Joeyl Blog

What does Africa and Twilight the movie have in common?

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Well, they both happen at once. (Above... Yellow fever / Typhoid / Polio shot in one sitting.)

I am about to hop on a 21 hour flight over to Ethiopia... I've been waiting for this trip for too long. I'll be gone for almost 2 months and come back home just before Christmas. During my visit I'll be renting a jeep and traveling thru the Lower Omo Valley, where tribal populations that still live nomadic lifestyles are so diverse that this region is considered the true "cradle of humanity."

Body scarification, enormous lip piercings, and red mud from the earth adorn the bodies of the Mursi, Surma, Karo, and other tribes. The root of the tribes beauty, however, lies within their connection to the land... A connection to nature which I believe is quickly being lost in the Western world, and I fear they may only survive in the future as distant fables in photographs.

After one month of camping in the Omo with no internet connection and absolutely no Mcdonald's, I will travel north to catch the Festival of Mary Zion in Ethiopia's holiest city- Aksum. I'll photograph the sea of pilgrims receiving the blessings of Orthodox monks guarding the believed Ark of the Covenant. The next leg of the journey will bring me to the lowest point on Earth below sea level, the Danakil Depression... An arid desert vaguely described as resembling the planet Venus. The last arc of the journey is in Lalibela, another holy city full of ancient churches cut into rock caves and mountainsides.

You can follow along on the new GPS menu feature on joeyL.com or just look for updates here...

Of course being gone so long I'll have to wait on the release of Twilight back home. Twilight is coming to theatres Nov 21st and I'll miss seeing a lot of my advertisements everywhere. I did all of the stills for the movie posters and promo material. (For those asking about the post-processing... it was done by the Cimarron Group out of LA. They art directed all the promo material for Twilight, including the website and upcoming DVD). Some of the main stuff is out in public but of course there's a lot more material waiting to be released!

Too bad I'll be in one of the most remote regions on the planet and miss it, right?

...

Pfffft. I remain more than content!

While shopping for stuff for my trip to Africa like bug nets, shower-in-a-bag, extra undies, and a compass, I came across the Twilight stuff everywhere... If anyone runs into some big billboards on the streets hook me up with some snapshots!

Send to- joey@joeyL.com
You know I will appreciate it!

Oh, and count how many times I can say "like" on MTV in less than 2 minutes.

**..**

Forbes Cover -Metalico

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Check out this month's cover of Forbes by yours truly.

And here's an unedited one that didn't make the magazine-

**..**

Behind the scenes: Forever Running video, Benjamin Bates

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:39:15 -0400

Well, here's one way to spend thousands of dollars... (actual video coming soon)

I have been working with Benjamin Bates on every visual aspect of his new album Recyclomania, from the CD cover to this new video for his single "Forever Running." It seems that our projects started out simple, and just get slightly more ridiculous and complicated each time. I consider my first ever photoshoot with Benjamin quite innocent- it was done with all natural light and reflectors in Amsterdam... Simple. Then we stepped it up the "Two Flies" video we shot in an abandoned military hospital in Belgium, smeared Benjamin with paint and filmed the entire thing in fast motion... Difficult. Then finally we come to this last project- "Well how about a tiger running through the desert chasing a girl"... What?

Of course you can believe we have become excellent friends in the process of all these things.

I am so happy about how the video turned out, and it is being processed for rotation on television right now. When everything is ready to go, I'll make another post with the video. Until then, check out this behind the scenes video. We couldn't have done it without a long list of people, but one of the most notable my good friend Haakon. (the cinematographer for the music video.)

Joey L **..**

Tahnea

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

I met Tahnea on the streets of Toronto. It's no wonder she caught my eye, so I wanted to learn more about her. I was fortunate enough to take some portraits too, you can view those on my website under "Street." Tahnea travels across Canada (originally from Montreal) by hopping freight trains, hitching hiking, and by foot. After she is done traveling and settles down, she will study natural medicine. She told me the most beautiful thing she has ever seen is her dog.

The tribal tattoos on her forehead where done by her ex boyfriend. She designed them herself but later found a very similar design on an ethnic tribal woman from another country in a book. She believes it was fate or perhaps divine inspiration that made the design so similar.

J- What do you believe in?

T- My beliefs are in kindness, respect and humility. If you search for that, you get the answer.

J- What's the most interesting thing that has happened to you on your travels?

T- A crazy guy picked me up hitchhiking. He was drinking and pulled a gun on me, but I got out of it by joking around. He even put the gun to my head.

