Photographer Bill Frakes follows Missy Koch Billingsley over a 25 year period through her leg amputation due to cancer to her current life in Italy with her husband and three children.
See more of Bill Frakes’ work here.
Say hello to the Altpick Library on Altpick.com:
A great place to add books, magazines or merchandise that you’ve published or want to recommend. Just email us your link and thumbnail and we’ll post it for you. We’ll be making our official announcement to the industry on Thursday. Consider this your members-only sneak peek.
Oh yes, there’s more. We are in the concept and design stage of the 4th edition of The Alternative Pick Deck. We will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Alternative Pick with another beautifully designed deck of promotional cards. To be a part of this and celebrate with us, please email us to receive the media kit in a few weeks.
Have you read Bob Steven’s amazing story (“The Usual Suspects“) on the Altpick Connects Blog? There’s more in store in the coming weeks. Subscribe and stay in touch.
Don’t forget to update your Altpick page. Keep it fresh with your new images. We know you have some wonderful pieces sitting on your hard drive. If you need a helping hand, just give us a shout. We’re here for you.
2011 Copyright Craig LaRotonda
Craig LaRotonda’s exhibition of new paintings opens at Last Rites Gallery in New York City this month.
Opening Reception: July 22nd , 7pm-11pm
Last Rites Gallery unveils it’s newly renovated space with opening receptions for two highly acclaimed artists, Chet Zar and Craig LaRotonda. This will be both artists’ second solo shows at the gallery.
CRAIG LAROTONDA: Craig LaRotonda creates captivating and mysterious images, influenced by classic paintings from 15th and 16th centuries. Loaded with deep emotion and superb craftsmanship, his ability to make ugliness, deformities, and oddities become esthetically magnificent is what makes his art so unique. In his own words: “My paintings explore the unspeakable nature of consciousness. I think reality is much more than what we perceive with the five senses. I’m captivated by the spaces in between, like the passage between life and death, which seems to play continuously in my work”. Craig’s extensive body of work as illustrator has given this artist broad recognition, and his fine art can be found in the homes of collectors such as Johnny Depp, Kirsten Dunst, Guillermo Del Toro and James Gunn.
Craig La Rotonda’s Altpick page here.
Last Rite Gallery here.
Long nights of filming, man-made rain and screaming police with guns drawn. A typical Sunday evening. For Jeffrey Lamont Brown.
Tallgrass Pictures LLC announces the release of the teaser for Sunday Evening, a feature film adapted from a successful European stage play written by Zachary Karabashliev. Preview screenings have generated enthusiastic responses with many fans anxiously awaiting the full-length feature film.
Produced and directed by Jeffrey Lamont Brown and starring Camelia Dee, Catalina Maynard, Joshua Hershfield, Dave Rivas, Benjamin Mathes, and Stephanie Philo. Set in one of Southern California’s exclusive communities, this unsparing and unexpectedly funny film delves into the lives of two families sharing one street and one rainy Sunday evening. Beautiful realism unravels.
Nick is a successful stock broker, married to and still in love with his sweetheart, Rose. And he has just found out about her affair with a redneck.
Their next-door-neighbor, Stela, a film star from the 80’s, is now a face from pharmaceutical TV ads and a stay-at-home mom. When Stela’s confrontation with her daughter, Jenny, cartwheels out of control and intertwines with Nick and Rose’s clash, the film radically changes perspective.
Headed by Jeffrey Lamont Brown, Tallgrass Pictures brings a fresh, reality-based approach to advertising photography and filmmaking for clients nationwide. A true hybrid production company, Tallgrass is creating seamless content (still photo to broadcast) in their signature lush, authentic style. Drawing on deep experience in digital imaging and post production, Tallgrass’ tightly integrated team approach allows it to deliver multiple versions of a visual asset over varied distribution platforms rapidly.
Tallgrass Pictures is a broadcast and print production company with a simple mission: to make beautiful photographs and films for clients around the world. Nurturing strategic partnerships with companies that are creative, client-focused and place a high value on integrity is perhaps why they are listed amongst a myriad of “Best Of” lists.
We also know what they do on a Sunday Evening.
Jeffrey Lamont Brown’s Altpick Page, click here.
Sunday Evening trailer, click here.
A lion’s share. You want yours. And rightfully so.
Because we know you’re ahead of the curve. You were the first one to the Facebook and Twitter starting gates. You were first in line when The Social Network was released. You’ve worn the badge of mayor in multiple FourSquares across the city. You’ve got Klout. You beta-tested Google+.
New media marketing strategy? Solid. You know they play an important part. You’ve integrated social media into your overall savvy marketing mix. You’ve added the “Share” functionality throughout your website, blogs and eblasts.
Why? Because you’re well aware that valuable industry information, links and photos have a good chance of being shared, Leo.
Is that a roar we hear?
Aaron Meshon does not wear a cardigan. He does not smoke a pipe. He does, however, create a witty little peek-a-boo app at the Apple store for young children (and the not so young) that features wacky noises and sounds populated by over 80 lovable characters. Yes, we said 80+.
This is the first release from POP and PALS . The enchanting game works on all iOS devices. Available now.
An award-winning illustrator with a kinetic color-rich style, we don’t know who are more excited: fans of Meshon’s art or their 3-year-olds.
