Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about my past.
Hey! Happy Boxing Day. It’s December 26th, The day after Christmas. Boxing Day. I learned what Boxing Day is from my first wife. She was British. You see, imagine places like Downton Abbey. The Staff would have Christmas Day the day after Christmas. They called it Boxing Day. They had to work over Christmas, but they had their day after Christmas. Just a little trivia for you.
Above is a photograph of one of my camera cases. It was one of 14 pieces of luggage I carried with me on my jobs. It kind of shows how crazy my life was. I initially learned to do this from a photographer I worked for in New York City. It’s a good way for your bags to stand out at the airport baggage claim. It’s kind of hard for someone to run off with your bag when it looks like this, not to mention that it is a little heavy. It was fun though. It was a record of where I’ve been. Some stickers when I see them bring joy, but other stickers make my stomach flip around. Either way, it was a good measure of my life. Man, when I look at it, each sticker has a story. I’ll just pick one out for now.
There’s a sticker of France there. Man I loved it there. I lived in France for a couple of years. I did the starving young artist thing. I did a lot of editorial, magazine work, but made no money. There was the odd advertising or catalog job here or there. But most of my jobs were magazine work, and paid no money. It was a great lifestyle though. I got to meet some amazing people. Go to some amazing places. It was like a long party there. I’ll tell you, now I see why the editors at the magazine stay at the magazine so long. They had a great lifestyle. We went to great restaurants, great locations. And on top of it all, they got paid well for it. I get it now. The editors always liked to work with young talent. I was kind of the same. I liked to work with new people. Their enthusiasm was always intoxicating. I kind of still live like that now. It’s a good vibe working with new people. The established talent are always a bit difficult and prima donna-like.
I think I told you this story before, but I had to get a photograph of a model jumping off a pier into the water. Well the model enthusiastically jumped off the pier. She didn’t reappear, She went straight to the bottom. I said, “Holy shit!” threw all my equipment to my assistant and jumped in after her. I pulled her up to the top and I said, Oh man, do you know how to swim?! She said No! and I said, why did you jump in? She replied, well…I wanted to get a good shot for you. Now that’s dedication, and a prima donna wouldn’t do that.
Love, B. Nice