.

Whitney Houston R.I.P.

2012-02-12T10:34:00.004-05:00

This image says it all for me... the 80s were very formative for me in so many ways... Fashion and Music reached a collective creative moment that lasted a decade like know other. Michael, Whitney, Madonna owned the charts... And now we have lost another to the ages, Whitney Houston. One of my greatest Memories was going to a Jeffrey Osborn concert at Pine Knob an out door amphitheater north of Detroit. It was 1985 and the opening acts were ironically New Edition and at that time a relatively unknown Whitney Houston who opened first. The audience started out skeptical about this new girl but by the third song most of us there had forgotten who else we come to see that night. When she left the stage to a standing O... I remember commenting that she definitely had a future and I was looking forward to buying that album (probably still using vinyl then;-). I love the image above because it provides comfort that Whitney is at peace with friends. Thanks for sharing your life with us Whitney! You were amazing!

Note: All text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Kashedance at IABD!

2012-02-11T17:06:00.001-05:00

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

FACE!

2012-02-11T13:39:00.004-05:00

ESE!

2012-02-11T13:37:00.002-05:00

Motown Jedi - Part 2

2012-02-11T13:25:00.003-05:00

Chrysler Wins Again!

2012-02-06T21:37:00.007-05:00

Super Bowls are about the game, the halftime show, and in America its about the commercials. This year Chrysler wins yet again with a pro Detroit, pro American spirit piece called "Halftime in America" narrated by Clint Eastwood. A lot has been made of the ads politics. I can see the connection but I don't fucking care... What I care about is Detroit, what I care about is the mischaracterization that Detroit is over.. Its not. It is in the process of reinvention, something America is in the middle of too. Reinvention is what we do best...what we have always done best! We are all reinvented decendance of those who came before, both good or bad, right or wrong its who we are and this commercial hits the mark. "Halftime in America" follows up on the fantastic Eminem "Lose Yourself" commercial from last years Superbowl.

This is the Motorcity and this is what we do! Damn straight! Made in Detroit!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Capturing The Dance - Toronto 2012

2012-02-01T21:06:00.001-05:00

Was honored to be one of the only photographers to capture last weeks dance conference in Toronto. Here is a small sample of the 7000 images I shot over the course of 4 days! The event with my photos were covered in the Huffington Post! If you want to see a few more you can go to my Dance Blog!
Enjoy!

Kicking Off Black History Month!

2012-01-30T23:27:00.003-05:00

MOTION - Opening Night!

2012-01-25T22:42:00.004-05:00

A great start to the IABD Conference was the opening of MOTION an exhibit of blacks in dance via nearly 30 years of performance posters. I was proud to have three posters an images in two others for this show! This virtually being my first true showing in Canada after 14 years! The ice has been broken! It was a great evening.

Tonight!

2012-01-25T08:33:00.001-05:00

Remembering

2012-01-16T07:46:00.002-05:00

Jump!

2012-01-13T23:17:00.005-05:00

Once you have been sky diving you are keenly aware of what it feels like to fall enormous distances. I know this to be true personally. Since then I have had dreams of falling countless times usually around times of great stress but with one small caveat, once I begin to fall I have the ability to fly and recover so I never crash to the ground. I have created an experiential metaphor that has reminded me that I have options when ever life gets hard. It has served me well. In these photographs I have tried to creatively express my dreams... Know one crashes here but sometimes we fall into things bigger than ourselves and always we grow into something better!

Motown Jedi

2012-01-12T23:04:00.001-05:00

Reflections On My Freind

2012-01-12T22:56:00.003-05:00

More To The Story

2012-01-07T14:27:00.019-05:00

Truth can be defined by a simple equation, there are always three sides to every story, Yours, Mine and in-between lays the truth. Sometimes when one hears the other side of the story a little more of their truth becomes yours. At the end of October 2009 I had posted a blog post entitled "Thoughts On Robert". At that time I wanted to conclude my thoughts on him in a more meaningful and public way. I had consumed many writings about him including the biography by Patricia Morrisroe, the writings of Kobena Mercer. I had also used the words of Mapplethorpe himself as well as some of the key models whom he photographed.