From one super tall skyscraper, eavesdrop on what my neighbors are saying:
“We always had to swim so far to make copies, but now that Mr. Copier lives upstairs we don’t have to travel far at all! ” – The Harbor Seals
“The waterfall that lives next to me has done wonders for my complexion.” – Mrs. Bug Zapper
“It is so hard to do homework when you have a harmonica living next door.” – Penquin Jr.
“I would like to bring attention to the management company that my upstairs neighbor, Mr Soft Serve has been melting all over my burrow.” – Mrs. Groundhog
“We love our morning view from the penthouse!” – Toast and Toaster
“The subway is crowded but it makes it easy to get to school.” – School of Fish
Join the neighborhood here.
$0.99
* Category: Games
* Released: Jun 24, 2011
* Version: 1.0
* 1.0
* Size: 14.0 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: aaron meshon
* © 2011 Aaron Meshon
Rated 4+
And that squeal you hear? It’s from the seals. That’s right.
Louisa Curtis has chops. Her credentials come from years in the commercial photography industry. She now helps photographers refine their vision, target appropriate audiences and create/implement Internet-driven business plans.
A question she has been asked and is imminently qualified to answer so generously is: What do I need to know before I make the jump from a regional market to a national or even international market? Interested?
Here’s a teaser: Daunting? Remember this: everyone started somewhere.
Are you ready to take that next step up on the ladder to building your career?
Is the work good enough?
Are you up for the task?
What do art buyers want or more importantly, need?
Ask yourself three questions before moving into a larger market.
Growing your art business is like growing any business. Honing your craft and building your capabilities. One step at a time. Why create two sets of mailing lists for your clients? How to approach a conversation with an art buyer. What kinds of questions to ask? There is no such thing as a stupid question. Truly.
Explore the blog post [link below] for qualified tips from Louisa on how to get that job. The one you want. You’re welcome. Oh and she’s partial to champagne and Godiva.
For the blog post in its entirety: click here [courtesy of the fine folks at Agency Access: the only one stop promotional service that takes care of direct marketing for photographers, illustrators, artist reps and stock agencies]
I call myself a “Closet Latino”. For Altpick member and photographer, Bob Stevens, the Latin culture has played a pivotal part in his life. Growing up in LA, he remembers visiting Plaza de Los Angeles, the original square around which the city was built.
That immersive beginning led him to recognize a project potential in an article he read in the LA Times about a former gang member who left behind his previous life on the street and was fulfilling his dream of working in the entertainment/movie industry. A bold move into Hollywood that only a truly focused person can attempt with any hope of success. An inevitable move to contact an ex-gang member to pitch a project that may bring out more than the skeptic in someone not inclined to trust a stranger, let alone at times, a friend.
Image courtesy of Bob Stevens
His name is Manny Jimenez. His talent agency is “Suspect Entertainment”. His why is to represent people who like him, had the look and the experience of “the gang life”. His clients are TV production and feature film projects with authentic looking types.
Can the anti-hero be the hero?
Bob contacted Manny and asked. Several meetings and conversations later, Manny accepted his proposal to document various friends and acquaintances of his. The concept involved an interview of the subjects during which they were asked to choose a place/location of personal significance to them, as well as an object that had great meaning.
Bob shot studio portraits, still life images of their belongings and environmental portraits at their chosen locations. The video “Los Ojos” shows behind the scenes footage of the shoot as well as interviews of the subjects on location and in the studio.
Image courtesy of Bob Stevens
Intrigued by the compelling concept, we sat down with him for a series of questions burning to be asked.
Image courtesy of Bob Stevens
Altpick: How challenging was it for you to break through any stereotypes before, during and after this shoot?
Bob: “I probably had the same ‘stereotypes’ in my mind as anyone else, since I grew up on the west side of LA, far away from their ‘hood’. As I began to interview potential candidates for this project and spend some time around them, I realized just how different I was, and that whatever hardships I might have had in my life paled by comparison.”
What is normal to you and me is shaped by our perception of normal in our environment. As Frank said in his interview, “people in East LA is bad but if you don’t know what ‘good’ is, then bad is just normal.”
Image courtesy of Bob Stevens
Image courtesy of Bob Stevens
Bob: “The ‘Los Ojos’ project made me realize how valuable my skills are when applied to telling ‘real’ stories, not just the ‘created’ ones I have shot while working in advertising. I feel that I matured as an artist in the process. I am eager to shoot more projects like this.”
The personal becomes very personal when you’re separated from your subject by only a camera. The focus is sharper. The stories are just this side of disbelief. The person is changed. In front of the lens and behind the lens.
The creator becomes the creation.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Ketterman
Photo credit: Ryan Ketterman
Check out Ryan’s work on his website and Altpick page.
Hennie Haworth loves mangos. She has a thing for the color yellow. Inspired by natural patterns which manifest themselves in lyrical hand-drawn mixed media illustrations, she has done projects for … oh, let’s see … Paul McCartney’s recently released McCartney II Deluxe Edition Box Set.
Her illustrations can be seen in an animated documentary by London-based animation studio, Show + Tell, featuring audio commentary from Paul McCartney, as well as rare and never-before-seen footage of the Beatles. Available now.
We wonder if Hennie likes yellow submarines.
Hennie Haworth’s Altpick Page click here.
Magnet Rep Page click here.
The Pick 