Hello again! I seem to be unintentionally doing monthly photo updates…so here it is as promised, New York City.

I can’t explain how much I love visiting a city to explore the streets, the people, and the culture all while capturing it all. The challenge and fun of a big city is finding the small moments and revealing a sense of intimacy.

Yesterday I finally bought Leibovitz’s book “At Work” and opened the first page to read this, “Every single time I went out to take a picture was different. The circumstances were different. The place was different. The dynamics were different. Every single time. You never know what was going to unfold.” New York City proves this exactly, with a chance to see something new and different everywhere you turn.

Last week I visited the great New York City and couldn’t leave without stopping by Zuccotti Park and witnessing the origin of the Occupy movement. What I thought would be a quick visit, turned into a whole afternoon spent taking in everything happening in the small public square.

I talked to many individuals who had been camped out since the first week of the protesting, who had no intention of leaving. They had grown accustomed to this new life and their passion for the “cause” only seemed to be increased. The tented camp functioned like an organized city, with street names, stocked library, table top conversation area, meditation and silent protest circle, food kitchen, medical tent issuing flu shots, energy supplying bicycle riders, and most importantly, the barriers closing it off to the world.

All in all, although I am still not convinced Occupy has once unified message or summarize-able call to action, I am now convinced they don’t need one. Why not let the man trying to educate the world that cars can run on water protest as long as he wants? Or the man who wants to raise money to save all abandoned pets in New York. Or the girl just trying to get out of New York and get back home. Or the 65-year-old who is just happy to have another reason to bring out his vintage wardrobe and reminisce about the 60s…?

A little over 24 hours after I was in the park, police forces emptied Zuccotti Park and made hundreds of arrests to ensure that all Occupy residents were removed from the place they have called home these past few months…I am just glad I was able to spent a few hours among them. But like many told me…”the end of this story is far from over, we are just getting started, keep watching.”

More New York photos to follow soon…

As you may be or may not be aware, I love taking photos of my beautiful friend Chelsea (who is now engaged!). These were taken a while back in September when we decided to jump in the pool for a late night shoot.

Also, as usual, I am so so very behind on blogging. So, I decided I will just post completely randomly with pieces of the things me and my camera have been doing these past few months. So, keep your eyes out for them.

Last night I visited The Echo once again to see this man perform and realized I never shared these images. After seeing Active Child during their month-long residency in August, I literally couldn’t listen to anything else. And the more you listen to it, the better and better it gets. After a week of the album on repeat, I returned to see the last residency show the end of August and see them off on their album tour. Last night, the band returned home to L.A. and to The Echo and I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to see him again.

Pat Grossi is a musician who is an unbelievable harpist and a former boys choir vocalist with a shocking tenor vocal range. His music causes you to get lost in the song’s emotions and your own. I can’t help but dream to hear him perform in a cathedral someday, but then again, that may just be too incredible. Thankfully Pat is an L.A. based musician, because seeing him three times just hasn’t been enough.

Do yourself a favor and go buy the album now (go vinyl for this one).

If you haven’t bought the album, this video should convince you.

After Patrick Wolf’s Tuesday night’s performance, I immediately bought a ticket to the next night. I couldn’t pass up a chance to see more of Wolf’s brilliance on the stage.

Calpernia Addams, the opening act for both night’s, graced the stage much more comfortably and opened the set with a beautiful violin arrangement of “Amazing Grace”. I loved hearing her religious pieces and soft auto harp tunes fill the masonic lodge venue.

The second show was an entirely different feel for Patrick, as he smoothly and quietly played a completely new set of songs. He revealed to the audience that he had prepared over 35 acoustic altered songs for the tour, not wanting any show to be similar. To me, that is a musician who deserves respect and appreciation.

Most surprising to hear on Wednesday night was “Childcatcher”, which is very rarely performed as I always understood the reasoning behind. However, he appeased the requests of the crowds and delved into songs that I am sure he wouldn’t have otherwise wished to have return to.

I reviewed both shows at Hollywood Forever for 138 Collective. Go read the review here.

Patrick, please return to us (me) soon.

PATRICK WOLF @ Hollywood Forever Masonic Lodge on Tuesday, September 13.

It is incredible to think that I have been following and listening to Patrick Wolf for eight years now. But perhaps even more surprising, is to think how much I have changed since first listening to his music, alongside how he too has evolved over the years to who he is today.

My first concert seeing Patrick was at The Troubadour in 2007, my friend and I skipped our senior finals and road-tripped to Hollywood.

And thankfully, it didn’t stop there.

Since that point, I have been lucky enough to see him perform in LA again, San Francisco, London, and on the beaches of Santa Monica. We have even had a few wonderful opportunities to meet, the first time at a photoshoot in a London studio. As I look back each show represented for Patrick a new stage in life, which brought with it a new manner of performance. No show (and certainly no wardrobe or hair color choice) has he been entirely the same.

Seeing him perform this week, it finally hit me, Patrick wasn’t just experimenting and showing off versatile musical talent with each new album. Rather, he was living life- growing, maturing, experiencing, and expressing it all along the way.

This new album, Lupercalia, is I believe his most transparent, he is in love. For so long, his music was consumed by depression, loneliness, and facing hardship. However, on Tuesday, he stood before the crowd completely at ease, fully himself, and satisfied with his life. His music was stripped down and played in acoustic form (a simplicity I haven’t seen since Lycanthropy days) and Patrick revealed foremost himself. His voice and his gleeful personality captivated the audience, and once again he captivated me.

Read my whole review on 138 Collective here.

Wednesday night photos are to follow, in the meantime, do yourself a favor and go listen to some music. Enjoy.

Deerhunter, led by the fascinating Bradford Cox. Check out their music here.

There is something very Bowie-esque about this man. Which would explain my intrigue of him.

For the review of the concert visit- http://138collective.com/

Looking forward to more nights like this one.

Recently…

- I once again have a roommate! Beth Cissel, it is so good to have you back.
- This wonderful blog, the 138 collective, has had me shoot recently, for which my camera and I are so grateful. I will be sharing some photos soon.
- I am getting used to my daily commute…but if any of you have music suggestions, I would love to hear them.

And missing moments like this.

I am so grateful for my new job and a new step in life, but I sure wish those months could have lasted longer.