Most recently I discovered a documentary titled "Eye to Eye by Isabel Hegner, Artist and former Mapplethorpe model and lover Jack Walls said:

"Like he once told me that he never actually told someone to take off their cloths. Because I would believe that he couldn't care less if you took your cloths off or not. I don't think that was a major factor with him if one took their cloths off because if you do look at the pictures even the pictures with their cloths on there is a certain amount of…um... Nakedness is a better word, their souls were bare just in the glare, and he gets that and I don't know if its him or the sitters but he generally photographs people that are relatively deep, they may have been clothed people but at that point I think they do open up, probably for the first time."

This revelation is a stunning one for me as it continues to challenge some of the conclusions I had previously read. At the time of that posting my thoughts of him were ambiguous at best… I stated that I didn't feel as a person that I would like him very much. We were different. I still believe we are in many ways but the story for me has changed yet again with a new perspective.

I haven't had much time to read this past year so as the holidays approached I was pressing myself to clear my accumulating shelves of unread books… Mostly biographies. In anticipation of the Steve Jobs Bio I consumed Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein all of which were written by Walter Isaacson. I then completed the early released Jobs bio…. All excellent reads, all tied together by a common thread it seemed… All of these amazing men were somewhat flawed yet perfect in ways that I had not fully expected.

This set me up for the next book on my list, "Just Kids" by Patti Smith Artist, Singer/songwriter (She wrote Because the night with Bruce Springsteen) and Activist. More relevant she was a friend and confidant and lover to Robert Mapplethorpe for nearly 3 decades. Her writing provides what has been until this point the long overdue second story to the aforementioned equation.

Publishers weekly summed up:

"In 1967, 21-year-old singer–song writer Smith, determined to make art her life and dissatisfied with the lack of opportunities in Philadelphia to live this Life, left her family behind for a new life in Brooklyn. When she discovered that the friends with whom she was to have lived had moved, she soon found herself homeless, jobless, and hungry. Through a series of events, she met a young man named Robert Mapplethorpe who changed her life—and in her typically lyrical and poignant manner Smith describes the start of a romance and lifelong friendship with this man: It was the summer Coltrane died. Flower children raised their arms… and Jimi Hendrix set his guitar in flames in Monterey. It was the summer of Elvira Madigan, and the summer of love…. This beautifully crafted love letter to her friend (who died in 1989) functions as a memento mori of a relationship fueled by a passion for art and writing. Smith transports readers to what seemed like halcyon days for art and artists in New York as she shares tales of the denizens of Max’s Kansas City, the Hotel Chelsea, Scribner’s, Brentano’s, and Strand bookstores. In the lobby of the Chelsea, where she and Mapplethorpe lived for many years, she got to know William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Johnny Winter. Most affecting in this tender and tough memoir, however, is her deep love for Mapplethorpe and her abiding belief in his genius. Smith’s elegant eulogy helps to explain the chaos and the creativity so embedded in that earlier time and in Mapplethorpe’s life and work."

This book sets a more humanistic approach to the man and their relationship which at times seemed about two middle-class kids making their way in New York yet magical, mysterious and bohemian. She seems through out to be riding on the wave that is Roberts self discovery with his sexuality and as an artist and what is amazing to me most of all, her act of faith through out propels her into a world class artist herself. This book is a precious time capsule for the late 60's, the 70's and 80's and Patti writes in such poetic detail that you will find yourself transported into those moments. For myself it realigned the clock on many of the pop culture moments they lived through. Many of the events I assumed were in the 80's actualy took place in the 70's.

