Ed Cunicelli
I know I’m not the first one to say it, ”the best camera is the one you have with you.” Leica, Nikon, Canon, Hassleblad, Holga, Oatmeal can and now the iphone! It’s true. Our cameras have become phones and our phones have become cameras almost overnight. So really, there is no good excuse for missing the decisive moment… except if you get a call. Here’s where I go for all things iphoneography: www.iphonegraphy.com
Thankfully, in this part of the world, old man winter has been on vacation. With the average temperature in the mid 40′s and total snowfall barely reaching 5 inches, it’s been more like a November never ending. Whatever it is, I’ll take it and thank you. Still, it’s plenty cold if you want to take a dip in the Brandywine River in your favorite boxer shorts. Such is the experience each year for thousands of polar plungers ready and willing on river banks and beaches anywhere the crow flies. I decided to honor their bravery and slight insanity with a portrait series taken at this year’s Brandywine Valley Association’s annual Polar Plunge. The Brandywine Valley Association provides water protection and environmental education for the Brandywine Valley through educational programs, environmental studies and projects.
Meet Elizabeth Pugh: actress, writer and singer/songwriter. She wrote and performed I’m Not Finished Yet, a one-woman show that ran in NYC and Dublin, to soldout audiences and critical acclaim. Academy Award winning director Jim Sheridan helped produce I’m Not Finished Yet at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival again playing to soldout audiences and critical acclaim. She assisted director Ken Bowser on the documentary Live From New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live. Here, I’d like to introduce you to her music: Elizabeth Pugh. She overcame her fear of singing about four years ago with a little help from Irish folk musician Dave Murphy and kick started her Irish debut by performing at the famed Bankers Pub in Dublin. She has gone on to open for several important Irish musicians, such as Padraig Digam and Sinead Murphy, until recently moving back here to her hometown of Philadelphia. Elizabeth has wasted no time catching the ears of WXPN / World Cafe Live and was a featured artist at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg.
Check out the photo/video world of my past student and now friend, Herman Van Den Brandt http://www.hermanphoto.net/ Born in Kinshasa, Zaire and raised between Spain and Belgium, Herman traveled a lot as a child. He was a talented basketball player which led him to a university here in the United States. Then, ” photography kidnapped me ..” Herman said. Making himself popular among his Facebook friends, Herman would post party pictures and leverage himself with local promoters http://www.facebook.com/hermanphotographer A true sign of the times, he went without the traditional support of a photo studio and learned what he could from YouTube tutorials before deciding to hang his studio sign with pride. After a long absence, Herman recently reconnected with Godeliv, his print and runway model sister. She is an amazingly tall and beautiful model being represented by agencies in Barcelona, Germany and NYC. They shot for the first time here in the US this past summer and I wanted to share some of these photos with you:
The Native Vision Camp is close to my heart. I’ve been volunteering at this camp since 1999 and more steadily since 2004. The camp is supported by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health who’s mission is to work in partnership with American Indian and Alaska Native communities to raise their health status, self-sufficiency and health leadership to the highest possible level. Using the Native Vision Camp as a background, Alex and Ronnie of Commonwealth Pictures created an amazing video for Easton Lacrosse and the Dream Crazy Tour. The camera follows Austin, Alex and Zach as they take this year’s camp on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico head on. It’s an amazing piece which comes as close to the experience as I can think of. Easton chose 31 of my images for this production. I am extremely proud and grateful to be a part of it.
I often find myself in interesting situations, as seen here by this week’s images. These may seem unrelated at first but in reality they are all connected in life.
A bonfire in the woods. I was lucky enough to come across this ritual on a late night walk. This photo can conjure up a variety of meanings, different for each of us. What does it mean for you? My next assignment, to follow a big pink gorilla through a cornfield. What does it mean for you; a haunted trail, a fun costume? After all, it is breast cancer awareness month. What is October without a little blood and gore? For this 30 year old woman it means a second chance at life, correcting a major heart defect. The blood on the hands of the surgeons says so much to me about how fragile we really are.
What do all of these images mean for you?
