A short film about my friend gordon and his car.
Antoine J. Girard x Seeker
In life, there are times when we find ourselves waiting. We wait for circumstances to shift, for someone to come along and rescue us, or, in my case, for permission to start creating. This habit of waiting can be detrimental to the creative process. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that the right moment or the right person will unlock our potential, but in reality, it's our actions that shape our destiny. Through action, we bring about change, and with change, we experience growth.
When I reached out to AJ, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. From what I could see, he had an incredible energy and surrounded himself with the right people. We eventually connected at my friend Ally’s studio, and together, we created something truly special. I'm beyond thrilled with the images we produced. Huge thanks to Ally for styling AJ in Seeker, and to AJ—I'm so glad our paths crossed.
One of my favorite moments from the shoot was when AJ said, “If I used my powers for evil, I would be a club promoter. Instead, I work with artists and curate experiences.” That quote perfectly encapsulates the creative spirit and the positive impact we can have when we choose to use our talents for good.
The Tanning Club
Keith Mitchhart
Nolan
Michael Bocksnick
Michael moved from Montana to California to pursue his dream of playing football at UCLA. Running has always been a passion for him, so much so that he has "born to run" tattooed across his leg as a testament to his love for the sport. For fun, Michael and his friends embark on long-distance runs that take them across various terrains and countries, exploring different parts of the globe. These adventures are more than just physical challenges; they embody a spirit of punk rock, counterculture, and a celebration of the human spirit's resilience and freedom. Through these experiences, Michael finds a unique blend of camaraderie, adventure, and personal growth.
Jarick
I came across Jarick while scrolling through The Speed Project’s Instagram. He has such a cool vibe and seemed really genuine, so I thought I’d reach out and feature him on my blog. Our mutual friend Gordon helped us connect, and I was stoked to get to know Jarick and hear his story. Jarick’s journey into the running scene is super inspiring. He started out working at a Nike store, where he was just another employee. When his co-worker, who led the run club, dropped out, Jarick stepped up to the plate. His enthusiasm and commitment didn’t go unnoticed. Nike corporate saw what he was doing and promoted him to marketing, where he got to connect with runners all over the world. Jarick has a positive attitude and willingness to take on new challenges. He’s a yes-man in the best way possible—someone who lets his actions do the talking. I feel like that us the best way to live. I’ve got to give a special shoutout to Ally Ferguson for letting us use her space for the shoot. Her brand, Seeker, is amazing, and it was awesome to collaborate with her. You can check out her work here. Also, a big thank you to Jarick’s wife, Ree, for steaming all our outfits and making sure everything looked perfect. Seeing Jarick and Ree work together as a team was truly inspiring.
The Day I Met Gordon Clark
When Gordon pulled up to the studio in his vintage Mercedes with custom wooden beaded seat covers, I knew we were in for a special day. His arrival had a certain old-school cool about it, like something out of a classic film. Gordon reminded me of the mountain climbers from the 70s who dominated Yosemite National Park—tough, free-spirited, and driven by a passion for adventure.
I had linked up with Gordon a week before over Instagram, letting him know we were interested in photographing him for the launch of Lief Runs' 2024 line. I could tell right away from his response that he was the real deal—super kind and a genuinely good guy.
Gordon is an animal. I’m talking about the kind of dude who starts the LA Marathon from the finish line, works his way backwards, then re-runs the race with the rest of the competitors for fun. Last year, he and his friends met in Salt Lake City and ran to Vegas as part of The Speed Project. He doesn’t mind running trails in a long-sleeve button-up, which he says is a veteran move.
I feel incredibly grateful that our paths crossed and thankful to the guys over at Lief for bringing me on board.
Check out the newest line of men’s running wear here!
Western Hydrodynamic Research
Had a great time getting together with my mate Pat to shoot some stuff for his brand WHR, his is making the coolest hats and all around top shelf merch. They also did a cool collab with Period Correct that I photographed featured below.
USA Womens National Water Polo
I had a really swell time capturing some images for Turbo USA, The brand who provides the caps and swimsuits for both the mens and women's national water polo teams. It was magnificent to see these women in action and has me feeling very patriotic. The amount of time, energy and effort one commits to play in the Olympic Games is astounding. I wish them the very best on the road to Rio!
Margeaux Hamrock
On the weekends, Margeaux Sells vintage clothes at the swap meet. She used to live in her van but now she rents a room in a house. Once a month she visits a Shaman who puts rocks on her back and chest; she says it is rejuvenating. She rides a motorcycle, but is thinking of selling it. She loves living in California, but is planning a trip to France. She has a tattoo of a heart just below her throat. Her record collection is big and she has lots of trinkets she's collected over the years. She also thinks one of the best questions you could ask someone is what happens when you die. Some days she believes in reincarnation, other days nothing at all. She likes to play her Ukulele and also enjoys dressing up, which can sometimes be a problem when the weather is too hot.