From another Review:

"Smith and Mapplethorpe made fast friends, eventually finding themselves regulars at Max’s Kansas City, with its rowdy transgenders and Factory crowd, enjoying the Velvet Underground, the occasional house band. This was more Robert’s thing as he idolized Andy Warhol. Smith and Mapplethorpe were more conspirators than lovers at this point and she drifted into friendships with scenester Bob Neuwirth and Todd Rundgren. She learns intimately from poet Jim Carroll and the playwright, Sam Shepherd. Patti is privy to Janis Joplin’s boy troubles and Jimi Hendrix tells her his dream of a new musical language. Smith’s own language sometimes feels that she read On the Road at an impressionable age and never quite got over it. Her prose has some affectations: she calls fellow Chelsea Hotel residents, “inmates… guitar bums and stoned-out beauties in Victorian dresses.” Making art is “an unholy ritual.” She has hippie-dippy superstitions; birthdays of famous poets are often propitious. Hipspeak colors her interactions (maybe this reviewer, with his allegiance to many formalities of language would be too “square” for the scene he idealizes) and she and Robert often speak of magic. So she may have had a beat fetish, I will grant her this: she was a friend to Burroughs, Ginsberg tried to pick her up (he mistook her for a ‘pretty boy’) and she loaned money to Corso to support his junk habit.

There are a lot of famous names in Just Kids, but Smith does not drop them to prove her worth–she seems as much at awe at her good fortune as we are. But for all their fame, the rock stars and celebrity artists are only background characters here. The story through it all belongs to the kids, Patti and Robert. The memoir begins and ends on a cold day in March 1989, when Robert dies of AIDS complications. By then, they’d drifted apart, Smith to a family and recording career in Detroit, Mapplethorpe to a stellar artistic career as a photographer. They reconnect because of his illness and once in touch, the old patterns return and they understand anew a quality of friendship that is uniquely theirs. It’s a love story between friends and to feel Smith tell it, those impoverished years when Mapplethorpe was her greatest companion is worth all the gold records on the wall. A trip to Coney Island in 1969 suggests the purity of this friendship beautifully: “We were just ourselves that day, without a care… Only weeks before we had been at the bottom, but our blue star, as Robert called it, was rising. We boarded the F train for the long ride back, returned to our little room, and cleared off the bed, happy to be together.”

So what is a kid in New York City with paint on his hands a tumblr site that no one visits is supposed to take home from all this? It could happen to you too and that might help a person navigate optimistically the next couple months as he struggles to pay his rent and make the time to create something that might find an audience, or better, a champion."

With the equation more complete and with the understanding of the times in which they lived Patti brings Robert closer to me as a person and as an artist… Though It was not important to me and who I have become, I am gratified to Patti for this.

As a photographer who often photographs men I still get asked about or compared too Robert Mapplethorpe… In someways I understand their questions, some make the comparison as a compliment and some an accusation and after reading this book I am more comfortable with the comparison.

Robert may have defined and brought acceptability to a new genre of art and art photography but ultimately I am my own artist.. have my own take on life… I define my own perfect moments.

I want to conclude with a passage from the book that sums up the most important thing to remember in the end… We all just want to be loved… I believe Patti loved Robert and Robert loved Patti.

“Finally, by the sea, where God is everywhere, I gradually calmed. I stood looking at the sky. The clouds were the colors of a Raphael. A wounded rose. I had the sensation he had painted it himself. You will see him.   You will know him. You will know his hand. These words came to me and I knew I would one day see a sky drawn by Robert’s hand.

Words came and then a melody. I carried my moccasins and waded the water’s edge. I had transfigured the twisted aspects of my grief and spread them out as a shining cloth, a memorial song for Robert.

    “Little emerald bird wants to fly away.
    If I cup my hand, could I make him stay?
    Little emerald soul, little emerald eye.
    Little emerald bird, must we say goodbye?”

In the distance I heard a call, the voices of my children. They ran toward me. In this stretch of timelessness, I stopped. I suddenly saw him, his green eyes, his dark locks. I heard his voice above the gulls, the childish laughter, and the roar of the waves.

    “Smile for me, Patti, as I am smiling for you.”

                           *************
After Robert died, I agonized over his belongings, some of which had once been ours. I dreamed of his slippers. He wore them at the end of his life, black Belgian slippers with his initials stitched in burnished gold. I agonized over his desk and chair.   They would be auctioned off with his other valuables at Christie’s. I lay awake thinking of them, so obsessed I became ill.   I could have bid on them but I couldn’t bear to; his desk and chair passed to strange hands. I kept thinking of something Robert would say when he was obsessed with something he couldn’t have. “I’m a selfish bastard. If I can’t have it I don’t want anyone else to.”

