#coffeystreetstudio

Jakub Józef Orlinski hitting some of the darker notes on his register... Friday at #CoffeyStreetStudio @jakub.jozef.orlinski (at Red Hook Waterfront)

Ruby @flamingoloungehair was the first of my portrait subjects to like Friday’s post and I’m very glad she was as it gives me the opportunity to introduce her to all my friends in Los Angeles. 👋 Hi Ruby! 👋 . Ruby has been cutting, coloring and styling my hair for years. We would always talk about doing a shoot together and then in 2018 she had the bright idea to get her friend Megan @_meganocain on board, then a third year fashion student at Parsons. We had so much fun that first day with our star model @alexandradorschner that we’ve all gotten back together several times since. Working with these amazing young women makes me love clothes all over again: it’s like playing dress-up when you were a kid with zero pressure, just 100% fun. Megan graduated Parsons last year with a brilliant thesis collection and Ruby has just moved to LA and is a new mom to boot! Love and miss you ladies!! . *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait next.* . Photographed at #CoffeyStreetStudio 2018-2019 (at Studio 153) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAV_U4aFNdL/?igshid=126d6y1ydzyot

Moon Ribas @moonribas was the first of my portrait subjects to like yesterday’s post. 👋 Hi Moon! 👋 . A few years ago @bust_magazine called and asked if I’d like to photograph a cyborg. Naturally, I was incredulous but also intrigued. When Ms. Ribas arrived at the studio I could see no outward signs of mechanics or electronics but upon closer inspection I was shown the tiny scars on each of her limbs where online seismic sensors were implanted and which allowed her to feel earthquakes as well as seismic activity on the Moon through vibration. “In 2010 she co-founded the Cyborg Foundation, an international organization that aims to help people become cyborgs, defend cyborg rights and promote cyborg art. Ribas also co-founded the Transpecies Society in 2017, an association that gives voice to non-human identities, defends the freedom of self-design and offers the creation of new senses and new organs in community.” She is widely considered to be the world’s first female cyborg artist. Pretty cool huh? Hope you are well Moon! . . *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait Monday.* . . Ms. Ribas was photographed at #CoffeyStreetStudio on 06.03.16 (at Studio 153) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAOLwYrFLzK/?igshid=1ho2pcpelom9a

Amanda Duarte @agitatedinxenon was the first of my portrait subjects to like yesterday’s post. 👋 Hi Amanda! 👋 . I’d been following Amanda’s work as a performer and writer for quite awhile before we met for the first time at the studio. Reading her cultural, political and personal critique, I found myself thrilled by her courage to say the kinds of things in print most of us can only dream of saying aloud (but that many of us are secretly thinking). Creator of Dead Darlings, a monthly salon she hosts at Judson Memorial Church where authors and artists share failed projects, she turns the rage and despair we feel in the face of injustice and hypocrisy into high comedy. Looking forward to more from this fierce and deeply funny queen. Also 😻 MEOW! 😻 . *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait next.* . Amanda was photographed at #CoffeyStreetStudio on 04.23.18 https://www.instagram.com/p/CALctmMFcHE/?igshid=1e5dhj8mvdy4s

Sam Greenleaf Miller @samgreenleafmiller was the first of my portrait subjects to like yesterday’s post. 👋 Hi Sam! 👋 . I first met Sam in the late 90’s through a mutual friend and our paths have been crisscrossing ever since, through the queer community, through shared friendships, and most recently through her amazingly talented partner Katy (@fashionablesbian). For me, one of the more gratifying aspects of portraiture is creating a visual record of my own life vis a vis the people who play a part in it. The portraits are a document of the time spent together, hanging out in the studio with a common purpose. Looking back on them years later, recalling those moments of laughter and rapport, is the ultimate reward of this work. *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait next.* . Sam was photographed at #CoffeyStreetStudio on 02.16.18 (at Studio 153) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAIhF38FzT0/?igshid=1hx6zk0xv5q51

LaQuann Dawson @laquanndawson was the first of my portrait subjects to like Friday’s post. 👋 Hi LaQuann! 👋 . I met LaQuann almost two years ago when he came to visit me at the studio on the advice of a mutual photo editor friend. While talking with him that afternoon I learned a bit about his many interests and pursuits. A photographer and filmmaker of exceptional talent, LaQuann is also a poet, a designer, and more recently a performer though one could argue that he has been performing ever since he turned his camera upon himself. So struck by his work over the past year, I invited him to become the studios first artist-in-residence in February. LaQuann had just finished the first of his 3 month residency when we had to shut the studio down. Very much looking forward to having him back when we’re able. . *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait next.* . Mr. Dawson photographed at #CoffeyStreetStudio on 08.04.18 and 07.24.19 (at Studio 153) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAD75wMF2I0/?igshid=2tlre62ccnk1

Patrick Kearns @patkearns_ was the first of my portrait subjects to like yesterday’s post. 👋 Hi Pat! 👋 . I met Pat back in 2009 as part of my Queer Kids project while he was a student at Dickinson College in PA (he was the first openly gay college basketball player in the country) and we’ve stayed in regular contact ever since. After he graduated he moved here to the city so whenever he comes to visit me at the studio I usually end up taking some photos of him. Since it’s so casual (and because he’s a total ham) we experiment. He’s even perched himself in the very difficult and uncomfortable position at the top of a plank so I could re-create the Charles Ray piece. He’s one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met with the heart of a poet and I feel lucky to know him. . *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait on Monday.* . Mr. Kearns photographed at #CoffeyStreetStudio, #SharkowiakGardens and Dickinson College 2009-2018. (at Studio 153) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_8Yhp5FfgO/?igshid=y0ukim6xev5y

Jenn Harris @realjennharris was the first of my portrait subjects to like yesterday’s post. 👋 Hi Jenn! 👋 I first met the actor/writer/downtown performance doyenne eight years ago when I made the cover image for “Gayby” starring Jenn and Matt Wilkas at the home of—or more precisely, in the bed of—the film’s director, Jonathan Lisecki. A few years later I had the pleasure of photographing her and Matt once again for their web series “New York Is Dead”. Comedians, especially ones as smart and funny as Jenn are my absolute #1 favorite people to shoot simply because I get to spend the whole day in tears, laughing. Looking forward to seeing you both again soon! *The first person I’ve made a portrait of to like this post, I’ll post that person’s portrait tomorrow.* Jenn was photographed in NYC on 08.06.12 and again at #CoffeyStreetStudio on 02.17.16 (at Studio 153) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_0Byjul7uz/?igshid=1e0w3zpffd9rk