Respect.

I stumbled upon the first issue of Respect a few months back, and was absolutely blown away by the concept. Calling itself a "photo-journal of hip-hop," Respect is a celebration of the symbiotic relationship/collaboration between hip hop artists and photographers. The magazine puts it like this: "With the print game changing and the ever-growing amount of free urban content on the Web, there is a need for a publication that raises the quality standard, delivering world-class editorial and images by some of the most celebrated photographers in pop culture."

In fewer words, it's bad-ass.

One of the other cool things the magazine has created is a series of ads, sponsored by K-SWISS, called the self-portrait series. Here is an example, featuring photographer Jonathan Mannion:

What I like best about the series isn't so much the portrait, but the mini-documentaries they post on their website about the featured photographer. Here's part one of Mannion's:

If you're a fan of hip hop, photography, or (like me) both - pick yourself up a copy of Respect.

My First British Editorial Spread

The new issue of Mumsense Magazine is out, featuring a story I shot called 'Silent Nights.' Mumsense is a brand new British magazine for parents who want tips on 'making sense of family life.' It is a beautifully designed publication, and I'm so thrilled to have contributed to it. Once again, I had the great pleasure of working with my good friend and extraordinarily talented stylist/set designer Valerie Mangum. They gave us three full bleed pages!

Thanks, Mumsense. I sincerely hope we can work together again very soon.

VIBE Magazine Rises From The Ashes

When I saw this cover on newsstands as a kid - shot by the late, great Shawn Mortensen - I dreamed of one day shooting for the magazine myself. I loved (and still love) hip hop, and Tupac was one of my favorites. It blew my mind that someone's job could actually be photographing such an amazing artist - in a straight jacket, no less. The resulting image conveys a potent mix of beauty, danger and shock value. 

It goes without saying that (having yet to shoot for them) I was very upset to hear six weeks ago that VIBE was the latest in a long line of great magazines to go under. 

This morning, I was thrilled to read over on the venerable blog APE, that VIBE is to relaunch. The emphasis will be online at first, returning in printed form - as a quarterly - sometime in 2010. Read all about it here.

Maybe I'll get my shot at a VIBE assignment after all....