Tonight's Gonna Be a Good, Good Night! (Photographers in Peril-Twilight Saga Special)

(Note: Approx. Working Time - 3 and half hours)
The Twilight Saga continues...
It is my pleasure to give utter tribute to fans of one of the most saleable vampire/werewolf films.
To complete my photo manipulation image, I searched for an ensemble of cast (as if I'm a casting director and as if this is a real film) to give a Twilight aura to it. :) Searching for my Bella was a breeze. She also do photo manipulations and not only that she's a beauty...she's Ms. Earth 2009's Miss Congeniality. Looking for Edward was hard and thank God for Facebook wall technology, I got some willing individuals to do the vampy bloke (Oh, I'm going British english). Other casts I assembled are people whom I have known through Facebook and has eventually become close to me virtually.

Without much further ado here's the list of "my cast:"
* DJ Joel as DJ Wolf of Tau Gamma Phi Triskelion of KSA (Took a shot of him during one of his stance)
* Kirstie Joan as Bella ( photo by Joseph Ong Visit www.flickr.com/photos/joseworks )
* Edwin "Jimboi" Abanil" as Edward Cullen
* Cocoy Roxas as Jacob disguised as a Nikonian Rastaman
* Rxl Baylon as Riley disguised as a Nikonian paparazzi
* Ding Viaje as Blade, the Vampire Slayer
* Dhee AmrHein (Ding's Real-Life Girlfriend) as Esme Cullen
* Chuckie Doll as Unknown Vampire

Puppets:
* Werewolf as itself
* Count Dracula of Sesame street as itself

Cameo Roles:
* Photodropouts Laoag as a DJ spinner (Visit http://photodropouts.blogspot.com/
* The entire cast of Twilight Saga as a DJ spinner
* Count Dracula (old film) - Blade's would be victim :D

SUZANNE PAUL: Portraits and Prominent Figures in the Early Houston Art World

Edward Albee, 1999
Photograph (c) The Estate of Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

Clair With Fly, 1976
from "Women See Women: A Photographic Anthology"
Photograph (c) The Estate of Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

Richard Stout, 1999
Photograph (c) The Estate of Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

Mel Chin, 2000
Photograph (c) The Estate of Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

Exhibition Catalog FotoFest 2001

Short essay by Exhibition Curator Clint Willour and paragraph by Walter Hopps. Cover photograph of Edward Albee by Suzanne Paul

Self Portrait with Bob, Central America, 1971
Photograph (c) Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

Mercedes and Bob, Houston
(scan through glass)
Photograph (c) Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

Elizabeth Paul, Candy Frasier and Marilyn Schiller (Mayo), Houston 1971

"This is a small test print...thought you might be interested, love Suzie"
Photograph (c) Suzanne Paul/All Rights Reserved

"There is a belief in many cultures that the camera is capable of stealing the human soul or spirit. Suzy Paul's camera may not steal the soul, but it certainly captures it and the spirit within."–Clint Willour

Being Human: Portraits by Suzanne Paul
September 6 - October 13, 2001
Curated by Clint Willour
Executive Director and Curator, Galveston Arts Center

Houston, TX (August 20, 2001)- Fotofest began its 2001-2002 exhibition programs at Vine Street Studios with Being Human, an exhibition featuring over 60 black and white portraits taken over a period of more than 40 years by Suzanne Paul. In intimate and revealing ways, Paul documented many of the artists, curators, and gallery owners who shaped Houston's art scene since the 1970's and 80's. (Houston's Fotofest)

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"The late Suzanne deYoung Paul (b. 1945 - d. 2005), a pioneer female photographer in Houston, was best known for her intuitive portraits of the art world. Being the first female photographer to have a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and many other prestigious exhibitions including The Fort Worth Art Museum, Galveston Arts Center, private galleries and museums, Paul became known for her portraits of such well known artists as Julian Schnabel, Mel Chin, Andy Warhol and playwright Edward Albee. Several of her photographs are in the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

The late Walter Hopps said of Suzanne Paul, "[She] should be recognized as one of the finest photographers to come out of Houston. Her essential medium is black and white photography, and her most important subject matter is portraiture. Not all photographers are skilled printers of their work. Paul is a superb printer achieving areas of deep black in line with her instinct for the chiaroscuro lighting of the subject. Having been the subject of one of Paul's portraits, I have experienced the directness and honesty of her work. She has caught an unidealized view of who I am." (Deborah Colton Gallery)

At the age of nine, Paul began photographing her sister, dogs, and horses with a Kodak Brownie camera given to her by her father, also a photographer. She studied Fine Arts at the University of Houston graduating with a BFA in 1963 and later did graduate work at the University of California at Berkley in 1970. She considered herself to be a self-taught photographer, however, because classes in photography were not available at that time. Early on she saw an Irving Penn photograph which sparked her interest in photography. She credits Diane Arbus with inspiring her to search for "that most revealing moment" in portraiture. Her start in the art world came in 1976 when Contemporary Art Museum Director Jim Harithas hired her to document artists and exhibits for the museum's catalogs.

