Tim

On the occasion of my friend Tim's birthday today, I decided to post these images of him that I took back in July, or was it August? Anyway, they are finally here. His birthday was my motivation. I suppose Facebook is good for something. 

Tim, you are the best! I hope you are enjoying your European tour and that you are eating lots of European chocolate, and meeting beautiful European humans. 

Tim represents Los Angeles dubstep in these portraits. He was playing dub in the club back in 2006/7 (maybe even earlier, but '06 or '07 is when I heard him spinning dub in a San Francisco basement, underneath Chinatown). Didn't know what to make of it then, and still don't, but I can appreciate Tim's genius. Check out Tim's work here.  Did I mention that he composes for Adventure Time? Also, we went to college together and he is the sweetest person. A true gentlemen. Side note: He use to wear rainbow colored clothes and have blue hair. Our youth!

I keep mentioning this to people, but I think he resembles a young James Woods in some of these photographs. All on 35mm film. 

© Ava Alamshah / all rights reserved

your friend, 

ava

Albert J. Winn

Albert Joseph Winn 

July 9, 1947 - May 20, 2014, 2:43 pm

Yahrzeit:  20 Iyar 5774

photo by Scott

Al passed away this afternoon. The photo above is the last time I saw him. May 1st in Portland, Oregon for his solo exhibition at Blue Sky Gallery. The work was a bittersweet monument to Al's life. He was a master printer of black and white photography when the art of printing was starting to fade into oblivion. I'm still processing the news of his loss.

Please take a look at his work. It is beautiful. 

My deepest condolences to Scott Portnoff. Al's husband of many years.

www.albertjwinn.com

Amazon Solitaire

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending "Amazon Solitaire".  An exhibit curated by the lovely, Akina Cox.  It's currently on display at The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock until March 27th.

Work by Stef & Gilda

I plan on hanging this negative against my window - where the morning light shines through

Lady Gummies by Esther Pearl Watson

By Jen Bruce

P U R E   J O Y   ! 

Work by Gilda

I have my work to distract me.

Angie, Gilda, & I.  These ladies inspire me constantly.

your friend,

ava

It's Matty!

©Ava Alamshah

This portrait I took of my friend, Matt, makes me really happy. I think I managed to capture his personality in a nutshell. Sweetly sassy, and one of the funniest people on the planet. He made me laugh so much the two days I got to spend with him in Portland. Everything is so green there and I felt so lucky to capture our time together, in between rain spells. 

I miss my friend, but so happy for him that he gets to pursue his illustration dreams. If you get a moment, please check out his rad website! Beautiful work. I am so proud. 

More portraits of Matt, here.

Here we are on the left in 2004. Rio found this old cellphone image of us! I did some quick photoshop cut & paste & added our current (& better quality) cellphone image! Nerds. 

The image on the left reeks of early 20s angst.

The framed photo that Beth holds up here, is an image I took ten years ago. Matt & her are frightened by a dark, shadowy figure. Must be an alien. It was during my time studying studio lighting. I wanted to make B-movie era film stills. We've all known each other since high school. I don't know where the time has gone.  

your friend,

ava

F Y F

Remember that time I wrote a bit about upcoming plans & seeing My Bloody Valentine, & hanging with friends & enjoying life? Click here if you'd like to revisit. 

I've been back from my trip to the Pacific North West & decided that enough time has gone by since FYF & that I really need to get these photos out there. I had a great time, even though MBV was so loud, they eventually blew out the PA system. So after a mind blowing wall of sound that threw us all into a trance (for real), all of a sudden it would burn out & then...nothing. No sound at all, except the rustling of the crowd. But when everything worked, they were exceptional. Just beautiful. Complete love. I mean, how can you not feel when you hear this beauty? And this?! Uhhhhhh

During No Age (hopelessly devoted since 2006 / we grew up in the same suburb)

Samantha's Bush / Samantha's Tent (during Eleanor Friedberger) I like her. I remember when she was in The Fiery Furnaces with her brother... 

 The Holy Nail & Your Friend, Ava before The Breeders! I had so much fun with this woman. Sasha & I got our nails done together once. x

Ran into Sam during the No Age set! Samantha & I go way back when I was one of her teachers for the community arts partnership while I attended CalArts. She was 15, and I was in my early 20s. So proud of her that she is still photographing and getting her work out there. See her photographs here.

Sarah Rose, Brian, & the sun 

©Ava Alamshah

H I G H L I G H T S 

crystal antlers

beach house (so dreamy)

flag

mbv 

your friend,

ava

Allan Sekula

Goodbye, Allan 

Rio and I use to joke about how much of an art star you were. We would wait and wait for you to show up to class. Sometimes we gave up, but most of the time, we'd stay knowing that it would be worth it. I was always intimidated by you, and in shock that you are not around to challenge me. Challenge the way I think about photography. I will always remember what you said before my thesis (the smallest detail would have made a difference). Back then, I was afraid, but I will do things differently now. 

allan, rio & the san pedro harbor (2003?)

source

More on Allan's passing here.

