quality time to write... and sleep as well.

Life can be a blend of emotions sometimes. I'm at the end of one of those weekends where I was as happy as I could be and at the same time very sad.

First the sad. A good friend of mine died on Friday following a battle with cancer. We literally watched her fade away in her hospital bed during the last two weeks. Sally was 41. Too young to leave this life. Beautiful, funny, talented. A joyful work colleague and good friend. I will miss her.

And while all this was happening on Friday, I was working on a project for another colleague of mine who's father was rushed to the hospital this week. I work with great, generous people who jump in at a moment's notice when a crisis arrives and now it was my turn to help out so he could be with his family.


So as I worked away late on Friday night at The Colonie, doing the right thing but missing my Friday night fun, my phone rang and the next thing I knew, three lovely model friends of mine had arrived at the office with wine, wondering if we could have a spontaneous photoshoot. (These spontaneous shoots seem to be happening a lot lately.)

I finished up my project and sent it off to the waiting client and filled up my wine glass to find out what was in store. Since I was at my downtown office and not at my studio, I had precious little photo gear with me. In fact, really none to speak of.

But I did have my iPhone.

So I MacGyver-ed it.


I began shooting using the ShakeItPhoto app that I recently downloaded. But the office light wasn't doing justice to my three lovely subjects. So I grabbed one of those IKEA paper lamps and turned off the office lights. Much better.

The girls took turns finding interesting places to pose and I followed them around with my iPhone and my paper lamp, dragging a long extension cord behind me, holding the lamp with one hand and shooting with my iPhone in the other. And you know, it was really kind of amazing.

Proving once again that the gear really doesn't matter if you have a good idea, generous subjects and a need to blow off some steam on a Friday night you thought was lost.


We've already made plans for them to stop by the studio to have a real shoot with my real camera and lighting equipment. So I can properly do them all photographic justice. But I have to admit, when you are in the mood to create and you don't have the tools you wish you had, sometimes magic happens anyway!

I am a firm believer in Karma. And I know that when you put good out there, good usually comes back. And for a few hours, the sadness I had been experiencing over the death of my friend was removed from my thoughts by three generous, lovely women. Thank you. I think Sally would have appreciated that.

"I have this really random idea for a photoshoot," she explained, "But I can't tell you over the phone, and we need to do it soon."

"Ok," I offered, "I'm free tomorrow."

"I kinda need to do it tonight."

It was 9:30 on a Monday night. I had a project with clients in early the next morning and so did she.

"I can be there in a half an hour," she continued.

"Well, alright then," I laughed, "I'm in. I'm very intrigued."

She arrived at 10pm and we shot until about 3:30am. We edited the 500 photos down to a handful and then began making final color corrections. At 5am, I put her in a cab.

Random and surprising. The look on her face rather sums up the feeling of the night. Some of my favorite shoots are the spontaneous ones. This one ranks up near the top.

______________

You can see more of my work online at billysheahan.com.

Postcard subscription through the mail are $25 for 12 months. Details here.

Thanks for all your support.

Billy

I distinctly remember waaaay back in the 1960s, getting my first glimpse of the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile. I think it was right around the same time that I became familiar with the Book Mobile, a mobile library that you could check books out of. It seemed you could put pretty much anything on wheels in those days.

So imagine my surprise when I saw the Wiener Mobile yesterday in downtown Chicago. It was a more modern version. It moved at a pretty good clip too as you can see from the fact that it was leaving my frame as I was trying to compose the photograph. Sometimes Wiener Mobiles don't wait for you to find the proper composition.


In other news, I can finally report the details of the new Italian restaurant where I'm displaying some of my photography. It's called fianco and they are using nine of my large photographic prints from Italy as part of the decor. It was fun to go back to 1993 and 1999 to look through photos from my visits there and find appropriate images. Jerry, the owner, was looking for photos that conveyed the sense of Italian life rather than the usual iconic shots of famous places. I think we selected some good ones.

And as is always the case when I go back to explore shoots from years past, I always find images I had passed over the first time for some reason. A few of them have been blown up and now hang at fianco. The restaurant should be open in the next week or so and is located at 3440 N. Southport in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.