Paul used a 1957 Rolleiflex camera, drove a 1960 Oldsmobile, and may have been one of the few artists in Houston without an e-mail address. Following in the tradition of Imogene Cunningham, Paul photographed with the twin lens reflex camera as well as a Holga camera with a plastic lens. She began shooting with 35mm but eventually felt the need to move to the larger 2 1/4 medium format negative and continued to do all her own printing. As stated by her daughter Mercedes Paul, "Suzanne's ability to capture the true essence and spirit within the souls of her subjects proved that she could identify with people from all walks of life. She worked on a higher, more intuitive level than most humans experience."

Suzanne Paul's photographs are represented by
Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston

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Clint Willour has curated and juried hundreds of exhibitions all over the world. He visits studios and volunteers his time for myriad committees and boards. Noted for his keen eye and dry sense of humor, Willour is a trusted advisor to all kinds of people in the art world. He's an enthusiastic advocate for emerging artists, giving insightful portfolio reviews everywhere, from FotoFest's biennial "Meeting Place" to the People's Republic of China. Willour, who was named Texas Patron of the Year in 2006 by the Art League Houston, is also an astute collector and generously donates to institutions. Over the years Willour has given more that 1,000 artworks to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; they're now valued at $1.2 million. (from Houston Press)

I'd like to personally thank Clint Willour, Executive Director and Curator of the Galveston Arts Center, for his more than generous help. He actually took the time to research SP's work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and send it to me! Thank you so much.

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Very few images of Suzanne's work are available to view online. I hope this post may inspire a Photography student in Houston to create a project for academic credit to scan Suzanne's photographs. Hopefully many more people will be able to view her work online in the future.

Please excuse the poor quality of the images above. It's no reflection on Suzanne Paul's work, but on my poor attempt's at scanning.

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Delivering a Mother’s Comfort – Part 2

It can be tough to provide comfort and help to the animals that may need it most. While there are many that need our love and care, those with behavior problems or ailments pose a particular challenge. They may not be readily adoptable, but they shouldn’t be ignored.

Helen Shen learned this recently with us. “I was one of the volunteers for Rational Animal's Mother's Comfort Program Part 2,” she wrote to us recently, “delivering beds and toys to dogs and cats at the Animal Care & Control of Manhattan.” This wasn’t Helen’s first visit, but on previous occasions, she stayed with the dogs that had higher hopes for adoption.

The Mother’s Comfort Program consists of two parts. Before the phase in which Helen participated came Part 1, in which volunteers donated time and effort sewing beds and toys. They were distributed to the animals in the second phase of this effort.

Noting the chaotic environment, not to mention her personal concerns about dogs with particularly stressful histories, Helen explained that she was reluctant to reach out to these animals. Later in the day, however, she realized that, even though these dogs were a bit more challenging, they still needed “the same kind of comfort that other more docile dogs were given.”

She continued:

“I can only imagine that they have never received that type of comfort and wondered if they were like humans deprived of a mother's love. In another ward, there was a dog that was so hyper and stressed from being in a cage that he bit his tail. I stood there helpless without knowing how to calm him. I could only alert the shelter's staff to his injury. It is really heartbreaking to see these animals in such an anxious and frightened state. From my understanding, animals learn the behavior they exhibit and can only get better through steady training which they will never receive due to the shortage of resources. Ultimately, I knew that these dogs would be euthanized.”

Helen stepped forward into an extremely emotional environment, and she quickly made a difference. Every animal that is abandoned presents a new tragedy for us. It’s easier to help some, but they all need our attention.

Miss Bailey and her family

Thanks you guys for the fun session ( minus the horrid mosquito's )

Janelle and Garvin

CABELLA'S.....need I say more! I had an amazing time photographing an amazingly in love couple:) We went in to Cabella's for some of their wedding shots and I can honestly say I love all the images! Janelle and Garvin I wish you the best life together and thank you for letting me document your wedding:)

Kirsty and Nick

What to say....this had to be the most emotional wedding I have ever shot. I returned home sad and elated all at the same time. Kirsty's grandma is fighting a battle with cancer but made it to the wedding and looked beautiful. Nick is soooo in love with Kirsty, you can just see it in the way he treats her:)I enjoyed spending the evening with this beautiful and fun-filled family, thanks you guys for allowing me to capture the wedding:)

Christie and Mike

I love shooting at Dan Walt Gardens and Christie and Mike are one of my favorite couples:)The girls are so cute, fun and bubbly and the love this family shares is so neat to capture. Christie pulled off an amazing wedding with attention to every detail....you all looked wonderful and I wish you the best life together! Thanks for choosing me to capture your special day:)