J- Did you get out?

T- No, we stayed with him! He turned out alright. He got us a motel room and brought us to San Fransisco. I woke up and he was touching me. I still remember his name.

J- What was it?

T- His name was Sam

JL

**..**

The Jonas Brothers

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Jonas Brothers are very very chill. (behind the scenes photos by Jim Larer.)

Joey L

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Digital SLR Photography

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Be sure to check out Digital SLR magazine, prepare to be shocked, and learn how family portraits are made easy!

Oh, check out my article too.

L

**..**

Boracay- A sneak peek

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Last night I was driving and hit a deer. No was hurt in the vehicle. The official police report reads-

"I (Joey lawrence) was driving home from Wasaga Beach along the highway at 10:15pm wwith another passenger, Sarena Favaro. The road was dark. We saw one deer cross the road ahead and exclaimed "good thing we didn't hit that," then suddenly, it's dear friend who was hidden in the bushes jumped in front of the vehicle before I had time to react"
I am sick.

Not "sick" in the sense that young people use to today, as in the "wow that is some sickass dope shit" that is actually showing positive affection... I mean sick as in "you just made a joke about a deer you just murdered on a police report."

It was just one of those things I couldn't control. For once I was doing the speed-limit. I was paying attention, the music wasn't too loud, and I wasn't trying to crack my toes while driving. (I'm addicted to cracking my joints and stretching.) I am actually a responsible driver, I just had no time to react and I suppose it was nature's will and time for our friend to go. It was a beautiful animal.

In other news I got an e-mail from my workshop coordinator Bobby Wong with some pictures from Boracay, which one of the places in the Philippines in which me and Manuel Librodo will be teaching. I'm really excited because aside from teaching and teaching people everything I know (even my earthly vices. sorry, you will be around me too long), I'm really looking forward to lying on that one beach after the workshop and relaxing before my trip to Africa. That will be grueling and intense, with the majority of it camping in a tent off the side of the rental jeep and eating out of a can of beans. I am very happy to do this, however. This is the best way to travel.

The majority of the workshop action will go down in Boracay since it is also a nice place to relax and full of subjects, but we will be shooting in remote fishing villiages as well. We are still looking for more participants so check out the mini-site here to register if you are interested.

http://www.joeyL.com/lawrencelibrodo

the Deer Hunter

**..**

G-Unit

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:58:14 -0400

I was very happy with the simple concept that the magazine thought of... No street gangster stuff- business men.
As much as G-unit are extremely successful gangster rappers and one of the biggest rap acts out there right now, they got there because above the music they are also talented business men. 50 Cent the Vitamin Water, 50 Cent the video game, 50 Cent the movie, 50 Cent the ___... It goes on and on. It doesn't matter what public image these guys portray- they are talented marketing gurus, rich as hell and Straight Outta 'Southside. (Oh, and millions of people listen to their music.) So before you think of dissin the G's, they have already schooled you in every way possible!!

The best picture from this shoot was not the posh group picture sitting around the caviar or the stern shots of 50 looking badass, it is the snapshot of 50 cent stabbing me in the neck with a butterknife. (while representin my home city Toronto.)

keep it real.

J-unit

**..**

Philippines Workshop with Manuel Librodo

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:07:57 -0400

(Photo by Manny. I haven't been to Boracay yet!)

Join me and the famous Manuel Librodo for a 5 day photographic workshop. It is October 19-24th ,2008 on the sandy white beaches of Boracay, the Philippines and beyond in remote fishing villages less dependent on Western influence.

The Safari will have lessons in shooting style, lighting and Photoshop from both me and Manny, but the vibe of the workshop will be interactive and personal. We are keeping groups small and are looking for only 12-14 participants.

Boracay is very tourist oriented and a friendly environment to learn, while beyond in the remote fishing villages are more of a challenge. The Philippines is composed of over 7,100 islands with countless small fishing communities living along its coasts. Packed tightly together in shanties that dot the shoreline, fishermen and their families rely solely on the sea to feed their families. Walking into a remote fishing village is like slipping into a place forgotten by time, where a day in the office means catching the fish their families need to eat that night.

1/3 of the workshop's profits will be going to charity.

For all the details and info on registration, go to the mini site-

http://www.joeyl.com/lawrencelibrodo

All the details are on that mini-site. Check it out.
**..**

I.O.U.J.O.E.Y.L

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:01:26 -0400

Answering machine message- http://www.joeyl.com/jedsmessageiousa.wav
(The voice of Jed Taufer, VGallery.)