And speaking of Chicago, I'm keeping a promise to myself to photograph the city nearly every day. Sometimes I have my pro camera with me, sometimes I just use my iPhone. All of the photographs in this blog entry are from the iPhone using a new app called ShakeItPhoto which was written by a good friend of mine called Nick Campbell. It completely mimics the operation of a Polaroid camera, right down to shaking the picture after you take it to speed the developing process.

I'm also currently working on a new long term project that I was originally going to submit to the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson this year for a grant submission. Due to a number of factors, I decided to wait before submitting this year. The scope of my project was too broad and I am in the process of doing more research before I formally submit my proposal the next time around.


It's a good idea, but it needs to be refined. I'll hold off on the specifics of it for the time being, but it involves two of my favorite topics, Benjamin Franklin and Paris, France. Ironically I used to carry a gold zippo lighter with Benjamin Franklin's image on it, until it was confiscated at Charles de Gaulle airport during one of my trips to Paris.

I'm enjoying the research part of a documentary photo project. Something new for me in a year already full of wonderful new things.

And finally, today I received an email from someone from my past I thought I would never hear from again. Intriguing... and a story for another time.

Well this is a new one. I was asked by a former colleague to write a bit of a commencement speech with advice for her graduating high school daughter. Apparently there are some people who look at my life and think that I might have some wisdom to share. I'm glad they see it. Sometimes I'm not so sure myself.


Ok here's my advice to graduating high school students.... ahem (clearing my throat)

"High school seniors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen....

First of all, if anyone told you your high school years are going to be the best years of your life... and when you look back, they were ok, but sheesh... really, it's all down hill from here??!! Don't believe a word of it. Life continues to get better after high school.

Now is the time of your life where you spend the next 10 years figuring things out. All kinds of things. Who you are. What you like. What you want to be... But more importantly, you must find out who you're not, what you don't like and what you don't want to be.

And in order to do that you're going to have to try a lot of things. Some of them will turn out to be huge disasters. That's ok. Fail like it's your job. But keep trying. Check things off your list along the way.

And after all that you WILL know who you are and what you will and will not do and what you want to do with the rest of your life.

Just get out there and try things. Be imaginative. Don't let people tell you you're not good enough or the wrong size or whatever. Prove them wrong... or prove them right and move on. Just do it with style and your head held high.

Now get out there and do some incredibly stupid things!"

(They all throw their caps in the air)

hahaha
They will NEVER let me speak at commencement!

And yes... that is me from my junior year high school yearbook. I'm really really glad I don't have to deal with my hair anymore.

It's been a busy and introspective week here at Billy Sheahan Photography.

First, the FOTOBAMA exhibit opens today May 7th at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC and runs through September 7th. One of my President Obama Election Night Grant Park Rally photos will be on exhibit as part of their new gallery. Very exciting.

Second, seven of my Italy photographs are being prepared for display in a new Italian restaurant in Lakeview. It's so new, I don't even know the name of it yet, but it's in the 3400 block of N. Southport. They selected some of my favorite photos from Venice, Florence, Lake Como and Mantova and I made large 20x30" prints for their new dining room. When I have more details on the grand opening, I'll post them here.

I just returned from a lovely dinner tonight at the home of a great young photographer friend of mine called Rush Zimmerman. She's got an amazing style and photographs people as well as anyone I've ever seen. She showed me some new photos she has made recently including some beautiful work of Keith Richard's daughter Alexandra Richards.

Uber talented hairstylist Jessica James was there, visiting Chicago after the conclusion of her tour with L'Oréal and cooked us all a delicious dinner. I think it was the first summer dinner get together for all of us this year. The flavorful wine and discussion on our future life plans was completely wonderful break to the middle of our week.

And speaking of friends, this week has been a bit of an introspective and sad one as well. A good friend and amazing Chicago designer, Sally Avila has been readmitted to the hospital after her year long battle with cancer. Past and present friends and family arrived at her bedside on Monday to show her the support and love she's shown to all of us over the years. She was incredibly joyful and strong as dozens of us filed in to her bedside throughout the course of the day. It was incredible to see her so upbeat as she continues to battle.