Why can’t I write something that would awake the dead? That pursuit is what burns most deeply.   I got over the loss of his desk and chair, but never the desire to produce a string of words more precious than the emeralds of Cortes. Yet I have a lock of his hair, a handful of his ashes, a box of his letters, a goatskin tambourine. And in the folds of faded violet tissue a necklace, two violet plaques etched in Arabic, strung with black and silver threads, given to me by the boy who loved Michelangelo."

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. Images from various sources and txt from various sources is used. My apologies for its use in the commentary about the book. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Leaping into 2012!

2012-01-05T23:03:00.001-05:00

Made the last page of Dance Current for the first issue of 2012 along with Kevin Ormsby... As well a great piece of writing by MJ Thompson!!! Great start to 2012!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Liquid Stars

2012-01-03T21:26:00.008-05:00

Traveling from one end of my universe to the other in just minutes. I float in a sea of liquid stars.

Thanks 2011! - Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

I've been accused of looking backwards to much... I can't agree. But what I can be accused of is cherishing things that are important to... well ME!

This is but a small way for me to celebrate and honor what was as I move into what will be.... A Happy 2012!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Merry Christmas - 2011

2011-12-25T12:53:00.001-05:00

Here we are at the end of another year! I have been blogging for over 6 years now and it has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life! Sharing my past, my day to day life has been very cathartic and many times it has helped me get through tough times like when I lost my Mom or close friends... But I hope also that I have shared awesome moments and showcased individuals that I think are extraordinary! Over the next 30 days or so I will cross over the 300,000 unique visitor mark! The fact that I have been able to share my creativity with that many people from literally all over the world sums up the power and importance of the internet as a tool to transform lives. It has mine. I still have a couple more shoots this year and I will be posting 2011 year in review but I just wanted to come on here and say thank you for stopping by... Your comments have been transformative to me... and to what ever holidays you celebrate... from myself I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

SVEN

2011-12-25T12:40:00.000-05:00

Epiphany Noir

2011-12-18T21:17:00.004-05:00

Risorgimento

2011-12-12T23:05:00.017-05:00

BLUE Dance

2011-12-03T23:47:00.003-05:00

Victor!

2011-12-03T02:04:00.002-05:00

Michael

2011-11-18T23:02:00.007-05:00

Michael Jennings and Montrice Bellamy

Didn't find out about Michael until last Saturday night as I read a notification on Facebook... Another deeply sad moment for us all.

As always I spent a few hours last weekend digging through the piles of photographs and found many great images that I will put together in a post soon... I wanted to post this image first because I thought it was the most appropriate for me.

I always thought Michael and Montrice were twin brothers from different mothers... Indeed it was Montrice who introduced me to Michael Jennings in of all places the Continental Bar(the memories flood back to that moment an time).

I'll really miss Michael, just as I still miss Montrice but I am comforted with one thought... They have reunited on the other side and thats a good thing.

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Kenya - Part 1

2011-11-18T22:36:00.002-05:00

Riccardo - Part 1

2011-11-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

Ocean

2011-11-18T22:23:00.000-05:00

Church Street Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T19:19:00.002-04:00

Perfection

2011-10-30T14:20:00.000-04:00

Sunrise Over Lake Ontario

2011-10-30T14:13:00.002-04:00

Apple Store Eaton Centre - Two Days Later

2011-10-07T23:52:00.001-04:00

Thank You Steve!

2011-10-05T22:09:00.006-04:00

It seems like I want/should to be concise about what I want to say at the passing of Steve Jobs. I never met the guy in person though I would have liked to… even if it was only for a moment to thank him for creating products that have changed my life. Apple products are more than just computers they are portals of possibility… The tools I use/have used since 1984 to express my creativity.

In 1984 Adobe Products were tailor made for Macs long before PC's emerged… When Steve came back to Apple I jumped on board of his grand master plan of getting my iLife on!…. Today my 27 inch iMac is an appendage to my brain… my life… My patterned interface which seems like a natural part of my life… Non Mac users will not understand this but I rarely consider it a machine anymore because of this relationship.