Thanks to everyone who has been e-mailing me after seeing a photo of mine appear in the new trailer for the movie "I.O.U.S.A". There is breif flash after footage from the movie and a still image of a homeless man is shown.

I would not normally make a blog post about it because the matter is quite personal, however I want people to know that I have never licensed the use of my homeless series. (For obvious reasons.) I want everyone to know this because I do not want to appear as an exploiter. The images are only for study on my website and other portfolios. The series is a personal look on homelessness in Toronto as a subculture. This is a person who agreed with photographs only for personal work... Not a model to represent poverty in America commercially.

As you can imagine, the trailer company is in some serious trouble.

Yes, it is my image and yes I was in control of the light, processing, ect but I do not feel right about it. Therefore I am most likely going to put compensation toward something good...

Aside from being quite steamed about the photo, the actual movie looks awesome... I admit I am not a political genius but I am very interested in these kinds of films because of the questions they raise.

Let's phase-shift now that my serious note is over. In other news...

I'M EGO-TRIPPING BALLS

Check out my article in the newest edition of Rangefinder Magazine.
And I also did a voice interview for the Rangefinder Radio.

Me me me me me me me me! In order to undue the damages done to my ego and the inflation-of, I have condemned myself to read Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" ten more times (I've read it once and listened to the audiobook) to absorb my ego and cure the universal pain-body which resides within me.

**..**

Never Take Tea With an Aghori

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:42:45 -0400

On my first trip to India I knew little about sadhus- acestic Hindu holy men. The great fathers are on a personal mission to discover God and peace. They wish to break their perceived infinite cycle of birth and death through ancient rituals such as yoga, pilgrimages and meditation. Soon, I became fascinated with their way of life and had to learn more on my second trip to the country.

There is another sect of sadhu, often ridiculed and detested by the other sadhus. They are the Aghori's, who's path to God, peace and insight of the world is gained through extremes and opposites. Aghori sadhus make contact with the dead, meditate on corpses, drink from a human skull and even eat the flesh of the dead all in the name of God. As I've come to understand it, there is no clean and unclean, no pure and unpure. The world's taboos are an illusion which must be overseen. Although they are known to eat human flesh, it does not mean they are murders. It usually comes from already dead bodies, which are numerous along the banks of the Ganges due to the custom funeral ceremonies. I witnessed a number of dead bodies in the river alone on my trip to Benares. Wikipedia states

"The Aghoris of northern India consume the flesh of the dead floated in the Ganges in pursuit of immortality and supernatural powers. Members of the Aghori drink from human skulls and practice cannibalism in the belief that eating human flesh confers spiritual and physical benefits, such as prevention of aging" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism

It is also worth mentioning that cannibalism is only a bizarre concept in today's world, it is actually at the roots of many of our ancestors and ancient religious groups. It's very difficult for me to explain without someone thinking I have some wee children limbs locked in my freezer, so if you are interested in this kind of thing pick up Dinner with a Cannibal by Carole A. Travis-Henikoff.

It's a very easy read but also very helpful about understand what role cannibalism has in today's cultures. Do you take the body and blood of Christ? Amen.

My personal opinion is that the Aghori is living in a completely different world than my own, his mind has been molded to perceive something I have not been raised to accept. I do not feel the practice is wrong.

It took a week or so to track an Aghori sadhu in Benares through word of mouth from the villagers with my translator. There was me and my two great friends Laurent from Paris and Heida from Iceland. We met the Baba (father) for the first time on a riser above a cremation ground, where most Aghori's chose to live so they have a constant connection with the dead. Sitting across from him keeping my eyes fixed on his body language, I explained to him through my translator that I was on a mission to photograph holy men of various creeds all around the world. The mood was tense and seemed very business-oriented.

"I wish to photograph you if it is true that you are an Aghori"
"Yes"
"Can you prove to me that you are what you say you are?"
"Yes. I have a man's skull right here in my bag. Don't you trust me?"

He was serious. We arranged the session to take place at night, away from any villagers or tourists who might overlook the ritual. He agreed but instructed us to gather candles before nightfall to bring with us. I knew this light would be the only light available, and was crucial to my photographs. We arranged a man with a small row boat to take us across the Ganges to the other side toward an abandoned, sandy beach area which is completely flooded during the monsoon season. I asked Baba some questions and found out as much as I could about his past life. He had been an aghori since he was a young child and studied under a guru for many years before leaving on his own path of wandering India from cremation ground to cremation ground. He had taken on a few deciples of his own now, one of which came with us in the boat and spoke broken english, but it was understandable at times.

