Azed Baba would not tell me much about himself except for what his name means. Azed means "freedom" and Baba means "spiritual man". We sat around and watched the sunset at the Taj together and I asked if I could take his picture.

After I while I rubbed my House-like stubble since it has been a few days since I shaved. I asked him if he liked my beard. He gave a grunt in response which was either a laugh or a grunt of general disgust at the state of my beard.

Filed under the categories: Model

This is Ahira.

Ahira’s dream is to go to a university and be a computer scientist or doctor or whatever her parents want.

Ahira is currently at the Batu Caves in Malaysia, just outside of Kuala Lumpur, walking up the hundreds of steps. She and her family are making the traditional Hindu pilgrimage to the peak, where she will light incense to Lord Murugan and other Hindu deities whose shrines lay at the top inside the cave network. While she talks to me telling me about doing whatever her parents want, her parents look on and nod approvingly.

This comes from my Portraits Portfolio here that you can see here.

Filed under the categories: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Model, Travel

I thought I would post a few pics of the kiddos today I took in my studio at home. You can’t go wrong with cute kid portraits, right?

I’m over in Malaysia for about two weeks working with our game studio here and I get really bored on the weekends. Air Asia is sort of like Southwest Airlines and I can fly about anywhere for $200. I’ve always wanted to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia, see the Killing Fields, and hopscotch around land mines, so I thought it would be a good opportunity. Besides, hotels and food and everything is so much cheaper there, why not?

People are always surprised that I travel so much, but it’s really not that big a deal or that hard… All you gotta do is get a couple cheapo tickets, do about an hour of focused planning, and then go off and have an adventure. I always think of that final Curb Your Enthusiasm show – the one with Larry David on HBO (the guy that created Seinfeld). Anyway, he is in the middle of this big death scene and he is on the bed in the hospital. He’s surrounded by his family, his wife, his best friend and agent, and a few other people. He gets very serious and he knows he is slipping away, so he decides to say something meaningful.

In his final life-moment, Larry says something like, “I guess I should have traveled more.” He struggles for breath and his voice is dry. “I would have liked to see more of Europe.” He looks off and, finally, his raspy voice says, “but I hate to pack.” And that is it.

Filed under the categories: Model, Musings

I told my brother that I was going to the Ukraine. He warned me that the women there were not pretty – short, fat, and hairy were the three admonitions he passed along. I think Kyle learned everything he knows about East European women from the German swimming team in the 1976 Olympics.

I am in the Ukraine (it’s hard to tell from this picture) for work with a software partner there that has about 160 programmers, artists, animators, and other game-development disciplines. It just so happens that Oleg, CEO of this other company, is a famous photographer in the Ukraine. He has more photography equipment than Hefner and Flynt combined. He also has his own photography studio with enough lights to melt Chernobyl (strange segue to my story about Chernobyl).

Oleg and I talk a lot about photography. I’m more into landscapes and unique finds. He’s more into male/female models and having them do things with props and scenes and shaving cream. He invited me to his studio and Saturday and said, “We get models, zerefore we take some pictures.” I had never worked in a studio like his before, so I gave him a big thumbs up.

We showed up at his studio early and spent an eternity as he showed me every light, every strobe, every remote control, and another eternity looking at aperture and lighting and then having a 250-pound Ukrainian man sit in a chair to get the lighting right… Instead of posting a picture of the 250-pound Ukrainian man, I decided to put up this one of the model.

I only speak a few words of Russian, so I let Oleg do all the talking. We snapped away for a while and I got some interesting shots. I have a bunch more that I will post in coming weeks/months.

Filed under the categories: Kharkov, Model, Travel, Ukraine

This is Amin.

Amin’s dream is to drive a Ferrari. He jokes, and then becomes suddenly serious with a haunting, dark Persian stare before uttering his real dream: that one day our race is “human being”, our religion is “humanity” and our nationality is “citizen of the world.” Amin thinks deeply, and then laughs and says, “Well maybe if I was driving a Ferrari now I would be thinking of this crap!”

Amin is currently working at John Galt Games after being recommended by his fellow Iranian programmer, Ali, who shares the flowing locks of Sayid from Lost and the comic stylings of Cicak Man himself. Amin has recently passed the killer gauntlet programmer test of Hafiz (our lead tech brain) with a score of 85. Nobody has ever scored this high, except for Hafiz himself, who resides with the demigods of C++ in his own heavenly sphere of programming and peace.

This comes from my Portrait Series here.