I photographed her and husband Don's beautiful little daughters a few months ago. This is a photograph of Sally holding her youngest, Reyna.

This is one of those times when I feel absolutely useless because there is really nothing any of us can do at this point. So we visit, and share a few laughs and tears and celebrate her life while we can. The Avilas are a beautiful family, too young to be struggling through what life has handed them.

I raise a shot of Dewar's to you Sally.

It continues to be a busy 2009 and for that I am extremely grateful. It seems like there is always some good news to speak about.

First, I'll be having an opening in Chicago at Hootenanny this Thursday April 30th at 6:30pm. It's a great television and film post house where I have a lot of colleagues I've worked with over the years who do amazing things. Really great people there. They have an ongoing gallery in their space and to coincide with a Women in Film meeting, they're having an opening for all the art on display. I have three pieces from my Paris Foncé (Dark Paris) Series on display there. I've only displayed the Paris Foncé Series in my studio gallery, so this is the first public opening for that work. The photograph above is one that is on display titled "Musee du Louvre."

Hootenanny is located at 211 E. Grand Ave, 2nd floor, Chicago, IL 60611, phone - 312-670-7777.

Second, I'm positively thrilled to be featured in a Washington D.C. exhibit at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue celebrating the first 100 days of President Obama's time in office. The exhibit runs from May 7th through September 7th, 2009 and is called FOTOBAMA.


I'll be showing a photograph I made at the President Obama Grant Park Rally in Chicago on Election Night, November 4th 2008. I'm a finalist in the competition for photographs taken during the campaign and at the inauguration. The winners will be announced on May7th. As soon as I hear when the opening reception is scheduled, sometime this summer, I'll post it here.

The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20001, phone - 888/NEWSEUM (888/639-7386).


Third, I just completed making three large prints of my Chicago work for ARU (Audio Recording Unlimited). They selected three of my photographs as part of their interior redesign. ARU is located in the beautifully historic Wrigley Building which has been the subject of much of my Chicago work the last few years. The photographs will be on display as part of their "Sink Oh Day My Oh" (Cinco de Mayo) party on May 5th.

ARU Chicago is located at 400 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1900, Chicago, IL 60611, phone - (312) 527-7000.

I haven't spend as much time documenting my native city photographically as I have other parts of the world, but that will be corrected in the next few months. I have several projects underway already that I am very excited about.


And finally, I'm in discussions to have some of my Italy photography featured at new Italian restaurant in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood on Southport. The restaurant doesn't have a name yet, but is scheduled to open it's doors in a few weeks. I had a sneak preview of it and shared some wine with the owner on Friday evening. It's going to be a wonderful addition to a great neighborhood.

Some of my photographs from Italy date back as far as 1993. It has been great fun revisiting those old friends and selecting what might be good in the new restaurant space. This photograph is one of my previously "undiscovered" images from Milan. If all goes well, I'll announce when you can come by to enjoy delicious Italian food and take in some of my photography.

So, yes, 2009 has been quite the amazing year so far. At any given time, I've had photography on exhibit in as many as three places at once. Chicago, New Orleans and beginning next month, Washington DC.

Today I took down my "Naked Work" photo show at The Gallery at The Colonie. It's always a bit sad to take down a show, but buyers are waiting for their images and it's good to know so many pieces are going to good homes.

The Colonie is really a great exhibition gallery, and I'll probably be showing there again later this year. Thanks to everyone there who welcomed my work there for the past few months. It was really one of my favorite exhibitions I've ever had.

I posted a short video of the "Naked Work" exhibit at The Gallery at The Colonie. One last happy look! Click on the link that immediately follows this paragraph to view it.

the_gallery_at_the_colonie_video1

It would be bad form for me not to mention the next artist who will be showing there. Bill Stone is a genius painter. Big bold beautiful work. Perfect in The Colonie's space. He was bringing his work in as we were taking mine down. Part of the artist cycle of life!

I'll post more information here later on when his opening will take place.

My Gallery of the Month Audio Tour has been getting really good reviews. If you haven't checked it out, it's an audio tour of my New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward work that I did earlier this year. 12 minutes of me talking about each image and how I made the photographs. Thanks for all the positive feedback.

