#landantwin #landantwin2

Hanging out by the East Bank Club pool you might encounter these two entrepreneurial brothers known collectively as the Landan Twins. They're kind of the twin, male, Midwestern version of a Nicole Richie with yellow toe nail polish.  The brothers are scenesters with a dedicated Twitter following who's business is to freshen your lifestyle.

 They were surprisingly energetic and professional arriving with a stack of expensive watches (attended by a security guard),  and their own stash of vodka delivered by liquor messenger. I shot these guys in my studio for the cover of Time Out Chicago as they leapt deftly as miniature gazelles wielding with cocktail glasses. Not a drop of Gray Goose was spilled.

Styling: Heather Brooks
Make up: Morgal Blaul
Retouching: Tim Blokel
Photo Editor: Nicole Radja
On-set art director: Carrie Ferris

Director Anna Shapiro for CS.

I get the opportunity to work with and direct some extremely talented stage actors for magazines and theater marketing. It's less often that I direct the directors, who because of their trade, are even closer to my heart. Great directors clearly communicate their vision to an audience through the performances of their actors, and do it in such a way that the performance may grow and change over time. No two performances are the same. It's the opposite of anything one can do digitally.

One such director is Anna Shapiro, the Tony winning collaborator of Tracy Letts and director of Steppenwolf's August Osage County. She's back at the Steppenwolf collaborating with Letts, directing Chekov's Three Sisters. I shot her for Modern Luxury's CS magazine at Steppenwolf.

Signs of summer

Not much to say here-just summer eye candy. Maybe there's a connection...

Dirty bedtime story

You've had your bed for too many years  and it's seen a LOT of action. You need better support for your night moves so you order a new mattress. It shows-up, gets set-up and the old one is taken away.  Though have you ever wondered where your old stained and tired mattress goes?

I don't have the perfect answer but I do know that there's a thriving secondary market for mattresses. Like, have you ever seen a mattress roped to the outside facade of a dollar store? Or a pile of plastic wrapped twins stacked 12 high for sale at a bodega/ furniture store? These are not new Sealy's.  They've been reconditioned.

 

 I'm not sure if mattress resale is clean a clean and legal business so I won't disclose this location. At the "mattress factory" old mattresses are stripped (I hope) down to their foundations and built back up with new fabrics and foam.  I stopped in yesterday to spend a sweaty hour relishing in pattern, piles and plushes. 

 I've always been attracted to mattresses because of their colorful and gaudy patterning but have been disappointed that all the floral fabric and colors are a thing of the past. But at the mattress factory history lives on, at least for the moments before they go under the knife for another go-round. Personally, I'll pony up for the Serta and pay retail.

Stressful Skies

Why do people brag about how the they're all, "flying out to L.A." or have to "catch a flight to Dubai" when we all know FLYING SUCKS?  Almost nobody flies first class which may be something to brag about if you can afford it. I mean you get a meal and all the warm rolls you can stuff down your shirt but it's basically like going to IHOP with less leg room.

But imagine that flying was your life!  Yeah, the pilots get to be up front, barricaded from the throngs of passengers, but the flight attendants are in the trenches with us authority defying bathroom goers and Words With Friends addicted celebrities. 

We shot this cover for Time Out Chicago to encapsulate all hell and anxiety born by our always cheerful flight attendants. Trust me; this isn't your fathers PanAm anymore.

 

Photograpy: Saverio Truglia

Styling: Courtney Rust

Hair and make up: Karen Brody

Retouching: Tim Blokel

Talent: Heidi J. -Stewart Talent

Photo editor: Nicole Radja 

Blue tray: State of Illinois building food court.

Alone with Teatro Vista and Collaboraction

Without much planning or any concepting for that matter, I improvised a series of images for my friends at Collaboration and Teatro Vista for their upcoming, Yo Solo Festival of Latino  shows. We shot 4 of the performers in partial silhouette with the plan to have a designer cobble something together using them all. That was until this guy arrived, took off his shirt and kicked out a days worth of work in 20 minutes.

Two days of Tony

Both yesterday and today I ran into Tony; a smartly dressed Chicagoan on his way to "class".

Tony first captured my attention with his flowing orange scarf and cream cowboy hat.

Asking what course he's taking, he tells me he's taking the bus to class, gestures down the street and repeats that he's going to class. Tony graciously let me photograph him both days while we talked about his birthplace, Acapulco and what he's got going on here in the states. I gather that he's invested in real estate both here and in Mexico, and that he's enrolled in some classes right now.

Today I saw Tony again wearing a cobalt blue scarf and a shirt on which was printed KBB. Kelly Blue Book I wonder? Very coincidentally I bought a used car today.