Here is another shot I took from nearby, of a few Islamic schoolchildren:

Filed under the categories: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Model, Musings, Travel

Aru’s dream is to provide a good life for his children.

Aru is currently selling hand-carved Teak wood sculptures in the floating market about two hours outside of Bangkok. He is alert and alive, gladly tracing the markings on his body, explaining to me what they mean.

This shot of Aru comes from my “Portraits Portfolio“, where I try to take the opportunity to get to know some of these interesting-looking people.

This was taken in the floating market, where things got just a touch crowded towards the middle of the day. It could have been hotter in that boat, but I don’t know how.

Filed under the categories: Model, Musings, Thailand, Travel

Neela’s dream is to be famous in the movies. Neela is currently with her family at the Batu Caves celebrating Deepavali. She is with her family and her mother nods appreciatively at me. “Are you going to put her on the Internet? She will be famous yes?” Neela demurs, then I ask her if she wants to be famous in Hollywood or Bollywood movies. She bobbles her head around, which clearly means, “YesNo”.

Filed under the categories: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Model, Musings, Travel

Brenna’s dream is to live in the wiles of Australia and own her own stylist studio while running a photography gallery on the side.

Brenna is currently working as a barista in a not-well-known chain called Starbucks, saving up to go to cosmotology school. She loves animals and is lamenting that her shoes might be made of leather.

This is from my Portraits Set that you can see here.

Filed under the categories: Austin, Model, Musings, Texas

Ulaf’s dream is to build engines for a top Formula One team.

Ulaf is currently operating a windmill in Haarlem. He takes his time when showing me how it works, telling me in great detail how the oak cogs were carved. He doesn’t get many visitors and he is excited that I want to know about all the machinery.

(this comes from my Portraits series)

Filed under the categories: Haarlem, Model, Musings, Netherlands, Travel

Eva’s dream is to finish business school and then figure out what to do with her life.

Eva is currently in Amsterdam on a dinner cruise with her boyfriend. She wants to get married and have a little girl. Her boyfriend smiles and nods.

(this is from my Portraits portfolio on Flickr)

Filed under the categories: Amsterdam, Model, Musings, Netherlands, Travel

This is Ahmed.

Ahmed’s dream is to see Israel wiped off the face of the map. With dark eyes, he stares out across a sea of men yelling “Praise Allah”.

Ahmed is currently attending a Hezbollah rally in Paris, holding a poster of a burned Palastinian child.

—

This comes from a series of portraits I have in a set over on Flickr:

Filed under the categories: France, Model, Paris, Travel

I’m leaving Italy today… Between meetings I had time to explore around with my camera and iPod in overdrive. I saw a lot of interesting faces, so I collected a series of portraits that I have collected into a little portfolio set on Flickr called “What they Dream and What they Do”. If I ever saw someone with an interesting face, I thought perhaps they might have an interesting story too, so I’ve organized the set by the motif of what people do with their lives. Here are the first eight pictures from the series. I will probably add to this collection in the future, or at least until I ask to take someone’s picture and they punch me in the face.

This is Vespucci.

Vespucci’s dream is to find his son and tell him important things. He twists his head quickly at me with a lost and quizzical look, and then he returns to a thoughtful gaze.

Vespucci is currently homeless and cannot remember where his son is.

—

This is Skye.

Skye’s dream, she says with a stalwart demeanor, is to be a successful dermatologist.

Skye is currently modeling in Milan during summer break from medical school.

—

This is Paola.

Paola’s dream, she pauses, she can’t remember them any more.

Paula is currently poses as the Statue of Liberty on the Spaccanapoli in Naples.

—

This is Claudio.

Claudio’s dream is to help people and to seek the truth. He squints at the crucifix in the basilica.

Claudio is currently living out his dream and has peace.

—

This is Maurizio.

Maurizio’s dream is to captain a boat in the bay of Naples and to protect the habitat around Pospitillo and the Amalfi Coast. When he shakes hands, his grip is of old rope.

Maurizio is currently living out his dream.

—

This is Astia.

Astia’s dream was to see her son to rule the Roman Empire.

Astia died never seeing it happen.

—

This is Manea.

Manea’s dream is to go back to Romania and find his mother. He smiles inside his beard, looking upward.

Manea is currently homeless and thinks his mother may be dead, or worse, she may not remember him.

—

This is Maria.

Maria dreams of being a songwriter and singer. She often looks down and nods her head, thinking about deep waves.

Maria is currently teaching scuba diving in Naples and writes songs at night.

Filed under the categories: Amalfi Coast, Italy, Milan, Model, Musings, Naples, Rome, Travel