Eric Raptosh Photography

Website Updated

2014-01-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

Bringing 2014 off to a positive start, I have finished the rework of the website for now. Again, thanks to everybody for their extraordinary talents. Let's keep sharing auras.

Before the end of 2013

2013-12-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a year full of family, travel, adventure, new projects and inspiration. As inspiration goes, I am excited to have replaced some of the website categories here such a 'lifestyle' and 'men' with rich new images. Through the process of sorting, evaluating and curating the new categories, I realize I want to take a moment here to give pause, a dramatic musical-like pause before the coda ending a great piece of music or one closing the end of a great year. The pause I would like to extend is a jumbo thanks to those amazingly talented people who, through kindness, trade or just plain easy to work with rates, have helped me express the varied colorful stories and narratives on this site. I try to say thanks as I go along but work has a way of making us focused so I would like to take a step back in this musing and shout out a broad "thank you" to all of you who have helped me over the years. Each and every time I look at your faces, gestures, vulnerabilities, beauty and spirits, I am stricken by you. Call it what you will, but I see a collection of experiences that I am grateful were mine and that I can share with you here. Cheers to all of you for everything. I hope to see you again in the coming year. Be happy and prosper.

f8 and be there - Opening - Aug 4th, 2012

2012-07-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Redondo Beach photography show features 11 pieces by Eric Raptosh as well as some great work by four other photographers. The show will be diverse: South Bay and West L.A. scenes of course, but also Africa, Ireland, India, and New Orleans.

The attached link shows all the photos to be exhibited.
http://www.artslant.com/la/events/show/225437-f8-and-be-there----serendipity-in-art-photography

Eric Raptosh, Winter Storage, 2006, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, Pelican, 2009, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, Salmon Creek, 2008, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, Snoqualmie Falls, 2009, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, Santa Monica Pier, 2004, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, Port of Los Angeles, 2009, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, Giant's Causeway, 2010, 18 x 27

Eric Raptosh, High Tide, 2004, 18 x 27

Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp

2012-06-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Great article about Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp by Mike Fisher for UP! magazine. As an ex musician, this was a fantastic gig. Samy Hagar is a sweet guy, Mark Farner still wears really tight jeans and Maria Lawson is just beautiful. We all need lots of R&R. .

Entrepreneur Magazine - December 2011

2011-11-22T18:59:00.001-08:00

Back to back shoots with two really great startups: Poketo, www.poketo.com, where art and commerce come together, and International Pet Solutions with a product called PetLawn, www.thepetlawn.com. Both in the December 2011 issue of Entrepreneur.

Eric Raptosh Photography giving Sport and Style to Adidas.

2011-09-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

New York - Day VII

2011-05-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY

After hanging around the village thinking about having to head back to California later that evening, we decided to take a quick trip uptown to The Met to seek out some inspiration. We walked most of the way enjoying the sun and trek up 5^{th Ave} and Central Park. We spent some time shooting Micael CP again at the Carmine Street flat and then packed and headed to midtown to have tea with my cousin Matthew and his friends. We had a great visit and headed back to say our goodbyes to Jeffrey and Carmine Street--for now. We took the A Train to the Airport and had a long safe flight back to California and that was that. Period.

New York - Day VI

2011-05-09T01:53:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY

Bill and I went down to the famed NYC The Players Club in Gramercy Park to meet with playwright Bill C. Davis about putting a film project together. I took the opportunity to take a few shots of Davis. We then ran over to meet up with friends of mine, Steve Cordera, Jared Byer, Amy Greenberg and Adriana, to enjoy Szechuan cuisine at my favorite Szechuan resturant in NYC. Steve, a total Anglo, speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and it was fun having him order up some of his favorite Chinese dishes for us. We spent the time catching up with Jared who is working with John Varatos and Amy who is a great photographer. We didn’t talk much shop since the conversation dwelled on (not my) revenge, “Que viva la vengaza!,” which was decidedly best served cold but, the dinner was hot, hot, hot and the company rich. Unfortunately, no cold beer this time to go with the hot food. Whoops, a little license violation. Damn, hot toungue and no alcohol.

New York - Day V

2011-05-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

MONDAY

We met up with Angelos Styliano, a Cypriot, and shot him at the Carmine Street flat before we had to rush off to dinner with Jeffrey and friends. Angelos told us that he would hook us up with another model Michael Cp who was a friend from Greece.

New York - Day IV

2011-05-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY

Bill went to the Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden and I hung around Carmine Street. After the game we went to have a visit with my cousin, paper couture designer Matthew Sporzynski, at Café Cluny. Matthew brought some wonderful friends and I talked a bit of shop with photographer Peter Ross. We spent the rest of the evening with Jeffrey and friends.

