“If you want me to kiss your ass, then you had to put it in my contract.” Janet Hubert

So I get a call from my little cousin Precious Jules earlier saying, I think I see you daughter on a Citgo ad. I’m like no way.

Minutes later I had a screen shot in my inbox.

Upon opening, I was like OMG! Look at my baby snaggle toothed baby on a Citgo “Fueling Good” ad campaign.

I guess I’m just really happy that the ad was not for BP.

My images sell all over the world via Getty & I never know their final destination so this is quite funny. And ironically, I ran across a thread on the Getty contributors site where a photographer wanted to know what his photographs were being used for.

As a matter of fact, it is highly umproefessional/inappropriate to contact clients who purchase your images through a stock agency. When you sign on as a stock seller, you give up certain controls. It’s business & it is what it is.

Original image here.

Here’s a quick snapshot from a senior portrait session that I held this weekend out & about downtown Detroit with Breya Bogs.

Breya is currently a graduating senior from Detroit’s Crockett high school & she will be a freshman this fall at Eastern Michigan University.

My session with Breya ended much more smoothly than my last senior portrait session. Namely it ended well because I didn’t drop any lenses & my car was not vandalized.

I also must say that I returned to my car nervously hoping that nothing happened to it. As we all know, It’s so cold in the D!

Here’s to more drama free photo shoots downtown in the COLD COLD D.

Looking to next weekend; I’m photographing the wedding of Jonathan Edwards & Erica deBardeleben Saturday then I’m chilling for a couple days and looking for some Memorial Day BBQ.

BTW, you can see a few more outtakes from Breya’s shoot here.

This has been a very busy & trying week but I’m still here.

To help decompress from all my mini drama, I’ve been working in my gardens cleaning, clearing & pruning for the summer blooms.

In the midst of pruning one of my Rose of Sharon bushes, I discovered a robin’s nest. I got so excited. As you can tell, it doesn’t take much to get me excited.

I’m taking this finding as an indication that I will have a great weekend.

As of now, I have 2 photo sessions, an event & tomorrow I will find out if I’m shooting the Jill Scott/Maxwell concert. I’m pumped & ready for all of this to happen cause poppa needs a brand new bag.

On an unrelated note, I started a clearance sale earlier this week. I’ve been fortunate to move 2 pieces so far with 9 pieces still looking for nice new homes. Have a look around, get inspired & help keep me busy by buying one of my most popular macro prints.

How did this slip into a cheap sales plug when I started off talking about finding a birds nest?

Anyway, buy some of my stuff! OK. Thanks. Buy!

Help feed a starving artist by taking advantage of my massive sale. I have 9 pieces left.

This past weekend, I visited New York’s Museum of Modern Art & fell in love in the photography gallery. I always fall in love in their portrait gallery so this is really no new news!

What made me fall during my most recent visit was Carrie Mae Weems’ “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried” presentation.

The presentation consisted of several familiar photos of Negros from US slavery & Africa’s past colored & overlaid with very powerful poetic words.

I stared intensely at these photos & all I could say was WOW, WOW, WOW!

The display seems almost out of place and by this, I mean that I could stand in a room all alone.

When I got home, I, of course I Googled her name & did her resume & was intrigued a) by her procurement of the photos from the Getty & b) her creative process in assembling one cohesive piece.

“I was trying to look at the history of photography and the way in which African Americans had been particularly depicted and inscribed through and in American photography. I used images that were preexisting, and my intervention was to re-inscribe them by making them all consistent, in terms of size and scale and format and adding the use of color so that, for instance, I used the color red to annunciate the image. I wanted to use oval or circular mats because I wanted to have that sense of looking through the photographic lens, which is a round surface…”

I was also quite amazed to learn that the photo presented above sold at Christie’s (auction house) for a cool $25,200. Wow!

You can see the entire display of “From Here I Saw What Happened And Cried” here.

I love discovering Black photo heroes!

Here’s a quick snapshot from a senior portrait session that I held this weekend in my studio space with Laureal Hamilton-Jackson.

Laureal is currently a graduating senior from Detroit’s Cass Technical high school & she will be a freshman this fall at Michigan State University.

Our session was fun filled as we mostly laughed our way through nearly 4 hours of clothing & scene changes. She’s lucky that she’s family because….

Oh and yes, I said studio space baby! It feels good having my own space to go to so that I can work on projects & bring clients. I was so ready 2 years ago for space or so I tell myself. Fortunately, the space came at the right time; when the universe willed it.

So now that I have built it, will they come? I have things aligned & looking forward to seeing what my effort will bring.

We will see what happens next! Will I be ready???

BTW, you can see a few more outtakes from Laureal’s shoot here.

And And And… I want to send a special shout out to my little sister Sade for backing me up as an assistant today!  She’s not interested in photography but was willing to help out her big brother.

Thanks to the Shadow & Act blog, I was hipped to a Detroit based documentary film titled “Grown in Detroit” directed by Dutch  film makers Mascha and Manfred Poppenk.