My iPad and iPhone and Apple TV are mere extensions of my Mac allowing me to remain connected away from home. I carry my music and my photography, my books, magazines, newspapers and movies… not to mention the countless podcasts I regularly subscribe to. I edit images, write blog posts while I am on the subway headed to work.

I have written previously about my relationship with my Mac

Steve knew that I didn't need a command line, I didn't need to see the running code behind the operating system. I just needed a computer that would do the things I wanted it to do with a minimum of technical know how. The definition of a good tool is in how simple and eloquently it does its task. That is what a Mac is and the reflective Genius of its creator. Thanks Steve

I thought the images that I posted from the Apple website were very classy….

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Thank You For This Blessing!

2011-09-28T23:59:00.007-04:00

insideoutproject

2011-09-27T19:25:00.004-04:00

I really love group art projects and in recent weeks one has begun to crop up here in Toronto that feature photographic portraits! Called insideoutproject (click the name to go to their web site!)

Here is the project blurb from their site:

INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can participate as an individual or in a group; posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and viewable virtually.

Refections

2011-09-25T21:02:00.004-04:00

Q. What is in a face? A. Nearly everything we are.

Over the past couple years I have been increasingly drawn to the portrait and I am coming to the realization that it is one of the hardest things I have ever photographed. The topographical make up of the face adds to the complexity of the shooting choices. The same face and pose can go from evil to angelic depending on lighting and color of the environment... So shooting requires so many considerations based upon who you are shooting... their personality and character are key to getting the image correctly reflecting the person you are photographing. I have always spent time getting to know who I am shooting, its been an important aspect of my craft and I believe I have done a good job... As I enter the final third of my life these moments between photographer and model are so much more important to me... A relevant and meaningful connection to people has turned from simple photographer requirement to a new found joy in my life. I have gotten to know some amazing people who's story has expanded my mind, my way of thinking/living, my life. An experience that I hope is equally shared by all. Tonights post features my good friend Curtis... A truly amazing person.

Fleurette Africaine

2011-09-25T12:09:00.002-04:00

Again I find myself getting caught up and late with my posts.... On the evening of the 17th I was fortunate to view/shoot the Wind In The Leaves Collective's presentation of Fleurette Africaine. A personal and historical narrative that linked thematically the experience of the African in North America, from slavery in Canada to alienation of an immigrant in the cauldron of New York City.
To read Anya Wassenberg's review click on Art & Culture Maven To see all of the images from the evening you can go to my Dance Blog

10 Years Later

2011-09-11T00:55:00.005-04:00

Ten years ago today I went to work on a wonderfully sunny September day and before the morning was over the world changed. When the first plane hit I thought like everyone else... accident... when the second one hit I thought terrorism...

When the towers began to fall I left the lunchroom at work which was now full of people watching history unfold. The senior director realizing that I was the only American in the office ran after me into the main hall. I stood there looking at him as I began to break down... How could this happen?

The enormity of the moment was simply bigger than anyone could bare... He sent me home and told me to take the rest of the week off. He understood.

Every year I have taken a moment to remember.. The emotions in that moment have stayed with me. I knew know one who died that day personally. While I felt for the thousands who died and their families, what was damaged in me I shared with millions of Americans and I carry it with me still. For the first time in our history someone had tried to kill the American Dream.

One of my earliest thoughts post 9/11 was that the events of that day had made the fourth stanza of America The Beautiful irrelevant... My grief held me and I could not see the future.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

But I was wrong... On this the 10th Anniversary the future is rising in the ashes of what was. The main tower of One World Trade Center stands tall and the fitting 9/11 Memorial is completed to mark the anniversary. We can begin to move forward now.

Much has transpired in the last ten years. The world has changed and in many ways become ugly and divissive and I fight everyday to not let cynicism change who I am. What was lost 10 years ago was not just three buildings and four planes and the humans beings that occupied them. It was a way of life, the loss of liberty that once existed how ever real or unreal you may have thought that concept was.

Still freedom prevails, America is still the ideal many people aspire too and the place many people hope to live.
You can't kill an idea. God Bless the United States of America.