While on a recent shoot at The Spatz Airfield in Reading, PA., I had some time to get up close and personal with a 1952 Martin “Silver Falcon”, a 1957 Locheed “Neptune”, a 1964 Custer “Channel Wing” and a 1964 Douglas “Skytrain”. I was transfixed on the amazing detail and attention that went into making these planes the best and most useful aircraft in the world. The signs on the WWII planes, which were hand-painted on the fuselage to remind airmen of safety concerns and weapons locations, would have been more than necessary for someone as forgetful as myself particularly in such a stressful situation as war. You had to be on the ball; you had to want to fly and it took a team of your buddies to make it happen. Staying alive was important too which took courage only you knew you had. If you are interested in seeing these planes for yourself please visit: The Mid – Atlantic Air Museum
Annie Willcox is a talented artist and graphic designer. She effortlessly blends old and new, past and present using mixed media. In fact, Annie makes the two disciplines work so well with each other it’s hard to decide which is which. She is inspired by our visual culture and the balance between city and country; Annie combines typography, screen printing, digital media and collage to form the basis for her work. Annie and I are set to collaborate on a show opening October 19th in conjunction with the opening of the play All My Sons at the Delaware Theatre Company: October 19th – November 6th 2011 . This play, about the criticism of the American Dream, was one reason why Arthur Miller was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the 1950s when America was gripped by anti-communist hysteria. Miller sent a copy of the play to Elia Kazan who directed the original stage version of All My Sons. Kazan was a former member of the Communist Party who shared Miller’s left-wing views. However, their relationship was destroyed when Kazan gave names of suspected Communists to the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare. Our ten piece show will consist of a combination of my photography and Annie’s art work to illustrate the psychological underpinnings of Miller’s true genius.
THE END OF SUMMER
The summer days are fading fast, as they must
From endless hours to short and fleeting light
The bird’s once bright, immortal tune, now cries
A melancholy aura to the dusk
The children fiercely climb, and dream, and race
Before their wild and unchained days depart
And yet beneath the zeal lies a half heart
For there isn’t time, there’s only enough space
The sun seems low, a hazy orange sphere
Now reminiscing sweetly of the days
When endlessly before you summer lay
And as in the deep, crimson dusk you stir
Your soul joins with the birds in wistful brood
Crying for lost summer days, for childhood
- Anonymous
These are my photographs of Cliff Williams which were taken for his article in the June issue of POZ Magazine. His story is amazing and inspiring. This excerpt was taken from the article, “Shelter From The Storm” written by Suzy Martin: For People with HIV, housing can mean the difference between health and sickness. For five years, Cliff Williams’ official residence was the Philadelphia shelter system. During that time the medication he takes for depression was stolen and Cliff constantly worried that staff would share his HIV status as gossip. Williams had to wait for distracted workers to fetch his medication causing him to be late for medical appointments more often than not, in effect forcing him to choose one or the other. No wonder Williams and his doctor decided to delay starting his HIV treatment. To read more: POZ Magazine
After a busy summer of shooting, I am happy to share with you many new images. Among my favorites are two photographs of Veterens of Foreign Wars that I made this summer on The Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico. I bought each of these guys a hotdog and a bottle of water in exchange for a fifteen minute shoot. Food goes a long way with our Indian friends, so after hearing their incredible stories I had to buy a second round. Please take a look at the updates to the Youth, Care and Portrait sections of www.cunicelli.com. I have included images from my recent work for Money Magazine, The Ryan Seacrest Foundation, Easton Lacrosse, Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, New Bay Media and The Natural Lands Trust.
Ryan Seacrest is a righteous dude. I photographed him recently for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on behalf of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. This organization, founded by Ryan Seacrest, is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for seriously ill and injured children. RSF’s initiative is to build broadcast media centers, named THE VOICE℠, in several pediatric hospitals throughout the United States. THE VOICE is a state-of-the-art radio station broadcasting live all day making long-term patients very happy. After following him around CHOP for two days, I can see why they call him the hardest working man in show business.
As if the radio station wasn’t enough, he surprised everyone with a visit from Selena Gomez. The hugely popular former Disney star took time out from tour rehearsals in Los Angeles, to be with special fans who really needed her warm smile and easygoing attitude. Selena was amazingly poised in some pretty tough situations and spent as much time with each patient as they needed.
Flexing his pop star muscle for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Ryan Seacrest had Cee Lo Green, Nick Jonas, Keri Hilson and Tinie Tempha make appearances in just the past few weeks alone.
Congratualtions to you Diedra, Donovan and Jake for ROCKET BOY being officially accepted into the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Navajo independent filmmakers go big:
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/therocketboy_sundance2011
Big thanks to everyone who came to the opening. To date, it was the most successful for the Group M gallery
Group M
Suite 61 1050 North Hancock Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19123
Lillian Lavato a Kewa Elder holds the wild parsley she uses to make “Indian Tea”
Mark Willcox jr. is the oldest person I know. At 98 he leaves Tory Hill (his home of sixty years) to make life easier for himself in a single story home. The Willcox history is vast and fixed in American history as one of the first paper printing mills (est. prior to the thirteen colonies) which was responsible for printing paper currency in the fledgling years of Colonial America. More to come…
Less than one year after being thrown from her horse and under going intense rehab on her neck and back , Cortney rides again!!! Here she is last week at the Thorncroft Equestrian Center. Thorncroft is a mainstreaming facility where handicapped and non-handicapped people come together to ride together, learn together and relate to one another; and within an accepting environment, foster growth in each other. This is the beginning of healing for most. The peaceful, rural environment at Thorncroft offers these necessary tools to help fulfill a very special goal.
