R'Shad: Anime and Music
R’Shad is a phenomenal wordsmith and just a downright amazing individual. We initially met while I was assisting on one of his music videos. We immediately became friends when we started talking about cartoons and anime.
Fast forward 2 years later and he approached me about creating a visual album for his newest release, Bounce ‘N Vibes, with each song having a call back to shows that influenced him as an artist. I definitely carried the same sentiment because I can easily contribute my artistic journey to the shows I grew up on. As soon as he pitched, I was hooked.
This project has been one of my favorite projects and the journey that R’Shad and I took to get there was the best part. We wanted to properly pay homage to the anime he grew up watching, and (the most important) not come off as corny or too on the nose. So we dove into his album and dissected his words and sought after the commonality of his words and the shows we wanted to reference.
The series and genre of anime that we wanted to tackle were the following:
Dragon Ball Series, Naruto Series, Slice-of-Life, and Re:Zero.
We dove deep into these shows and genres and started picking out the small references and easter eggs that we wanted to include in our shoot. From the color of wardrobe, scenery, props, to even the pose. We were more than satisfied with the results of our products, and R’Shad finally got to try some Ramune (right?!).
Here are some of the photos of what they were referencing:
Dragon Ball
Naruto
Garden of Words
Hunter x Hunter
Naruto Shippuden
Enzian Theater: 13 Cocktails of Halloween
Every October, the Enzian presents their 13 Films of Halloween, each with film with their own horror-inspired cocktail. And every year for the past 5 years, I have been given the opportunity to take photos of their horror-ific concoction. And every year I always try to raise the bars and top the year before.
Mari preparing Freddy’s hand
I am no stranger to horror but I would definitely not call myself a horror expert. That’s why I for the past 3 years, I brought my really good friend, an amazing SFX artist and horror fanatic, Mari McGaha into the mix. Our goal was always to feed into the fandom with each respected horror film and present the cocktails in a way that really honored the film that it was inspired by.
Shooting 13 cocktails within a 2-hour time span, with quick SFX & individual unique set design is no easy feat, and every year I am always surprised how much we are able to accomplish. Of course, to say I did this alone would definitely constitute me as a pathological liar. Mari, John (another good friend and fantastic hand model), and the rest of the Enzian/Eden Bar Team are what made the dream work, or should I say is what made the nightmare work.
This annual project is always an amazing challenge and learning experience. Taking limited resources, limited time, practical effects knowledge, and a whole lot of creative problem solving, this project definitely pushed the boundaries for the studio.
Without further ado, here are this years, 2021:
13 Cocktails of Halloween
Sandy Rubin Jewelry: Across Time and Space
Sandy Rubin Jewelry is a combination of stone and curiosity. Every piece dives into a beautiful exploration in understanding our place in this ever-changing universe. Sandy Rubin Jewelry is essentially the Philospher’s Stone of Jewelry.
Airam, another amazing photographer here in Orlando, first got Sandy and me connected. And through coffee and our mutual existential excitement, we immediately bounded. From conversations about what the concept of time was to what consciousness actually is, a 30-minute meeting easily became 2 hours. And we wanted to bring this energy into our collaboration.
We wanted to depict this enigmatic nature of time as well as bringing an otherworldly feel to the images we wanted to create. Deeply inspired by Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirror and the Utah Monolith, we came with the concept of having the jewelry existing in a Mars-like world surrounded by prismatic artifacts and mirrors; an ode to how all is perceptual thus an illusion.
Gallery
Angostura: Lemon, Lime, & Bitters
Angostura has made a name for themselves in the cocktail industry, providing the staple bitters to most old fashion. When given the opportunity to work with them, I was more than ecstatic, not realizing how much I would learn from the experience. While The House of Angostura has played a prominent role in bars around the world, this brand has played an even more pivotal role in the culture of Trinidad and other Caribbean cultures.
We had two goals we wanted to achieve in this production: 1) For customers to experience the taste through their eyes and 2) Pay homage to the culture that it was born from.
Babe Sauce - Party Animal
I have always been a fan of Babe Sauce; witty branding, amazing clothing lines, and actual hot sauce! When we first met up to brainstorm an idea, all we knew is that we wanted people to wear animal masks as they modeled the clothes. We wanted to capture the spirit of individuals of being completely themselves; being the true animals that they are.
It was the middle of summer, and we sat there contemplating the overall theme of the shoot. Then it dawned on us:
Party Animals - Pool Edition.
Frank Rose: Branded Portrait
Frank Rose is a great friend of mine, having first met in a coffee shop and connecting through our love of hip hop. I was more than stoked when he asked for me to shoot some branded portrait work. Frank Rose is a modern renaissance man, excelling in making hair art, emceeing, and running his own podcast.