I was very interested in the practise of "penis yoga", in which the penis was forced and stretched around a metal shear several times to stretch the nerve endings so that there would be no temptation of breaking an ascetic life. He told me that when he was younger he did have his way with a few young girls, but he will not say a word of it anymore so close to his mother, the River Ganges. Usually I can dig into a person and really make them feel comfortable around me, but I had a very hard time with this man. There was an eerie atmosphere in the air and not even chatter between me and my other traveling friends seemed to break it. He was a very tiny man, but very intimidating. The way he barked orders through rotting teeth at his deciples displayed a real power and authority in his character. Completely naked from head to toe, except the ashes of the dead spread evenly across his body, he seemed immortal and sinister.

We reached the beach on the other side of the Ganges, and I instructed the boatman to come back in two hours. He was confused but desperate for work, so he did as I wished and left me on the bank with the Aghori Sadhu. Trapping yourself on an abandoned island with a cannibal? Priceless. I would either come out with some decent pictures and a war story to tell my grandkids or as a sacrafice to Shiva in baba's stomach.

I was worried that the candles I had gotten were not good enough- they were factory made and I thought that in some way the sadhu might detest this and refuse any pictures. However, he was very serious about everything. He would not let me or the other two friends enter the circle of fire we created with my shoes- even when his eyes were closed in meditation. I guess it didn't matter.

The light was very hard to work with, and most of my images came out blurry due to the lack of light, but I did manage to get a select few images. After some time, the sadhu began the penis yoga. It looked very painful to me, but he did not show a wince of frusteration as he coiled it several times around the metal stake. A snake constricting it's prey. Looking through the lense I had a few "what the fuck am I doing?" moments in my head but my thirst for knowledge and experience took control.

I found myself not eaten and in a very good mood when the boatman arrived perfectly on time. We headed back to the other side of the river. Coming out of the boat, Baba asked quietly something to my translator. It was not put back in english to me, so I knew right away it was about money. A holy man begging or asking for money in the first world is extremely taboo, but one must understand this is how a sadhu supports himself- through charity. I agreed to give him an amount for his time, as well as some coins from Canada. However, I refused to give him a large amount of money as this would hurt him more than help. I do like to pay people for their time but do not like to bribe for photo opportunities. The baba took his gaze off my translator and looked me straight in the eye, growled and paced away angrily before taking any money. It didn't take much to set him off. I followed him to the spot where I first negotiated with him.

"You have broken your trust, englishman"
"I said you can take the money, it is for your time"

...

A pause, and shift in his manner.

"Will you join me for tea tonight in a few hours?"
"I will return here to meet you, yes"
"For chai?"
"Yes, I'll think about it"

Walking back along the gachts that night, certain things entered my brain. I sensed something was very wrong and decided not to visit him again. The next morning I retraced my steps and walked past the cremation ground. I saw a familiar face, the deciple of Baba's that spoke broken english.

"Hey you no come for chai last night"
"I had some things I had to take care of"
"well can I tell you it is good thing you not come again. Baba Ji has make for you.. euuhh how you say? posen"
"Poison?"
"Yes, poison."

I can never be sure as to whether or not the man was telling the truth, or just trying to scare me. I did not feel any intentions that harsh. I could be wrong. Of course the "poison" could have been refering to something else, such as alcohol, marijuana, or hashish, as Aghori's are known to ingest in all of these regularily. Nevertheless, I trust my instinct and believe it is true when the villiagers say "never take tea with an aghori."

Joey L

**..**

A Day with the Gypsy King of Moldova

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:03:06 -0400

Now it's time to fullfill my promise of keeping ya'll updated on the madness that ensues my travels. This one is from my trip to Moldova (small country between Romania and Ukraine). I was there for a more serious larger project with the Salvation Army and Ross from flosites, but that's another post altogether and is still in the works.

After you read the story, check out the video of... that same story. (It will be like when you read a book before you watch the movie, and your imagination ended up filling in the holes better than the director.) To make you read first, I've put the video down at the bottom. If you are asshole you may scroll down and just watch it instead of reading, but I ensure you it will be like taking a helicopter to the top of a mountain instead of spending the time climbing it.

Weird things like this story happen to me, and I just take photos of them. I do not credit myself for the subjects or situations in any personal travel portraits I take, because unlike a painting, I did not make them out of nothing. (My approach is very posed and contrived of course. I'm happy about this.) They are people that already exist that I have only interpreted and perceived, framed and lit them, I did not create them. Maybe God did, or maybe an array of evolutions in chaotic order did. I don't know. However the most important thing is that I do put myself out there in the world with a camera and hope that things happen. Most times, they do.