I'll let you all know when the next one is up.

BillySheahan.com has a bit a new look these days. And I've added something interesting that's a bit of an experiment as well. Audio.

I got the idea while visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I noticed under some of the exhibit descriptions on the walls that there was a telephone number. Ok, I thought. I wonder if this is what I think it is. Sure enough, by calling the number, you an use you phone as an audio tour. Amazing. And since everyone has a cell phone on them, there is no need for those audio wands you used to have to carry around. Very cool.

So I began to think how I might do something similar. I was all ready to go with the telephone number idea this weekend when I realized that the quality of the audio through the phone wouldn't be anywhere near as good as an audio file on a computer. And since I knew people would be viewing my site on a computer, I decided to tie my audio tour in with my website.

If you'll notice in the billysheahan.com menu, there is now an item called audio tour. If you click on it, a new window opens up and the audio tour starts playing. Right now, it's a discussion of the current Gallery of the Month which are my photographs from New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward. It's about 12 minutes in length and if people like it, I'll do one every month for each new gallery.

Also as part of the new website look, you can now easily see all the thumbnails from every portfolio I have online. A nice easy quick way to browse through every photograph I have online. I'm using a website design from Rob Haggart from APhotoFolio. I really like what Rob has designed for photographers. Nice big photographs and very easy to navigate. Let me know what you think.

The photo above is one I haven't had online in a long time, if ever. It's one of the ones in the new People portfolio I put up over the weekend. I took this the night the Chicago Bulls won their third championship with Michael Jordan in 1993. The menacing looking Chicago police are walking west on Division Street near Dearborn trying to keep the celebrating under control. But somehow it has the ominous look of the 1968 democratic Convention.

I was walking through the St-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood in Paris in September 2005 when I saw the front page of Le Monde on a newsstand. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina that hit the US Gulf Coast a few days earlier was the top story all over the world. Now three and a half years later I was standing in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans that had been on Le Monde's front page. And very little had changed since then.

The water had receded. But so had the relief. A great vacuum of leadership. Ravaged communities scattered up and down the coast. Lives uprooted forever.

There seemed to be a paralysis of reconstruction. Will the still inadequate levees hold if we rebuild? Should we bother to rebuild the levees if no one lives there?

Other international cities like Amsterdam and Venice seem to have learned to tame the water. Why can't we? Is it really that easy to forget the poor, the less fortunate, the elderly?

I wanted to visit the forgotten Lower Ninth with my camera. I photographed street after street of abandoned homes. Abandoned lives. I wanted to remember the promises made. And ask why this community still remains frozen in time. The question echoes without a proper answer.

______________

You can see more photos from "New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward ...Three and a Half Years Later" online at billysheahan.com in the Gallery of the Month portfolio.

Postcard subscription through the mail are $25 for 12 months. Details here.

Thanks for all your support.

Billy

I think I mentioned before I'm feeling positive things sweeping through my life in 2009. There is certainly plenty out there in the world to be concerned about, and I am. But as far as my own orbit goes, I'm working hard to keep things moving in a very positive direction.

I found out last week that one of my Obama Grant Park Rally photos from election night is going to be in a book and a gallery in Washington DC to commemorate President Obama's first 100 days in office. Very exciting.


Things are hopping at the studio as well these days. My interns have been shooting projects for school and it's fun to see what they're creating. That's Ashley photographing Roz on Friday night here. Lots of fun.

Earlier in the day my friend Mark and I headed over to the MCA to see the Buckminster Fuller exhibit there. Completely inspiring. His ideas were so ahead of his time. It would be interesting to see what the world would be like is some of them had actually taken hold.

One of his quotations the museum was displaying on the gallery walls really caught my eye...

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."


Something I've been taking to heart a lot the last few months. Instead of fighting against the stream, build a new stream. Sometimes it's better to try new things than trying to bend the existing ones into submission. That never really works anyway. You just end up with a lot of bent things.

This is a test photo I took while I was setting lights for Ashley's shoot. Something a bit different for me. New things. He's not actually hovering above the chair. A little perspective play. But I thought it was interesting for a test.