After viewing the trailer S&A posted I was sucked in & wanted to know more about the girls & farming program at the Catherine Ferguson Academy for young pregnant & parenting teen girls.

Incidentally, the Catherine Ferguson Academy is 1 of 3 schools in the nation for pregnant & parenting teens.

Synopsis:

“…Grown in Detroit focuses on the urban gardening efforts managed by a public school of 300, mainly African American, pregnant and parenting teenagers. In Detroit alone, there are annually more than 3,000 pregnant teenagers who drop out of high school. This school is one of three located in the United States. As part of the curriculum, the girls are taught agricultural skills on the school’s own farm located behind the school building what used to be the playground.

The young mothers, often still children themselves, are learning by farming to become more independent women and knowledgeable about the importance of nutritional foods. Many of them start out disliking the often physically hard work on the farm but this aversion disappears as they see their crops growing and being sold for profit. “Back to the roots”, a simple yet effective solution for a city that has to start all over again and perhaps a lesson to be learned for the rest of the world.”

If you are intrigued after seeing this preview, I would encourage you to make a donation to view the entire one-hour film. It’s worth it!

Also check out this piece that “Time” ran a few months ago on the school & film.

And actually, I watched the film with my daughters as a eye opener to bad choices, consequences & opportunity. They were quite interested in the farming, disturbed by the pregnant teens and amused by the one young lady who got stung by the bees. Admittedly, the girl getting stung by the bees was funny but I couldn’t laugh. Just saying.

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Update:

Comment April noted that CFA was slated to close along with many other Detroit public schools.  Fortunately, this is only a partial fact.

I just learned that CFA will not close, in terms of the program. Instead, it is being merged with another Detroit public school program.  Details on the move are yet to be announced.

Here is a snipper from a communication from CFA’s principal G. Asenath Andrews:

“I have received your out pouring of concern and energy for what’s best for the young women and children of Catherine Ferguson Academy. I was out of the country when the word came first that the school was closing then still out when that was revised to say that the school was being merged with a smaller program and moved to another building. At this point that is what I expect to happen. Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women is slated to move to the West-side Multi-cultural School. As hard as it is to think of a new location, I think this move is best for the future of the school.

I have already been in contact with the Assistant Superintendent over CFA and requested special assistance in moving the farm, barn soil animal and all to the new location…”

Guess who was recently interviewed by the Kiss My Black Ads blog. Me mofo!

Check it out here!

In other good news:

- One of my head shot clients just informed me that she got called for an HBO show audition! I love making people look great!

- I’m doing my first shoot in my studio space this weekend.

In my best Ashanti voice. “Oww baby!”

In the last year the Getty Flickr collection has encountered some major growth in terms of number of contributors & image content.

I see this growth as a good & bad situation. It’s good when my monthly royalty checks are deposited & bad when I have to wait for months to have newly submitted images to be submitted, approved, & keyworded for successful sales.

Even considering the serious lag in adding new content to the Flickr collection, I am secure in knowing that Getty is promoting the creative images submitted by talented Flickr contributors.

Now that I have a round of 15 new images to submit, I know what I’ll be busy doing Saturday night while enjoying a glass of my favorite Sauvigon Blanc.

If you’re on Flickr & interested being a contributor to the Getty collection, here is a link to helpful information.

I’m anticipating a good start to my weekend one day early & I hope to share some really great news Thursday evening.

If my things go as expected, it means that one of my bright ideas has manifested & will help move my photography career in a great direction.

Stay tuned!!!!!!

In other news:
- I ate two too many cookies tonight
- I totally blew my finance midterm
- I’m watching “Cinema Paridiso” (one of my favorite foreign films) this weekend.

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UPDATE:

Well, it jumped of today & my news is that………………….

I NOW HAVE STUDIO SPACE! Yes me!!!

It’s actually a shared space with the “Detroit League of Photographers” at the Russell Industrial Center (east side of Detroit), which is a hub of creativity that hosts a variety of artists.

I plan on being set up at the Russell in April, which is perfect because I have a shoot at the beginning of the month.

With this space, I can grow my business, not have to scavenge to borrow space & attract a wider variety of clients.

I’ve been dreaming of having a space at the Russell Industrial Center for the last two years but timing, opportunity, & resources were not aligned. Good thing I have some patience because this venture with the Detroit League of Photographers is right on time!

I’ll give this a try for several months & reevaluate. If all goes well, then great! If all is blah, then oh well.

Overall, I hope this will be my field of dreams. I’m building it & I want them to come. Whoever they may be.

In other news:
- I’m gonna eat another cookie tonight

Finding organic subjects is not always a easy thing to do during the cold Midwestern winters. I can’t wait until spring is here because I need to see colors other than white, gray, & brown.

I’m longing to see red, purple, blue & yellow. I’m ready to see leaves, bees, grass & flowers. LIFE!