Finally can cross Taliesin West off my bucket list! Was able to squeak in a tour last week with my family while visiting Arizona. What a remarkable structure. So interesting to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright and the many revisions of Taliesin. Although it’s nearly impossible to break away from your tour of the property to get any decent photograhs, I did find a few opportunities. Now I just need to figure out when I can get to Taliesin East!
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.
Everywhere! Here are a bunch of my clients ads.
This Bay Village Church was almost a rock climbing gym. Thanks to serial renovators Lisey Good, of Good Interiors, and husband Lenny Snyderman this building is now a beautiful town house complete with roof deck and amazing views of the Back Bay. See more of this feature story in Design New England Magazine.
The blooms of spring return.
With the snows melted away, I find myself rambling around the garden in awe of the first sights of spring. It must be the re-awaking of our part of the country after a long, colorless winter that drives my desire to photograph these tulips. They are the first amazing bursts of color and form to arrive on the scene, and I find their vibrant hues and delicate petals irresistible.
Over the past three years I have shot photographic studies of spring blooms starting with tulips and daffodils. The show starts with the blossoming of the magnolias and dogwoods, and climaxes with the abundant fruit trees in our area—notably apple and cherry—and various perennials like bleeding heart.
Here’s a quick look at a few of my tulip images. Watch for a bounty of blossoms as the rains and warm weather take over, and come back soon to see more spring blooms.
If you like to photograph flowers this site offers a few tips and inspiration.
This wonderful modern take on a ‘traditional New England colonial’ by LDA Architects is the cover story for Newton Living Magazine this month.
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.
Besides shooting for Interior Designers, Architects, and Magazines I also photograph for the Hospitality Industry. My clients include multinational hotel chains such as Sonesta and Hilton, as well as small boutique hotels like the Commonwealth Hotel, and resorts like the Harbor View on Maratha’s Vineyard. I often am photographing new guestrooms or ballroom setups, exteriors, and always food! Here is a quick sampling from 2011. You can see more of my Hospitality work here.
Recently I was commissioned to photograph the Kayak corporate HQ, again… They are growing! Andrew Cohen Architects designed Kayak’s first space, and just completed an additional floor with integral stair that encompasses and defines the break area and kitchen. Take a look! (Kayak, if you don’t know, is the preeminent travel search engine. It’s your one stop for flights, hotel, etc. Kayak searches all the “other” travel sites and brings the info cleanly to one place.)
Also check out this amazing residence that Andrew Cohen Architects designed just west of Boston.
Did you know that the Boston Society of Architects BSA “Home Owners Project Handbook” cover photograph is a Patrick Ahearn project I shot on Martha’s Vineyard… I forgot and was pleasantly surprised, well… reminded, when I was at the BSA’s website today! You can view more images of this “Island Village Compound” by clicking the link.
The second page is my photo as well. Fantastic house in Lincoln, MA built by Merz Construction and designed by Andrew Cohen Architects. It was featured in Boston Magazine.