And God Bless the the generosity of the folks in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Gander, Newfoundland who took in over 22,500 airline passengers into their collective homes on 9/11 when so many planes war forced to land out side of the United States.

Note: All text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. Images used were from the web and appreciate any and all of the photographers indulgence as I use them. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Fab Model

2011-09-10T23:52:00.001-04:00

Couldn't help but love June's Fab pride cover... The model was this great guy named Greg... When I ran across his Model Mayhem profile I knew I wanted to work with him! The result was a great morning shoot that you can see below! Enjoy!

Twisted Glow

2011-09-10T23:25:00.000-04:00

Cloths Make The Man

2011-09-08T21:25:00.005-04:00

When I first came out in the mid 80's there were a couple fashion motifs that men of color were rocking. One was baggy cuffed jeans and plaid shirts the other was a more refined Glen Plaid pants and Kenneth Cole boots... The kind with the big side buckle. Polo shirts were in big time as were popped collars as were Calvin Klien under wear. The 80's were both amazing and disastrous for fashion but black gay men lead the way through the whole decade setting one fashion trend after another. The Hip Hop nation brought us Cross Color and Karl Kani Jeans and shorts... It was a powerful time creatively ...artistically ...creating unique looks was the weekly rule of thumb... You could never go to the club with an outfit you had previously worn... If you did you'd have shade like no tomorrow.

Its a different day... but the creativity carries forward and there is a greater variety of looks and options available ...Cloth make the man has never been truer! Tonight I bring you some looks from Kenya, Ricky and Tevon from the summer! Enjoy!

Here Comes The Sun

2011-09-04T21:01:00.001-04:00

Fleurette Africaine

2011-08-30T20:04:00.003-04:00

Summer Dance Shoot - Alistair and Pulga

2011-08-28T19:06:00.003-04:00

A photo shoot long time in the making saturday with my friends Alistair and Pulga taking us through Queens Park and the campus of the University of Toronto... Was a great day and a lot of fun! to see more from this shoot you can of to my DANCE BLOG!

Exaltation Two

2011-08-20T12:12:00.002-04:00

These images of Harry were taken in 1997 at the abandoned train station in Detroit. They are more examples of my new negative scan project which is providing me with ultra high definition scans of some of my earliest works. Harry reminded me of a priest or shaman as we shot these in the massive hulk of a once glorious building.

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Exaltation

2011-08-05T19:00:00.001-04:00

Introducing Andre!

51

2011-07-30T00:14:00.003-04:00

Officially more than a half century old and loving it! For those who know me its been a ruff couple of weeks health wise but the experience has furthur galvanized my feelings of accomplishment and things yet to come in my life. I don't run away from my birthdays... never have... each year brings interesting people and new challenges to my life giving it additional depth and meaning. I learned a new quote today... "Home is not a place but where your friends are" If thats the case then home is many places but more imortantly its also right where I am now. So heres to the next 50!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

The Urban Jungle Weekend - Creating The Art

2011-07-29T16:22:00.008-04:00

The Urban Jungle weekend is fast becoming the annual event for DJ Blackcat... Creatively its been a great opportunity for me to stretch my Photoshop skill to the new levels. This year I was able to create several pieces of art as backgrounds for the event (Typography was expertly laid in by Pleasure Monroe!) It all starts out at a photo shoot against a stark white back drop! Once the images are taken and chosen the people are cut into the themed backgrounds where there is a lot of post processing of shadows and other small details! They are time consuming to create but allot of fun! And the results are awesome.

In many cases the images are flipped to better accommodate the typography ... giving the final piece the balance it deserves to tell the story.

I have added a few additional photos of Andre! He is a great new model!

The Urban Jungle Weekend is this weekend and if you are in Toronto for Caribana you should take time out to come to the parties! For more information you can link to HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE And Finally HERE

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Jewelry By Deverae Shaw!

2011-07-24T17:41:00.005-04:00

What an awesome experience...Three models and lots of cloths and of coarse Jewelry! I loved stepping out of my norm to lend a hand to this great Jewelry artist... The models were great, outfits on point...it all came together for a great morning shoot!

Below is Deverae and her models after a great shoot!

