where were you...?

one year ago today, we learned shockingly of the death of the King of pop. where were you when you heard the news? i was in prospect park about to enjoy FEMI KUTI (another King) with family and despite the joy of the festivities we all felt deflated, worn out, shocked, and suddenly exhausted. the wine soured a bit and the yummy flavours of our twilight picnic just turned to sawdust in our mouths. the moon, she dimmed. despite knowing that no one lives forever, somehow the MJ that was peter pan was not supposed to die on such a gorgeous day. after the roar of the african beat, when everyone was shuffling out of the bandshell, over the hum of the crowd came the eerie opening chords of GOT TO BE THERE. so glad i was. RIP MJ, please. x

best of all to sinden

i enjoyed working with photographer SINDEN COLLIER for a couple of years. she has recently parted ways with the agency, but i feel our paths will cross again. she is painfully talented... an artist that may be here before her time. her eye is nuanced, and flavored... both gentle and revealing.

i like best her pictures where she has the subject so at ease they may give everything away.

she does this not by pretending, but with her deep need to know what people are all about.

i feel the same way.

when we created these images of the radiantly pregnant PAULA PATTON, sinden collaborated with the amazing harriette cole, who has steered many projects over the years, always with singular success. proud to know her personally and work with her professionally. when dynamic women like this trust you with their images, with their projects... you feel grace. when i saw the final choices, i felt immediately that one of these two images should be the cover... when EBONY chose BOTH of them, and made the month a double cover surprise, i was thrilled.

great subject, wonderful team... another good job, well done.

MIKO LIM + DDM

my photographer MIKO LIM is one of a kind. he hits it hard, every time... it doesn't matter if we are creating images to sell music, jeans, or athletic wear ~ miko approaches every job with wry humor, laid-back professionalism, perverted humour, and an ease that belies his youth. he is always fun to work with because he makes me laugh and scold. i adore him, despite the fact that he teases me relentlessly. he is a good man and a remarkable photographer. i am so happy to have his talent and his hilarity in my life. (COME BACK TO NYC miko!)

when we shot these images for DDM (diddy dirty money for Interscope), it was the kind of epic production where there are so many fly elements something is bound to go awry. despite delays, rough patches and cryptic messages, we got it all done beautifully. the dirty money girls ROCK with their extreme sweetness, southern kindness and impeccable good manners (rare). diddy gave us all his rep implies by running the show with an iron fist... but when he thanked me, at the end of two long shooting days, he was charming and redeemed.

Barbara Kruger

barbara kruger has always inspired me, since i first laid eyes on her ground-breaking work when i was about 15 years old, and playing with fire, by tossing simple words around in complicated ways... to provoke, to incite, to question, to tease,inform, torment and teach.

still love her impactful pushes of boundaries. see more of her work here:

http://barbarakruger.com