music
A few weeks before Covid-19 closed down the world in the spring of 2020 I got together with singer/songwriter Liz Simmons to make photographs for her first solo album in 15 years: POETS
An in-depth blog post covering the process from shooting to album design after the cut.
Read MoreCubicle Zombies and war paint and time machines. Since 2012 Weather Mcnabb and I have been trying to work together. In 2018 we finally got to create images for her 5 song EP “Cubicle Zombie”
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I've always surrounded myself with music - in my primary school days I was buying cassettes and records and would sit at home and just listen and digest all these forms of music; from rock to new-age to film soundtracks to rap - I would just absorb it like a sponge. And that has never changed and there isn't a time when I'm not listening to music. I recently brought a record player and all my records to my photography studio so I can spin while I'm working on client images, and I always have a playlist going when I'm photographing someone or something.
I'm not in any way a music critic, nor do I contain a music critics vernacular, but I thought I'd mention a few artists/albums I've been playing a lot lately and maybe find some new ears and make them a few new fans, because they are all awesome.
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I’ve recently dug out my old record collection, moved it to the studio, and have been doing something I haven’t done in decades: spin records. Music moves me in a way I can’t explain. I have it playing all the time. I spent my 20’s working in record stores. I love photographing musicians that need images for things like album/cd covers and packaging. After the cut, I’m going to do a bunch of talking about my history with them, their importance to me, and why I won’t ignore my records again
Read MoreI've been developing a relationship with the band HOT MESS over the months, and they were so happy with the work we've done so far that when a new member of the band came into the mix, Jason, the head of Hot Mess, contacted me asking if we could create some new head shots for Lacy, but he also needed one other thing: he wanted a photograph of Lacy in the style of the group shot we did months ago so that she could be inserted into the group photo we had taken months before.
Let's give it a shot.
Read MoreLadies and gentlemen, meet Tim Paul Weiner.
Tim is a bass player, employee of Berklee College of Music, and member of HOT MESS. Remember them? We also have a mutual friend, Elise MacDonald, former owner of Studio 99, who introduced us. Tim liked working with me when we created some images for Hot Mess, so he booked a solo session with me. He needed images for a revamped website. I love working with musicians, and with Tim, it was so easy since we had already worked on the Hot Mess session together.
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Hannah Sanders continues garnering acclaim for her debut solo album "Charms Against Sorrow" which I photographed and designed late last year. Leading UK folk magazine fROOTS just featured a review of Hannah's album, and generously giving the photography a paragraph of mention:
"The visuals, I comment are very striking."
"I'm very moved by how photography describes time - it shares a place with traditional song in many ways. I had the pleasure of working with great photographic artist Sid Ceaser. Sid and I decided on something really direct and honest for the album, and I think he captured it."
"Direct, empowered, Hannah stares out from the cover of Charms with an almost tangible mixture of determination and steel, it's the sort of cover you can't ignore."
Thanks to Simon Jones of fROOTS for mentioning the artwork. I love that this album is being listened to and seen all over the world.
I met musician/photographer/blogger Hana Kahn through my friend/photographer Kathleen Frank who recently moved to NH from Florida. We've been itching to get together and mess around and spend the afternoon making photographs, and, finally one lovely August afternoon we made it happen.
I didn't shoot a whole lot - I enjoyed helping Kathleen out with her images and just enjoying the creative process and the weather. I brought along my Hasselblad & grabbed a Polaroid (image above) and grabbed a few shots with the Petzval.
My favorite shot from the session, though, would have to be the first image up top (and here it is again:)
This was taken using my tasty little $12 prism I bought off of Amazon. I love how having the prism in front of the lens, twisted in the right way, gives off that gorgeous, milky out of focus bottom. It's picking up the light and refracting it through the prism and creates what looks like this gorgeous foreground element that I'm shooting through. I love her pose and the colors and the background. It's a very atmospheric portrait.
It was a really fantastic afternoon, and I wish I could have afternoons like that more often. Thanks to Hana and Kathleen for making it possible. Go visit Kathleen's website and Hana's as well. Thanks ladies for a fantastic afternoon.
Hey-O! Two most excellent things coming up on the same day in the same building!
FIRST, we've got the Picker Building Spring Open Studios event. Come visit the artists of the Picker Building; four floors of creatives getting their creative jiggy on! With Mothers Day right around the corner, maybe one of our fabulous artists has something for YOUR Mommy dearest. This is from Noon to 5pm, right here at the Picker Building, 99 Factory Street Extension in Nashua.
THEN, grab your folding chair and get your butt to Sid Ceaser Photography on the 4th Floor of the Picker Building as we happily host my buddies the BRYAN THOMAS TRIO! Live jazz by three friends who have been playing for years and years together. They played a bunch of times at the old Studio 99, and their music is a great shot of energy as they rip into free-form jazz. Space is limited, so make sure you come early and get ready! A $5 minimum donation gets you into the studio and ready to have your face melted off with Jazz! 7:30pm.
A great day right here in the creative hub of Nashua. If you've never been to the Picker Building before, this is your perfect opportunity to see all it has to offer.
