Let’s face it interior photography can be invasive.  Having a photographer photograph a house or office can be alarming to your client.  My goal is to put your client at ease, as well as create beautiful, publishable, imagery of your project.  One of the ways we achieve this is by showing your client that we truly care about their space.

For example, just like taking off our shoes at the door, the first thing we do when bringing our lighting and camera equipment in is lay down a clean moving blanket out of the way.   On this blanket my assistant and I place our gear in a neat organized manner.  We work from this location.  Gear is pulled as needed and the cases never go anywhere else.  The shoot stays organized and clean.

We want your client to feel honored that you are so proud of your design work that you are having it professionally photographed!

This was our set up for a recent interior design photo-shoot.

While editing images last week at my office I began hearing a repetition of low pulsating tones.  Once I opened my door I realized what it was.  My office, located in the center of Groton,  is in a early 1800’s center entrance colonial house that is home to a few small business and sits directly beside the Historic First Baptist Church.  This magnificent old church, complete with working clock tower, is the Kalliroscope Gallery, home, studio, and workshop of artist Paul Matisse (grandson to Henri). 

Paul Matisse is a “Sound Sculptor” among many other things.  He makes long, tuned,  cylindrical bells with beautifully mechanized hammers.  When struck these bells emit a low pulsating sound that you both feel and hear for many minutes.   You’ve probably seen (and heard) his work.  If you’ve ever gotten off the Red Line in Cambridge at the Kendal/MIT subway stop, his Bells hang between the tracks (Kendall Band Pythagoras musical sculpture) and are actuated by large handles on each side of the platform.  There is also the Bell for the National Japanese-American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington DC, The “Musical Fence” at the Decordova Sculpture Park, and “The Olympic Bell” for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.  This Bell that I was hearing is his latest.  It is temporarily set up for testing alongside his studio.

A commission for the Chateau La Coste Vineyard in France it will grace the grounds that are being transformed into a  Study Center, an Art Center, a Restaurant, Amman Hotel & Spa, and finally, a very large Sculpture Park. The architects on the project are Tadao Ando, Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, and Jean Prouvé.  The park will have sculptures or installations by, among others, Guggi, Turrell, Shannon, Calder, Miyajima, Bourgeois, Gillick, Sugimoto, Scully, Serra, Tunga, and Goldsworthy.

Matisse describes this latest bell.  “My Bell is one of the commissions for the park.  It is a heavy aluminum tube about twenty feet long that rests horizontally across the tops of two supporting columns, some twelve feet above the ground.  A centered rope hangs beneath it. Pulling on this rope puts four heavy hammers into motion; pulling several times in succession is enough to send them upwards where they all strike the Bell simultaneously.  After the impact, the high cylindrical bell makes a marvelous sound, a deep vibration that is quite wonderful both to hear and to feel. (For the musical among you the Bell’s note is a 2F, the second F below middle C, ringing at 87.3 Hertz)  After it sounds, it goes on and on for a long and satisfying time. ”

Matisse has named it the “Meditation Bell”.  On the exterior the “Meditiation Bell” is beautifully sleek and simple in form.  Hidden  in this design are the mechanisms and tunings, so complex they took 3 years and many revisions to perfect.  The hammers are so wonderfully balanced it takes very little force to set them in motion.

Yesterday was a send off party for the “Meditation Bell”  It is being crated and shipped to it’s new home in France this week.  What a wonderful experience to ring this beautiful sculpture – machine – bell  at Matisse’s studio!    You never know what you’ll find in a small New England town.

Every now and then I have the great opportunity to get off the “grid” and spend some time fly fishing in Northern Maine.  This Camp is one of my most favorite places to unwind, fish, and relive a part of history.  These historic Maine Camps where built in the early 1900’s when ‘Sports’ and their family’s would move from Boston to the Maine woods for the summer.  They  would fish, hunt and explore the natural world.  Of course, they had their ‘Maine Guides’ to take care of them and guide them in these great woods.  They would read, carve, play cards and put on skits.  For a month or maybe two they would live the woods life away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Today these camps still survive, although many just barely.  They are rustic but comfortable and hark’en back to a formal yet relaxed outdoor experience.  The hand hewed beams, rustic furniture, kerosene lamps and wood stoves speak to a time I wish I had known.

The Bait Box

Buddy Hall

Duffle Bag

Finally got back to NYC last month to meet with some Architects and Design Firms.  Also took in the Architectural Digest Home Show.  I had a few precious hours to wander.  NYC is such a visual treat.  The Met Life building is so Iconic!

Met Life Bridge NYC

I am always so intrigued in how buildings meet in the city.  The various textures and styles of two buildings butt up against each other with sometimes elegant but usually severe results.  Take a look! NYC – Wanderings

Buildings Meet - NYC

See more of my NYC Wanderings here.

Buildings Meet - NYC