Moment From The Royal Court Ball 2001

2011-07-24T12:07:00.000-04:00

Looking Back... Pride 2011

2011-07-24T11:23:00.003-04:00

Still catching up with my July posts... Just wanted to provide a small snippet of Pride 2011. I had an awesome time with my friend from AnnArbor, Javon! This was his second Toronto Pride and I think he had a great time.

Dana

2011-07-23T23:58:00.003-04:00

What a month July has been thus far... So many things happening at the same time and I got sick just in time to stop my butt. I've spent the last couple of weeks re-assessing whats happening to my life. I'll share with you some of my thoughts in the coming weeks. Last Thursday I down loaded the latest Apple OS for my Mac... LION! So far its been awesome in ways I hadn't considered when updating... One that will affect my photography is the new scanner I had to purchase because my old one only ran(feebly) via rosetta. The new scanner is a Canon Canoscan 9000F which has the best ever negative scanner available via a flatbed scanner. Tonight I present Dana.. Yes you have seen some of these images before but these are the best digital transcriptions yet.... I can't wait to so you some of the older images that have not been digitized. Anyways Im back, sorry for such a long time between posts...

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T19:02:00.006-04:00

To take from the folks at Chrysler and Eminem, “This is the Motor City, and this is how we do it!” Actually Detroit and Windsor share responsibility for this years 53^rd annual Canada Day (July 1) and Independence Day (July 4th) combined fireworks. As this video was shot on June 27th it was Canada’s turn! Here is a cool video from the Windsor side of the entire fireworks a 2 hour show in just 5 min!

Yes I'm Dancing!

2011-06-26T21:30:00.002-04:00

It has been a wonderful couple of years relative to my Dance Photography! There is so much to look forward too in the months to come including a major dance conference in Toronto in January! This week My photography was featured on the Art & Culture Mavens Blog written by Anya Wasssenberg. Additionally some of my dance images can be found at Sway Magazines Website where Anya also writes!

To se more images like tonights you can always go to my Dance Blog; Cushman Dance Photography

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

New York! Number 6!

2011-06-26T12:11:00.002-04:00

Congrats NY! Welcome to the real world! Message to the 44 states left. You can not discriminate against people in a democracy... Its UN-American! Stop spreading false statements about how Gay marriage will destroy society... We have had it here in Canada for most of a decade and the only impact it has had is making everyone happily equal.

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Taylor Siluwe 1966 - 2011

2011-06-20T00:08:00.002-04:00

Life is unkind in how it can sometimes come to completion in sad and painful ways. Fellow Blogger and activist Taylor Siluwe lost his battle with cancer.
Like most bloggers we never met but from time to time he would comment on one of my posts and that meant a lot to me.

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-06-12T23:05:00.003-04:00

Marriage is a lot of hard work and sometimes there are moments when it could be easy to just give up, I know I have been there. But its also amazing and brings forth a whole new set of things to your life that were unexpected and can fill you with awe! Having someone in this world to be there through all of all of the good and bad, to wade through the crap and walk through the flowers is something irreplaceable. Its an experience like no other. I was there when Glenroy and Anthony were married a year ago... It was magic! Congrats guys on your first year!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Recalcitrare

2011-06-11T23:27:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate to attend the premiere of Kevin A. Ormsby's new dance piece Recalcitrare. It is the culmination of years of work and influence and it is exuberant and tender and surely heralds a new and exciting phase in Kevin's career! To see it in all its glory you can catch it at the Canada Dance Festival on June 16th at National Arts Centre on 53 Elgin Street in Ottawa!

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

Kevin Ormsby Takes Flight Again!

2011-06-05T22:42:00.003-04:00

So one of the things I have learned over recent years is just how stressful Dance can be on the body and last year my friend Kevin hurt his (for conversation sake) Achilles Heal... Grounded some of his more lofty dance efforts. An operation and several months later Kevin is once again taking flight in preparation for his of company's new work Recalcitrare set to be premiered at the Canada Dance Festival on June 16th 2011, 7:30 pm.

Recalcitrare is Latin for kicking back, to strike with the heels... This will be Kevin's first performance with his company since the surgery and I can tell you its a powerful piece! More images can be found at my DANCE BLOG

Giving The Max!