And Spring in Chicago is just 3 short months away... I'm still a little bitter about the hail today.

Photography is something I will never stop learning. There are always new things to be inspired by and discover. Other photographers stories, new software tips, photography business practices and marketing.

Photographers are usually a pretty generous lot when it comes to sharing the knowledge. I can't tell you how many colleagues over the years have passed on valuable information and advice to me. We're all competitive, but we're also a community.

I have a list of photography related sites I try to visit every day. I may not read them all top to bottom on a daily basis, but I try to at least visit and skim them seven days a week. They represent an incredible wealth of information that is out there that helps me to be a better photographer. Growing all the time.

Here is a small listing of a few of them (full downloadable list at the bottom of this entry):

Daily must reads on the business of photography include Mary Virgina Swanson's Marketing Blog, Photo Distric News' PDN Pulse, Photo Editor Rob Haggart's A Photo Editor Blog, ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers, which I am a member of) and the local Chicago ASMP Chapter.

There are some great blogs by inspiring photographers out there as well such as my friend and mentor Doug Menuez, Joe McNally, William Gray, Chase Jarvis, Jason Anderson, Melissa Rodwell, Michael Clark and for the photography gearhead nerd in us all, Scott Kelby.

A few great blogs on software, particularly Adobe's Lightroom which is a my photo organizing software app of choice, include Sean McCormack's Lightroom-Blog, Matt Kloskowski's NAPP Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips and Martin Evening's Lightroom News.

A few magazine blogs worth having a look at include American Photo's State of the Art Blog, Rangefinder Magazine, and Foto8.

The links above are a small sample of what I read every day. I update the list every month or so, adding some and deleting others that lose my interest. For those who want to see my entire web reading list as of this month, you can download a zip file with everything I visit, here.

We all love to surf the web. We all probably waste a lot of time doing it, so I figure, why not learn something while we're putting off the real work of the day for a few minutes?

Have fun learning and growing!

I'm a very fortunate man. The public opening at The Gallery at The Colonie was a great success. Turnout was great. I would have to estimate about half of the people in attendance I hadn't met before, which is really incredible. I'm very grateful for all the kind words and support I received from everyone I met that evening.

A couple of the models featured in the exhibit stopped by, which I love, because they should bask in the glory as well. I couldn't do what I do without them.

Gipsy Trio performed their wonderful french influenced vintage string jazz. These guys can really play and it was a perfect addition to the evening. You can check out some new videos of their music at the link a couple of sentences back.



Over the course of the evening I had the opportunity to answer many questions about the retrospective of my work that was on display. Sometimes creating the images is like working in a vacuum and getting to discuss how and why I do what I do is always great fun for me. Lots of very intelligent people and engaging discussions.

One group that stopped by included viewers from France and Germany. We talked about my travels to both of those wonderful countries and art and politics. I love having conversations like that.

I was also showing recent photographs I made while I was in New Orleans last month. I like to shine a light on subject matter that needs to be remembered and the Lower Ninth Ward there and all the communities still in disrepair from Hurricane Katrina need all the attention they can get.



And even though with the economy in the state that it is, I still managed to make a few sales. Rather amazing.

I received a few inquiries about getting on the Billy Sheahan Photography email list for free monthly postcards and future events, so here's the link for that. (billysheahan.com/postcard/register/).

And for those who want actual postcards in the mail, here's the link for that as well. (billysheahan.com/postcard/monthlypostcardbuy/)

It was a perfect evening and after we closed up for the night, we headed over to Debonaire Social Club for the after-party to celebrate.

Thanks again to everyone who attended and their continued support.

Billy Sheahan Photography
The Gallery at The Colonie
"Naked Work 2000 to 2008"
Plus a preview of recent New Orleans work

Artistic Stimulation Sale
All photography in the main gallery $100 or two for $175

Saturday March 21st
6 to 10pm
610 N. Fairbanks
3rd Floor
Chicago, IL


Come see a retrospective of my naked work from the last 8 years. I'll also be previewing photography I made in February in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward.

Music performance by The Gipsy Trio.

It's going to be a great evening. Hope to see you there!