Eva

I'm collaborating on an awesome project with my friend, Eva {with an E} ! x

C O M I N G   S O O N

photographs ©Ava Alamshah

your friend,

ava

Old Friends/New Adventures

  This past weekend, I embarked on a short journey up north to see old friends, and shoot some portraits for my series.  It was a weekend filled with so much warmth, nostalgia, and RAIN....plenty of rain.  My dear friend, Rio snapped the polaroid above.  I couldn't get over that car sitting in between those hedges, with that house...unreal.  Straight out of a William Eggleston world, or David Lynch's Blue Velvet.  I could have taken hundreds of photos of the scene behind me (I ended up taking maybe five)....

  

polaroids © Ava Alamshah

 

  I'm looking forward to sorting out these memories to share with you.  I already miss my friends.

your friend,


ava

Photographic Practices

I recently told someone that I didn't want to be a photographer.  In my heart, I knew that wasn't entirely true.  I'm not certain I can make it my career, but I know that I want to enjoy taking pictures again.  

This was taken as a study for how I want to photograph this house.  I love how the light hits the structure at a certain time, and the soft colors.  That classic brick fire place makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  I may go back one of these beautiful spring days and capture it again, using film. 

your friend,

ava

Back to the Future Part II

A while back I posted some beautiful photos from Irina Werning.  Her series "Back to the Future" is brilliant and I love her attention to detail when replicating photographs from the past.  It looks like she was in LA for some of them, and I wish I would have known sooner because I would have LOVED to be one of her subjects.  About 8 years ago or so, back at CalArts, I had this project in my head about childhood that never got made.  My mother was rummaging through the garage and found some vintage super 8 footage of me and my family in the early 1980s.  It showed images of "Baby Ava" playing dress up (not too different from today), my 1st birthday is on film with brief images of my grandpa who passed on before I ever got to know him...

Footage of seeing my uncle in his late 20s holding me was really surreal, like from another realm, and just seeing myself as a child brought forth so much raw emotion.  I wept, and thought, "I have to use this somehow".  Something compelled me to use this footage, maybe to possibly relive my childhood in a way, but to come up with an execution was impossible at the time.  The ideas were too vague back then.  I know I wanted to evoke a certain feeling I got from watching the footage for the first time.  I had some present footage of me, at the time, trying to act like a little girl while driving around my neighborhood.  Reenacting the actual events, with pain staking detail, never occurred to me.  I love how Werning's project takes these past photographs and recreates them, forcing the subject to re-live their childhood for just a moment.  I would be curious to read about what kinds of feelings these images evoked for the subjects captured.  Her photographs give me inspiration to finish what I started and just getting ideas out there is the first step. 

Here are some more of my favorites.  To see more, click here.

Andy 1964 & 2011 Los Angeles

Alexandra 1970 & 2011 Paris

Christoph 1990 & 2011 Berlin Wall

Jackie 1990 & 2011 Buenos Aires

Maartje 1990 & 2011 Amsterdam

Marcela 1970 & 2011 Buenos Aires

Puna 2003 & 2011 Buenos Aires

Maria Jose 1983 & 2011 Buenos Aires

Sonia y Laurita 1998 & 2011 Buenos 

The Zurbanos 1999 & 2011 Buenos Air

All images copyright Irina Werning, 2011.

your friend,

ava

Color Blocking & Job Locking

These past few days have been a whirl wind of job searching for my lovely boyfriend.  Freelance isn't quite paying the bills, so it's time for something steady..with benefits no doubt!  I dream about it every day that something will turn up.  Times have been tough, and not just for us, but for the country.  I'm thankful because it's a fact that things could be worse.   Yesterday, we hit the local mall in stride for his interview with a pretty "hip" clothing chain. I'll give you a hint...it starts with U & ends with O & sounds like Schmurban Schmoutfitters. 

I like what a good friend of his said... "Just know that you're cooler than anything in there."

This is so true. 

Tiffany's always has some unique window displays. Who doesn't like diamonds with their ice cream

Killing time at the mall always reminds me of my high school days.  School and the local mall.  That was it, and it was everything.  Oh, youth and the joys of being irresponsible.  

We cruised Neiman Marcus which was delightful.  It is easier to look at clothes that I absolutely know I could never afford, even if I worked every single day without breaks.  No impulse buys!  Just walking around feeling a bit naughty because we were taking pictures in front of their art displays.  A shopgirl asked Jeaux if he was looking for anything in particular, and he answered, "no thanks, just came to see the art."  "Oh.." she replied. 

I absolutely loved the color blocking of the paintings and thought they went well with my outfit.  It was a trip to find out that some of the paintings were created by this woman.  A similar painting is on display and part of Neiman Marcus' permanent collection.  She is also the associate dean for CalArts School of Art.  Our alma mater. 

Pants & top, both H&M. Vintage bag from Mom. The necklace was a steal at Urban a long while ago. I think I only payed 9 bucks.  (Shhh..but it's a secret!) 

Iridescent butterflies hang from the ceiling at Neiman Marcus. This picture does not do it justice. 

Doesn't he look handsome? My Blue Boy. 




your friend,


ava