Fun evening shooting some portraits of Claudine at the studio. Claudine needed some new pictures for an agency and in addition to head shots and some fashion/lifestyle type images, she also needed some hand shots. That was a first for me. Anyway, once we figured out the best angles for her hands it was a piece of cake. I don’t think I’ve ever said this before and definitely not in the studio, “Great hands!”

Music for the session included Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black.

I received a phone call from Canadian born, New York based designer Lawrence Pizzi in November 2011 regarding a fashion show for New York Fashion Week. Although the details hadn’t been ironed out, he asked if I would cover a fashion event which would include several designers. I shot Mercedes Benz of Buffalo Fashion Week last year where I met Lawrence and I loved his avant garde designs. The opportunity to shoot his designs again and to shoot at New York Fashion Week was an absolute no brainer for me. Fast forward a couple of months after numerous emails for media accreditation, details of the show, and research for hotels in NY, I was booked.
Code Purple was the name of the fashion event and it was closing out Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. It is a project that incorporates designers, ING Acivewear and other key sponsors in the name of educating people about and protecting people from contracting malaria. The venue was the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. What a spectacular place to host a fashion show! Crazy!! I found my spot in the pit pretty much center of the runway beside Getty Image photographer Neilson Barnard with whom I talked as we waited for the show to begin. The lighting was excellent but only if you avoided the edges of the runway which unfortunately many models didn’t do. The night was long incorporating four runway shows, three musical performances, an auction, several speeches and it also started 1.5 hours late. Anyway, it was a great event that included special guests Michael Franzese, Cynthia Bailey and the Nigerian Princess Kiesha Omilana.
A special thank you to Lawrence Pizzi. Paris??
All images of Lawrence Pizzi’s runway show can be viewed here.
All images of 5001 Flavors runway show can be viewed here.
All images of Che Elliott’s runway show can be viewed here.
All images of By Barak’s runway show can be viewed here.
All other miscellaneous runway images, special guests and performers can be viewed here.

I had a few hours to kill before shooting a fashion event for New York Fashion Week so I went for a walk around Soho, Tribeca and  Greenwich Village. It had been a few years since I’d been in New York and walking familiar streets in a balmy 10 degrees celsius on this February day made for a nice return. It certainly put a bounce and swagger in my walk. I spent more time absorbing my surroundings and reflecting on how great it was to be away from Toronto shooting in New York than I did taking photographs although I did manage a few street shots. This man was not using the public phone but was on a cell phone desperately trying to save his relationship with his wife/girlfriend.  I caught a bit of his dialogue as I walked by and took a shot and only realized later the irony of the advertisement.