2011-06-01T23:51:00.002-04:00

Continued Exposure!

2011-05-30T23:43:00.003-04:00

My photography continues to spread out around the world!

Most recently in the latest issue of the Creative Edge, the publication from the University Of The West Indies, Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts (PSCCA) formerly the Creative Arts Centre (CAC). Much Thanks to Kevin for taking me around the world with him !!!!

The Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts was founded in February 1968 with the assistance of the Gulbenkian Foundation and completed by the Friends of Canada and is a Creative Centre and was the brainchild of former Vice Chancellor Sir Philip Sherlock, who believed that the Campus should have a place for the development of the creative imagination. In 1993 the Centre was renamed the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts in honour of the life and work of Sir Philip.

Remembering This Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-29T20:35:00.000-04:00

Practice... Makes Perfect!

2011-05-29T18:49:00.004-04:00

Most of the dance practices I have been able to shoot have been at night... This was a rare day time practice with all the benefits of the large natural lighting the National Ballet School provides!
To see more from this shoot please go to my DANCE BLOG!

Esa Osa Revisited

2011-05-28T14:15:00.005-04:00

Kenya - 3! The kick off to summer!

2011-05-25T22:11:00.006-04:00

The Rapture?

2011-05-23T21:03:00.004-04:00

So ends the Victoria Day weekend! (Canada's Memorial Day) The off and on rain came to a head with a fast moving thunderstorm around 6pm today... Given all the talk about the rapture this past weekend one could easily think that they simply missed it by 48 hours! The clouds were moving fast and were layered in epic style of light and dark. Yet in short order we were given the symbol God gave Noah the first time the world was destroyed by the flood! So much for the rapture in land of Gay Marriage and Equality for all, the great country of Canada!

White party 2011!

2011-05-23T15:24:00.001-04:00

Anouther great White Party last night at the Barn! Great beats, fun crowd! Got a chance to test drive the new SNAPS t-shirt! ;-) too much fun!

Love Is Everything! - 2

2011-05-23T14:03:00.003-04:00

Exposure Kashe!

2011-05-15T15:07:00.007-04:00

Its one of my most iconic dance images and more than a year later it continues to shine in several high profile ways. Above is the May - June Canadian National Arts Counsel Brochure for the up and coming live performances and schedule while below is the program for those performances! It's such an honor to get your work shown in these venues! Im pretty excited to be able to share this with you! Again I just have to Thank Kevin Ormsby and Kashedance for such a great opportunity!

Byron

2011-05-13T20:47:00.006-04:00

Had a wonderful shoot last weekend with Byron and some friends.... and was able to shoot something more artistic back at the studio! Here you go Enjoy! To see the rest of the shoot please go to my dance blog CushmanDancePhotography

Second Perspective On Dance

2011-05-09T23:26:00.000-04:00

Always Thinking About You!

2011-05-07T22:39:00.002-04:00

Mothers Day was so important to you. I remember. It's still a good day. I'm always thinking about you. Think about your gift to me. What I am doing with it. How to be/stay a good person. Thank you. It's your day! You know because I keep you alive in me. Happy Mothers Day!

I made this video for my mother in 2006 for mothers day because I could not be there. She was in the hospital and my brother took his laptop to play it for her. It made her happy! I posted it when she died in early 2007. more than four years later it has the power to connect me to her, to make me cry, but it made her happy so Ill keep posting it. Thank you Jan Arden for reversing the initial Youtube take down for copyrighted content. Sometimes using someones song is just the right thing to do. Your song is the only song that I could or would ever use. It perfectly explained my feelings. You have my love and respect.

Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.

White Party Shoot!

2011-05-07T11:17:00.010-04:00

Looking for a great party on the Victoria Day weekend? Try Go Hard's All White Affair! Another great Blackcat gig at the Barn! In preparation for the weekend I got another great opportunity to shoot the images and design the flyers! Here are both! If your in Toronto on the 22nd you need to be there! Enjoy!

It was a great photo shoot until the hair started to fly...it ended ugly ;-) Just kidding!