Check her out on Instagram @margeauxagogo
Tracy used to date a girl named Dominique, she was a model. They broke up, he kept the dogs. He sings in a band called The Corners and recently released his first solo album. He is love with a girl from germany and dreams of owning a garden house in Berlin. Tracy likes spending time on the road, new people, new places, they make him feel good. He used to be afraid of singing, now he does it for a living. He learned to drive a stick shift when he was 15. He is inspired by change.
Check out his page here.
Tracy Bryant
Sam was 15 when she left home. She hates authority, Her father is a police officer. She went to jail for a week after spitting in the face of a cop. She lives in California now but is originally from Kansas City. She works at a guitar shop and gets hit on regularly by Vietnamese men. Her roommates are a 65-year-old Cuban man who doesn’t speak English and two men whose names she doesn’t know. She stopped eating meat when she was 12 because a girl from her class wore a rabbit fur coat to school. She spent a few years as a drug dealer and claims to have sold the best acid in the Midwest. She was a punk rocker who loved to challenge the idea of conformity, until she realized she was conforming to life as a punk and gave it up. The most valuable thing she owns is a post card from her best friend Brett. Once, she was in a stripping contest at a local strip club and she said she was terrible. She has a twin sister who is a hippy and thinks she looks good while twerking. She drinks 5 cups of coffee a day and says she smokes too many cigarettes.
Sam
Alex Knost: An Artist
Here is a collection of images I have made of Alex Knost over the years. He is an artist, musician and surfer and writer. Always evolving, changing and growing. I am grateful that we crossed paths.
Check out his band Tomorrows Tulips.
2007
2003
2003
Kym Ellery: Australian Fashion Designer
"Kym Ellery is definitely Australia's most iconic luxury fashion designer."- Jon Laurenson
She is also super kind and easy to hang with. I stopped by her studio where she showed me around and we talked about life, meditation and all sorts of other good stuff. Check out the images and video below.
These are Kym's favorite glasses, she collaborated with her good friend Graz to make them come to life. Check them out here
This shoot was a collaboration with summersite.com be sure to check them out!
Monk Tattooers: The Story of Wat Bang Prah
No one really knows how old the temple is but it is widely known that monks have been tattooing here for hundreds of years. When I arrived, I bought 70 Bhat worth of offerings which included flowers, cigarettes, a skinny candle and some incense. This is a standard offering for a traditional Sak Yant tattoo. Wat Bang Prah is a big temple, with several buildings. Outside some of the buildings, monks tattooed worshippers in front of small crowds of people. It was very casual, relaxed and hot.
I was ushered into a small tiled room where a monk sat cross legged on the floor as he tattooed mans back. A dozen or so people sat on the floor beside them and watched, or played with their i-phones. Hanging from the walls were dusty pictures of smiling holy men. Other than those pictures, the room didn't look particularly holy, though the air was soothing and calm.
Some of the monks wore all white, while others dressed in classic saffron robes. The crowd waiting to be tattooed was diverse. Both young and old, men and women, some looked more conservative, while others looked as though their story was more interesting. I suppose this is expected in all religious institutions.
The people who come here believe the tattoos from monks will empower them, protect, bring prosperity, health, luck and love. Sometimes they enter into a trancelike state as they embody the spirit of their artwork, and take on its strength and power. Towards the end of my visit, I saw a man begin to pray as the monk finished the script on his head. His hands, pressed flat together by his chest started shaking, and he began to breath heavily. I could hear heavy whispers of prayer on his breath. The shaking moved up his arms and soon his whole body began shaking and his deep voice became louder until finally he clenched his fists over his head and roared as fiercely as anything you've ever heard. The people in the room just sat quietly and watched him. The atmosphere was tense. He calmed down, or came to, and moved to sit beside the next man, to hold his leg as the monk started on his next piece.
I read that the tattoo blessing was originally a Hindi tradition, and that warriors used to journey to the temples to pray and seek blessings for luck and guidance in battle. A young man who was having script inked across his chest caught my eye. He was there with his brother and father who held him while the metal spike was being tapped into his chest, leaving ink behind. Watching these men hold onto each other as prayers were etched into their skin felt like an ancient homage to their ancestral warriors.
I reflect on the artwork covering my own body and feel compassion for the people sitting in this room, who are hoping to build strength through the ink of a monk in their journey here on earth. I think about each piece of mine, when I got it, why, what it represents, how it reflects a part of my life or an element of my character. It deepened my appreciation for tattoos as symbols of our struggles and our victory’s. Sometimes they happen in a parlor close to home or at a small shop on the other side of the world.
Tattoos are something that can make us all feel connected, the markings of our own path through battle and bliss. Maybe instead of treating people differently because of the markings on their skin we should take a moment to think about where that person has been. They may have fought battles that you cannot comprehend. Watching these men leave marks on the bodies of others made me contemplate whether they were leaving anything at all, or were they really bringing to the surface all the great things that make us human, lifting up the bold markings that stand for strength, power and perseverance. These markings are the physical manifestation of what it means to feel.
