COLIN MUNRO IN STUDIO

Colin is an up coming recording artist from Toronto. He got attention from Kanye West when he made an unauthorized remix of  “I Want Those Flashing Lights” posted the video on youtube and got the man himself to big it up.  I first met him on a music video i directed for Richie Hennesse, where Colin put in a hilarious cameo as a nutty lab technician. I shot Colin Munro at my photo studio in Toronto for a magazine in New Zealand (how strange is that). A bit of an unconventional promotional portrait, but it’s the music portrait so anything goes.

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This photo was shot for the new Crossfit gym on Queen West, awesome workouts used by the military. High intensity, short bursts, you leave your guts on the floor every time. Definitely the best workouts I’ve ever had, yielding the best results. I am shooting all the promotional and advertising photography for the gym’s website and marketing materials. This shot is a Muscle Up on the Olympic rings. http://www.crossfitgyms.ca/

The new photo & film studio is to be called NTM Studios (Next Top Model Studios) and we’re still working on the website and logo. Been hard at work tearing down old walls and ceilings. We had the concrete floors exposed and newly polished. Sprayed 25 gallons of paint on the walls and still going. Gutting the 3000 square foot space and making it the hottest new fashion photo studio in the city!

I’ve shot several Sutherland fashion shoots in there even with all the construction. It was an experience working around hanging electrical wires and paint… and dust! The models didn’t complain. Like good troopers, we got through it and got some great fashion photography despite it all.

Check out the before and afters of the photo studio renovation process. I’m actually working on a cool time lapse video of the first 6 days.

Also, I finally joined Twitter and I now have a Facebook page! Call me cool. lol.

Kid Kut | Scissorhands

Created this image for Kid Kut from the Baby Blue Sound crew (goes way back) Kid’s got a following as a barber extraordinaire. He came to me for some simple promo images for his sites and shop. I couldn’t help my self and came up with this scissorhand concept using his barber tools. We shot at Circa nightclub in downtown Toronto where he MC’s on the weekends. What a wicked place that is, so many cool corners to shoot in and a very crazy looking bathroom, with a bar inside and a dental surgery chair and all. Pretty nutty, i know.
So we shot and composited this Edward Scissorhand vibe, has a pretty cold and dark tone though. Hope you like it, love to hear your thoughts actually!

DALI INSPIRED KEDAR IN THE DESERT

When I work on creative images I do it mainly for myself as a creative outlet. 98% of the time these creative composites are not created for clients nor used by them. Whenever I shoot a job for a client there are usually a few pictures that get inspired and usually lead me to create something more with them.
In this case we shot clean Herb Ritts inspired beauty type images for a company called Anuaura who makes natural skincare products. During the photo shoot I got inspired by Kedar’s profile (the owner and creator of Anu). I have always been a fan of surreal art and especially Salvador Dali and his paintings of strange ominous landscapes and invisible reflections. I wonder if anyone will notice the subtleties in the image, it is always a work in progress and will hopefully get better as i create more. Thanks for looking, I welcome your comments and creative criticisms.

DEARLY BELOVED, PUNK ROCK BAND SALUTE

Another Dearly Beloved shot take at my studio in Kensington Market one summer day, I miss the summer. I like the energy in this shot with the perspective of the fingers pointed. Gives a nice 3d element and real presence. The one finger salute Niva is giving seems to be a recurring theme with me. I seem to encourage people to give me the finger, hmm.. I guess its the masochist in me.. Ah well, The band also used a version of this shot to promote a live concert event they had at Tattoo Rock Parlor in Toronto. Check them out live when you can, they kick ass!

Stephen Eyes | EYES ON TORONTO

This is a series I was inspired to create for my own purpose. The cast and crew of this Independent Toronto Late night talk show came to me for straight forward promo shots. They had a cool concept for a David Lettermanesque late show with live performances by Toronto bands and interviews with cool celebs and personalities. The shot the pilot and a whole season of 13 episodes at the Gladstone Hotel on Queen St. West in front of a live audience. Lots of funny comedians came to do their stand up too, its a pretty cool show which hopefully will get picked up and broadcast in a tube near you.

Anyway a couple of months after we shot I revisited the images, we shot ear member separately and I encouraged them to get a little crazy for the camera, giving me the finger and making faces. I noticed that there we so many cool expressions and there was a total story there, it just needed a little something.

I put together a few pictures i like and composited a surreal story with a theme, or I should say it kind of created it self just used me as a TOOL entering commands and clicking my mouse until these cool composites came together. hmm.. every images has someone stuck in another inaccessible dimension of glass, dunno what it means buts it eerie and cool.

Props to Stephen Eyes (brains of the operation) “Eyes On Toronto” took me a while to put that together- you sneaky devil ;-)) and his crew of talented actors and comedians to really put it all out there and give so much character to the shot.

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KARDINAL OFFISHAL COVER FOR ALBUM NOT4SALE

Some of the above images were created just for my own amusement and were not included in the album artwork.
Here are some of the images we shot and used in the album art.