simplicity=less distracting


I shot again with Caleb last week for the cover of Eyes so strong and Clean. The latest concept was a collaborative effort that stemmed from some scout photo’s that we shot back in October. The original Idea was a portrait of Caleb in his workspace, a rowhouse in Remington, Baltimore. His studio is a small room off his bedroom. It’s filled with tons of books, guitars, computers more guitars, records and lots of natural light. I’m always so envious of this workspace. You can just walk in, sit down and immediately your mind starts to wander strait into your most creative places. Caleb uses two desks, one for his two ibooks and one for an old typewriter where his lyrics are made a little more permanent. I think it was my envy of this creator’s office that distracted me from our original concept. The idea of him in his workspace was great, but in the end we were trying so hard to incorporate the workspace that, we missed the point of the cover. -A strong image of Caleb that would express the emotion of the album. In the end the background was nothing but distracting from the image. After we finished the principle shooting for the day I ran around his office grabbing shots of random things for inserts in the album. The final shot of the day was of a sketch of Caleb made by Christine Sajecki. I suggested that the sketch would make a great cover to the album. After we both reviewed the images and neither of us was very excited about the images (for a cover) we revisited the idea of the sketch as a cover. Caleb admitted that it’s been in his head since I had mentioned it. I truly feel like it is exactly what we were trying to accomplish with the album cover. Somehow, without even being able to see any detail in the man’s face, you know what he is going to sing about. And it was right there in the background the whole time. I’m grateful for these jobs. I am able to shoot and learn in the most nourishing environment. In retrospect i realize that I lost sight of what we were trying to accomplish because I got distracted with other elements that interested me. I tried to incorporate something that I thought would make a more interesting photo and it ultimately distracted the viewer (to be) from the point of the photo.

The conversation with Caleb along with studying Christine’s sketch made me think about the Avedon Show I had recently seen at the Corcoran. I’ve always been a huge fan of Avedon’s, but in this moment I think I appreciate more than ever what he was doing. With that white seamless behind him, the subject and the viewer are eye to eye. Im not saying that I would want to spend a career doing things that way but I do see the value in it. I had to revisit some of the other test shots Caleb and I took on a white seamless to see what would come of a more simplistic path. I think this is more along the lines of what we were ultimately after, (being a test shot, little attention to hair, light,wardrobe, attitude, etc) It gives you nothing to look at but the emotion and energy, and the wrinkles or the beard or the eyes in the talents face. Christine’s sketch does a better job of telling this same story b/c the simplicity of the sketch lets viewer/listener have a little input. It’s beautiful. Watch for the album soon on calebstine.com
Click on images for larger views.

Behind the scenes of the jar of flies.


i get so many inquires about this image that I thought it would be more informative to post the pieces. Click for larger version.

The Pieces



Here are the two main pieces of the image, minus some stock fireflies.

The Birdwatcher’s Companion.






Katherine Fahey asked me to photograph the opening of The Birdwatcher’s Companion show at the metro gallery. This is a series of portraits of the musicians that collaborated with kathy on the project. See more images from the night here.

The Birdwatcher’s Companion, opened January 17th at the Metro Gallery. The exhibit showcases these paintings. Gallery goers can listen through headphones to the songs that inspired Fahey. For their part, the musicians have written seven new songs as inspired by their favorite work of Fahey’s, which are available for listening. All six songwriters performed at the opening reception on January 17th 2009.

As a poster and print maker, Fahey has established working relationships—as well as close friendships—with many of Baltimore’s finest musicians. Songwriter contributors to The Birdwatcher’s Companion include Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak, Caleb Stine, James Sarsgard of Noble Lake, Katie Feild, and Bob Keal of Small Sur.

The Birdwatcher’s Companion, music and art, the closest of cohorts.

Barack Hussein Obama


20 January 2009 – Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C.

W. leaves D.C.


January 20th 2009. Bush leaving Washington

Waiting for Obama


D.C. rooftop. Pennsylvania Ave. Jan 20, 2009

robert frank inspires

While working on the rooftop of the Canadian embassy during the Obama inauguration, I noticed that there was a Robert Frank exhibit right across the street at the national gallery. I was able to slip away for a couple hours to check it out. Turns out that they were showing all 83 images from Franks’ “The Americans” book. The images are unbelievable. He has such a sense for finding a huge tonal range on the darkside. needless to say, this image was made later that night, while returning to union station in washington. it’s rare for me to see such a quick return on inspiration.

Caleb & Saleem


Buy “Outgrown These Walls” Here

Outgrown These Walls – cover


Caleb and Saleem asked me to shoot the cover to Outgrown These Walls. I’m so excited to have been a part of such a dynamic collaboration. I can’t tell you how much I’ve been enjoying listening to Saleem’s stories coupled with my favorite melody maker. Here’s the cover before the text was added.

In early 2008, I had an outlandish idea: Take two Baltimore musicians who had never heard of each other, pair them up and force them to write four original songs in six weeks.

And the musicians I picked, Caleb Stine and Saleem Heggins, couldn’t have come from more different backgrounds. Caleb was an Americana singer/songwriter; Saleem an MC who liked vintage hip-hop. But the friendship they forged and the songs they wrote in a matter of months are astounding.

The first time Caleb and Saleem performed this music live, audience members teared up. Together they have far exceeded the original challenge and created something truly compelling. – Sam Sessa – The Baltimore Sun, WTMD

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