This shot was taken around 1989 by the immensely talented Milan/NYC photographer Dr.X… It was recently updated for ”Dean Cuc’s Big Wave Festival”. My old band; In The Red will play PJ’s in Haddonfield, NJ to benefit our keyboard player and lead singer Dean Cucinotta. TEHWAH Dean!
I met Earl yesterday in the middle of the street… I asked for a little bit of his time and gave him $10 to find out his story. Earl is 32 years old and he and his dog JoJo travel back and forth from New Hampshire trying to put together some kind of minute by minute existence… “Everyday is a new adventure trying to stay way from them damn cops…” He will hitch hike and hop freighter trains to get to this spot. “The snow makes it hard on us and I can’t wait to get warm”. This time he’s here to see his girlfriend who works the opposite corner about six blocks away. They find refuge in an abandoned house in South Philly and as Earl put’s it ” …to try and stay invisible”. He says Philly is the roughest town he knows but somehow the people are the most generous… “they even bring me dog food!” I’m glad I payed attention to that nudge to go up and meet him. Hopefully, I will be able to say hi again when it gets warm.
Jim is one of the best in the business. Please visit his site ACCORDION Films and be on the look out for the section with his still work. This guy can shoot anything with a lens. His latest short film on Chris Potter promises to be right up there with; “Straight to the Top”, Feat. Chips Cooney and my favorite; “A Taste of Nate ” shot here in Philadelphia. Jim’s work is vintage, it’s real and it’s all JIM. A Taste of Nate combines all the elements of Jim’s work and his passion for Jazz. As Nate says, . “…I’m not a Coltrane you know, I’m just Nate Wiley and I like to swing. I like to tell it like it is…” Photo Courtesy of Jim McGorman
In my humble opinion one of the best sites on the web is: Unphotographable … this one will keep you laughing when you feel like crying. We’ve all been there and wondered why didn’t I make that picture happen? 
Shopping in a Tokyo Mall can be hazardous to your health. Faced with so many choices and a weak dollar presented problems for this average American consumer. Please visit the mini series: “Pick One” … {coming soon}
Do yourself a favor and go see a flick!
Get your credit cards ready! Today Leica is releasing this super expensive Hermes limited edition Leica M 7… For a mere $14,000.00 it can be yours… and mine because I will rent it from you. Wouldn’t that be great?
We could use this very affordable $2.99 roll of film
Photos Courtesy of Jack Loftus
Photo Courtesy of Jack Loftus
Photo Courtsey of Naoya Hatakeyama
Getting ready for another trip to Japan and wanted to share a couple of my favorite photographers from this wildly interesting place… Naoya Hatakeyama
Photo Courtesy of Daido Moriyama
Hiroshi Sugimoto {from the diorama series}
Photo Courtesy of Hiroshi Sugimoto
On a recent trip back to Whiteriver, AZ, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Don Burke. Only met him once but it felt like I new him a lifetime. After spotting him in the parking lot of the “H” market I decided to make an introduction. At first it seemed kind of scary as he took in my over eager personality (holding a large knife in his mouth) but after he learned what I was up too, he agreed to work with me… well, after I gave him a lift. I quickly realized, This was no ordinary man. Don was an elite firefighter in the Apache Hotshots. His job was to travel all over the western U.S. fighting big wild fires. Man did he have some cool stories to tell. “Narrowly escaping death…” seemed to be said more times than I could count. Now, I can’t help but look at this simple portrait of him with a different understanding. Considering his life on the reservation, surviving massive wildfires would come easy. He had that look in his eyes that said he’d seen a few things. After about an hour of listening, I made some photographs. He in turn thanked me by giving me his commemorative Apache Hotshot Fire Jumper Jacket… A BIG DEAL (as in out of the helicopter and into the fire jacket!!!) plus some old photos of him on the job. Don, what did I do to deserve that? A question, I guess he wants me to sit with. Everything still smelled like smoke. In that moment, the wind took a hard turn and with a glance upward I could see Don was asking me to pay attention to it. Little did I know we wouldn’t see each other again… or at least not in this lifetime. A true master of living.
My friend Dwayne “Chuck” Wilcox, Oglala Lakota artist… is a damn funny man and a serious National Treasure. Take some time and look at his magnificent work: www.doghatstudio.com. Here’s what was written about him by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University: www.peabody.harvard.edu
‘Mr. Wilcox’s drawings and paintings “ledger-style” artwork reflects a contemporary way of life rather than the past, often depicting pow-wows, people preparing for dances, families spending time together and other everyday scenes. According to Mr. Wilcox, “I’m alive now. Our time is just as important as the past” Chuck was raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota…’ Yo, I love this guy