On our last day in Moldova, we decide to take a drive to Soroca, the "Gypsy city" of Moldova where they attempt to self-govern themselves with their own leaders away from the Moldovian government.

Christi our translator informs me that every gypsy I would like to photograph has no problem with it, but we must first get permission from "the King of the Gypsies." I'm trying to think of what a Gypsy King might look like or if they are even telling the truth that such a man exists... I picture an old man with a large beard hoarding away the largest pile of junk in his metal-roofed palace.

We are pointed the direction many times and eventually find the King's house, which is clearly the biggest house in the area and is made of bright red brick. Although the size is stunning, it still keeps some loose gypsy style with a bunch of broken cars and junk scattered on the front lawn. One has a bullet whole in the front windshield...

Some younger kids playing on the street warn us not to go near the palace. They insist there are huge dogs that will rip your face off if you get too close. I see the dogs they are talking about- rot whilers! They are huge and we don't go near them, but instead wait while a servant goes inside the palace to ask permission for us.

Will peaks his head over the gate-

"I think I just saw a guy with a huge white beard"

It's true. A huge Gypsy man with a beard like moses with a belly like Santa Claus walks forward to the gates wearing a tweed suit jacket. He doesn't seem so menacing anymore now that I can see him and my imagination isn't filling in the holes of what a Gypsy Baron of Moldova might be like. I shake his hand and I bargain between him and my translator and inform him of my travel across Moldova and Romania. I want to photograph all kinds of people and the Gypsies fascinate me because of their history and way of life. I steer the conversation away from what I originally was after to ask permission to photograph the people of his city, instead I want to photograph him!

After some classical bargaining and convincing, he agrees and we are led into his house. He walks ahead of us as me and Will get the lighting shit ready. I want to move fast and light so we bring the backpack with the power pack in it and two lights only, a 1600 watt and 800 watt. We don't really know what to expect and are not sure if we'll get jumped, robbed, or attacked and killed by angry gypsy's hiding in the bushes, or even worse- gypsy cursed! It's all pretty light hearted though and I'm really excited for the chance that is unfolding. The Moldovian's that I was staying with have me scared of these people, they are like the monster under the bed that mothers tell their kids will get them if they aren't good. It's completely silly and untrue but I'm still scared.

As time progresses and we get to know the Gypsy King, we relax. He turns out to be a totally cool guy and shows his extremely in-character junky treasures like a bunch of ceramic sculptures, swords from all around the world (out of no where he pretends to stab our translator, I almost shit my pants) and a collection of musical instruments. He can play them all. He screams "JOOSSSEEPPPHHHHH!!!!!"at the top of his lungs into his piano to show the nice harmonic echo it gives off. My name Joey is not very understood or pronounced in foreign places so I always introduce myself as Joseph or Yusuf. He bangs out tunes on the piano, rocks out on the accordian and sings deep from the belly.

After the lunch his servants prepared outside was ready, we all sat around a table to drink chai tea and eat bread the Baron had cooked himself. But of course none of this before a traditional shot of Cognac. Throughout the meal he keeps trying to get me to drink more and more- "Ey! the russian way... drink tea and cognac at same time and you not get too drunk. Don't worry!!!" We talked over lunch about his job and the different struggles he comes across in broken French and translated Romanian until we are innterupted by a pair of street cats fighting on his lawn. He looks over at the animals with disgust and says "eyy, one minute" and dissapears into his home quicky.

A few minutes later he comes out on his porch holding a huge air rifle, aims without hesitation, and shoots the cat. He explodes with laughter and Will and I can't help but laugh in nervous confusion and the absolute ridiculousness of the whole situation. We start taking turns shooting stuff with his pellet gun and he sets up some bottle targets around the house.

Later he shows his his 9 mm handgun and some hand tricks, but explains he never really uses guns and doesn't like them. It is sunset now and time to hit the road for the 4 hour drive back to Chisinau, He brings out his accordian and plays it on the driveway while I take some photos. I got my favourite picture at the very end. The King's home is undergoing some serious renovations and there are many rusted old metallic walls left over beside the broken cars. I get him to pose with his accordian against the wall, he tries to act bored but I know he is enjoying himself and loving every minute of getting photographed and so much attention. After we say our goodbyes and he wishes us back any time. The whole time his wife is screaming from inside the house "BRING THAT GUN BACK HERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He don't listen- He's the gypsy king. That means he can do whatever the hell he wants

Stay true

Joey L

**..**

OH MAH GAWD. NEW SITE

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Typing to you from England right now, I'm here at the London office running some meetings and photo shoots for the next week or so then I'm off to New York.

