Xavier Nuez » Images

The “almost” file

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:42:03 +0000

This is an image I shot 2 years ago in Seattle… I thought it was good, but I decided recently it will go into the “almost” file…

So here is its brief moment in the spotlight:

Father of the Bride

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:43:42 +0000

In the late 80’s, when I shot most of my street photography, I came across an outlandish wedding where almost everyone seemed to be having a ball. But the generational gap was stark, and it looked like a nightmare come true for this elderly man and his wife.

Happy Christmas!

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:24:59 +0000

Eat, drink and be merry!

A winter wonderland photograph (with bonus Christmas colors!!)… shot on a night of freezing rain in Montreal, 1985

Morocco

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:47:10 +0000

Here is another old street photo, shot in Morocco, 1991. I stayed with a family in this neighbohood for a week. There was a boy my age in the family, Safi, who I hung out with, but if we were walking down the street, he would walk on the other side, for fear of being labelled an illegal tour guide by the police. The penalty was time in jail and a beating. Of course it was impossible to maintain this distance at all times, and one day while we’re talking, an umarked van squeels to a halt next to us and 2 police come out, grab Safi, and throw him in the back, where others “criminals” are sitting and waiting . Every one of them looks petrified. I had to scream and plead with the police, lying to them that Safi’s sister was wife to my brother. After an incredibly long exchange between all of us, they decide in the end to let Safi stay.

Stencil graff – Roadsworth and Banksy

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:43:41 +0000

Montreal, where I grew up, always had excellent graffiti. A current stencil graff artist in the city goes by the name Roadsworth. My friend Randy sent me these photos:

But the king of stencil graff is Banksy, a British artist

Ice water

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:24:17 +0000

I drove into LA today…. I drove through the night when it must have been in the 30’s or low 40’s in the central valley – death by hypothermia. Then up comes the sun and its instantly scorching hot – death by heat stroke. I think its like this all the time out here. Its very strange for a guy from the East.

Ok, also strange: I went ice-skating in Burbank today. I’ve started ice skating again, because a good workout makes me feel almost sane. (And I grew up playing hockey). It is one of the exercises I can still do since I tore my left calf muscle from running – 6 years ago. It still hasn’t properly healed!!! Which gives me no shortage of grief. So from the scorching heat, I walked into a massive ice-box, where I laced up and went skating.

I had a couple of good meetings today, including one at CAA (Creative Artists Agency) in Beverley Hills. They will be helping out with the Olive Crest event, which was re-scheduled for Feb 09.

Scorching heat, but of a different kind:

I shot this in 1994 for Antara Productions, a Latin event and music production company in Montreal. The image was used in a street poster and for newspaper ads. I worked with Antara for 2 years, producing a new, always sexy image every month. And now I crawl through filthy, dangerous, rat-infested alleys at night… go figure…

New Image! Alley no. 110

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:33:08 +0000

This rusted out trash compactor was shot in Indianapolis this Summer.

Here is my blog post the night after the shot. And this is 2 days later with a more detailed account of the shoot.

Alley no. 110 – Compactor (2008, Indianapolis, IN, 2am)

This is the Polaroid that was shot that night to test my lighting. Following the test, I made 3 exposures on film. Polaroid is notorious for producing bad colors at night, which is fine. I’m using it to see the intensity/direction/quality/coverage of my light and the available light - I know what most of the colors will be. My film, thankfully, captures a much wider, and more accurate, range of color.

Flamenco dance

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:42:38 +0000

One of my wife’s friends, Natalya, is a flamenco dancer. She asked me to take pictures of her in costume, which I did Sunday afternoon. My parents are from Spain, and so I grew up watching and listening and loving flamenco. My mom is from the culturally rich southern province of Andalusia, where the dance and musical art form originated (my dad is from Zaragoza, in the north). Growing up she would often spin into an improvised flamenco flourish, and on special occasions would wear one of her flamenco outfits.

Here’s a typical scene in a Spanish Flamenco bar

And here are some of the photos from our shoot.

…and my wife Pam, who performs belly dancing… also shot yesterday.

Dave LeFebvre

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:43:47 +0000

My friend Dave LeFebvre is a brilliant musician, composer and arranger. He is the sax-playing front man of the Dave LeFebvre Group and he asked me to take some pictures of his show last night at the Jazz School in Berkeley. His 3rd CD is due out soon and these photos will play some role in the visuals….

New shot old shot

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:12:10 +0000

I shot this last year in San Francisco and I don’t know if it belongs in the Alley series.

Good: Its an obscured, remote corner of the city, at night and it has a haunting, lonely yet lovely quality.

Bad: Theres nothing old and weathered

Decisions, decisions…