I Am Fisherman
While everyone sleeps they are awake, pulling food from the sea. Their lives are lived on the open swell, in the sea breeze, not knowing what will be filling tomorrows nets. The fishermen of Kep, Cambodia breathe life into the small fishing village which has become renowned for 'having the best crabs in Cambodia'. Cambodian tourists spend their holidays here, feasting on the squid and crabs of the mornings catch as they swing in hammocks under the thatch roofed gazebos that line the shore.
The fishermen come drifting in just after the sun rises, after fishing far off shore, overnight. They're mostly on long tail boats or Pangas, which are powered by old motors pulled from Toyota Corollas of the 90's. Some are powered by the fishermen themselves. They anchor their boats off shore and wade in, dragging behind them handmade cages made of bamboo filled with their catch. You can see if the catch is good on a mans face even before he reaches shore. Today there was a man who was absolutely beaming. As his basket of gold hit the deck, crowds rushed over to see not only a full stock of famous Kep crabs, but squid, octopuses, fish, and all kinds of wild undersea creatures that I have never seen before. Once they have made it to the small pier, the loot is usually passed to a wife or family member who is in charge of sales. Groups of women gather under sun umbrellas, talking and waiting for their fishermen to come back from the blue. There is a vibrant energy in the air even though it is only seven in the morning. Up and down the dock, voices shriek and shrill as they barter with customers, who are usually local residents or restaurant and hotel owners. The sun is hot even though it just broke over the horizon and almost everyones face and neck is covered by large hats and the typical Cambodian krama. Bits and pieces of old fish and crabs line the shores, along with plastic bags and styrofoam containers. They love to use plastic bags and styrofoam in markets all over S.E. Asia. The ocean pays the biggest price.
Its hard work dragging your pay from the bottom of the ocean. I am always curious to hear what fisherman have to say about the ocean, because I feel as though they have a uniquely close relationship with the sea, an unforgiving one of give and take. I asked Petra, who worked at the guesthouse if any of the fisherman spoke English, he laughed and said “if you speak English, you are no longer fisherman. You drive tuktuk!” There are inevitable changes rapidly happening in this small seaside town, and you can only hope that the fishing tradition that has made this town so famous will survive it.
Petra was kind enough to be my translator so that I could interview a fisherman named Vibom who is 22. Vibom told he spends more time on water than on land. He told of when he first started fishing after he was introduced to it by his friend, “I was afraid, but the fear slowly went away, storm after storm and before I knew it the boat and ocean felt more like home than land and the shore”. Vibom and the other fishermen spend their nights under the moon, humbled by the storms that pass. There is something so honest about a life lived on the sea, especially at this level, not taking more then you need, living simply in harmony with nature. Yet there is a dark side to this life. Petra and Vibom spoke softly about fisherman who were taken by Thai commercial fishing vessels and kept out at sea for years on end, as slaves. Petra said they are “kept so far out they can't even see the shore”.
For days I found myself wandering the shores of Kep, wondering what was so appealing about the town. Watching people who live in such harmony with nature is such a long way from the frozen food section in my local grocer in the United States. There are people here still fishing the old fashion way, just taking enough to make a living for their families. It's an authentic example of what sustainability and community really looks like. There is something about these men who pull their food from the sea. They are simple and humble and I am grateful to have spent some time in this small seaside town.
California
California has always had a special place in my heart and every time I explore her I find something new. There is an abundance of raw natural beauty just waiting around each corner.
I am glad I was able to share some of this with Sophie.
A white string makes it's way out of the frame, at it's end is a kite flying over a group of burning bodies, next to the river Ganga. These waters run through the holiest city in all of india, Varanasi where hindus come to die and exit the cycle of reincarnation. I was so drawn to this boy. Him and his friends laughed and shrieked and they played around the burning and dead.. It so vivid and real, you can feel in the air the cycle of life on a massive scale. His eye seems to see through me. He understands things that I do not and I feel like an infant as I lift my camera and preserve this moment.
In the west when someone dies we cover them up and ship them off where it is someone else's duty to tend to the body. Here in the streets of Varanasi you see hoards of people with their hands carrying the bodies of their dead. Family and friends. They weep, throwing flowers while chanting. It has honor and depth and is over powering. The whole city smells of burning oak, in the winter it is cold and summers bring unbearable heat. Grown men run to the tops of buildings after work to fly kites from rooftops. Holy men come from the mountains and sit in meditation for days on end. Varanasi is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It has been said that the Buddha walked these very streets. This is the city where children play next to burning bodies.
*Note: After a body has finished burning a man cracks the skull with a big stick to release to soul.
Image Speak: "Boy Flying Kite"
Should We Wake UP
Two people talking about ideas. The volume is quite but the message is honest.