I've been waiting for weeks (months?) to show off my new custom web site built by the likes of Newthink.com under the direction of my specifications which are extremely difficult, picky and full of assholish splendor. I'm very happy with what they've done and it's exactly how I wanted it! check out Philip over at Newthink... awesome dude awesome work.

The thing I'm most excited about is the huge images, maxing out at 1200 pixels. The extra depth and detail is great for web viewing unless of course you are still in the dark ages of a dial up connection. In that case... I have no sympathy for you anyway.

I realize that putting images this big online runs the risk of people stealing them. I say- Have fun! This is the risk that is created when you put things online and really there's no way around it other than one of those annoying right click blocks, and those don't work very well anyway and just make me exit the site I'm on.

There is also a really big INFO section for each picture, and I've written some more personal details about most of the photographs. I think it will really bring people to understand more about the subject the photograph and how it came to be.

The most important thing I'm going to do with the new site is try to maintain a constant blog with travel stories and stuff like that. I'd like to keep people in progress as to what I've been up to. I've also been videotaping my travels. My mum always wonders where I am and get's real upset-like and worried and also because nobody really believes my stories. This new blog was built by www.flosites.com, which is run by a the great friend of mine Ross Tanner. I visited Ross in Moldova for a project I am working on but I'll speak more of that later when things are up and running.

We still need to do a few more things to the new site, but for the most part it's all ready. I've got to still update the X section with more cheese artsy floosy from my old site, add a bunch of behind the scenes videos as mentioned before. Will be a few days.

I have been ultra busy shooting stuff for a Kawasaki, campaign, NBC sci-fi channel, Forbes magazine and a few other odds and ends.

keep it real. stay in touch. but most importantly, keep your pants on

Joey L

**..**

Panic at the Disco

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

This is due out in either mid- April or May. The first is the newstand cover and the second is the subscriber-only cover. Took these photos in a 120 year old house near Los Angeles.

Behind the scenes photos by Chris Williams!!

**..**

im joawee laawrance

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

the people of wisconsin have an accent that makes my name sound like "joawee laaaawrence". but I have also an accent that makes 'wisconsin' sound like "wiscoooooooonsin aboot sherpadudeydoop".

we had aboot 150 people at the WPPA state convention crammed into a room listening to me ramble and make various sound effects trying to explain what exactly I do. the question of the night was "but how did you tell your mother about the cannibal you photographed when you got home from India". the answer of which is- I mailed a human skull home marked as a "movie prop" on the postage details wrapped in one of my t'shirts. (this is a true story)

I have packed my bags for another adventure that I will tell the details about soon in a more well thought-out and meaningful post.

peeechurs by john hartman.

"wooooshhhhhh kaplow babang wooooshhhhhhhhhh jear-jear-jear"

"yes I also enjoy the sultry benefits of prime lenses... NOW BUY MY SHIT "

**..**

"oo wah AH-AH ah"

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

I have done the photo album art for the upcoming Disturbed album "Indestructible" due out May 2008 with Warner Bros. I put some of the shoot online but the rest has to be kept hidden for now...

Check out under the commercial section of my website or pay it to The Man athttp://www.disturbed1.com or their myspace

And you may think "oh he's joey L raw raw raw it's an overlay raw raw raw I saw his editing DVD raw raw raw" but I like to have fun too so I raided a few windsheilds and smashed em up with a 'hammer Judge Judy style down in Chicago

for all the yanks- I'll be on my way back to the usa again to shoot a movie poster in Oregon then off to Madison Wisconsin to speak at the WPPA convention. Speaking of which, because of my ridiculous schedual, I had to swap around some things (and most likely piss off a bunch of people. sowee.)... My speaking date is now on the 10th from 3-6pm. Come say hullo

and I still have a bunch of pictures to go through still from my latest trip through India, Nepal and Bangladesh but those will come in time.

annnnnd a completely new website which works and looks much better than the current one, (but most importantly is an original design), is in the works by newthink.com. It should be done in about 3 weeks but in realistic terms of the picture industry, this really means 4-6 weeks. They have done a wonderful job so far and I'm stoked on it

and there is a little interview on 'ask the photographer' about some kind of shitty 80s actor/singer

annnnnd-

Joseph L

**..**