New York - Day III

2011-04-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

SATURDAY

Saturday started off clunky. We had to swing back by Reem’s to pick up batteries and charger I had left there from the shoot the day before and Bill had a few shopping items to return that he had bought the week before. We made it back to Carmine Street a little late and were worried about missing Bill’s good friend Wendy and our new friend Emir who were meeting us there. We were all getting together for dinner and then a shoot at Club Provocateur off the Gansevoort Square in the Meat Packing district. We kicked off the night with dinner at a Brazilian restaurant on Carmine. Afterwards, we hopped a cab to the club where we met up with famed Lebanese DJ Nicole Moudaber and her equally fabulous partner and former Pet Shop Boys manager Mitch Clark. I haven’t been clubbing a while and wasn't sure exactly what I was getting myself into. Immediately I was put at ease by Nicole and her crew (Assistant a.k.a. bubbles Carlos Maldonado, Manager and artist Kevin McHugh and gorgeous girlfriend Mitch Clark) as they were nothing short of a fantastic cast of characters. We completed our taping as the night began to roll. Table service ordered (check), runway model waitress with the mean streak of a wounded jungle cat (check), music set that was so hot if it weren't digital the records would have caught fire (check), enough Princes, Princesses and other jet setters and wealth to open a Swiss bank (check), a bar tab bigger than an annual minimum wage salary of everyone at the “Genius Bar” (check), an absolutely fabulous night (check). Details available by phone.

New York - Day II

2011-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY

The Sun warmed me awake as it shined through the floor to ceiling windows. I could tell that it was going to be a warm winter day in the Big Apple. We packed our gear and piled into a cab with our host Jeffrey who tagged along to our morning shoot at 5th Ave. designer Reem Acra’s show room. We were there to do a little lifestyle shoot with our friend Adriana Ferreyr. Adriana isstudying philosophy at Columbia University and is a jet setting Brazilian actress, who I met our Venice beach studio. It was a warm welcome as Reem’s assistant offered us some of the best coffee I’d ever had (and I used to live in Seattle). Bill mentioned that Reem dresses the royalty of the world, including dignitaries and heads of state. I guess the coffee gets better with the amount of responsibility you have to wake up with.

Reem and I chatted about where a good spot to set up for the shoot would be. Adriana was delighted to see Reem again. Bill had introduced them last week at Reem’s house for high tea. Adriana was a vision as she tried on one stunning gown after another. Reem was delighted; she seemed to be as thrilled as a young girl dressing her favorite doll in. Bill sat down with both ladies and we shot video of them for a quick interview. The shoot was a total success and we left Reem's with Adriana to grab coffee and talk a little business.

Friday before heading out, I asked Bill to see if he could scout some models. He just jumped on a social networking dating sight to see who was nearby, the iPhone App tells you how many feet away a real person is. Bill calls it a time vampire (ah technology, the gifts you’ve given us) but he reeled in a big fish who was just two doors down and we agreed to meet on the street. There we met Angelous, a ridiculously handsome Greek man who we set up a shoot with for Monday. We then rushed off to meet Jeffery for dinner with his friends before we headed back for boys night out. If you want to hear more about that you’ll have to call me.

New York - Day I

2011-04-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

My plan to fly to NYC started off with an invitation from the producers of That Championship Season who wanted to use a portrait I took of actor Brian Cox for the show’s playbill. Our studio manager Bill had flown out a week early to scout some shows and fill the week with interesting things and fun people. I landed about 11pm EST and got caught up in a streak of adventure and took a gypsy cab into the city. We were staying the week with good friend and Broadway producer Jeffrey Kent in his Carmine St. brownstone in the West Village.

THURSDAY

Thursday morning we got up early and jumped on the F train and head over to a meeting Bill set up with Dan Sumari and the guys at The Life Long Friendship Society. The LLFS boys brought photographer Steven Baillie to the meeting and we talked about some photography projects at the trendy Coffee Shop off Union Square in Manhattan. Later that day we headed over to SOHO to visit Hans Neleman, photographer and owner of Win-initative. We were fortunate enough to meet Hans’ wife Tessa and their three beautiful children. We talked a little shop and Hans shared that WIN will be offering video clips soon. Bill added a little insight on the needs of the television production companies he’s worked with in the past and what they might be looking for. As Thursday evening approached we got ready for the theater and I put on a pair of dress shoes and it dawned on me that it had been almost 2 years since I had slipped out of my California beach tuxedo; designer jeans, a graphics T-shirt and some designer tennis shoes that were a new take on some old 70s-80s high-tops. Bill’s friend actor and musician Billy Kay hopped the train into the city to catch up, see the show, and say hi to Brian Cox whom he had acted in the Brian Singer film L.I.E.. We kicked off the night with and invitation from curator Nayla Hadchiti to the opening of the Tomory Dodge show at the CRG Gallery. At CRG we met up with a good friend Lenny Steinberg who is an avid art collector and one of my favorite Venice beach neighbors. We got to the theater and the show was great, the cast is amazing! Brian anchored the show and Jason Patrick, Kiefer Surtherland, Chris Noth and Jim Gaffigan gave equally compelling performances. After the show I went backstage to Brian’s dressing room. Much to the surprise of the stage manager, I apparently broke the rules and brought an entourage. Well I guess since we were with one of the producers of the show it makes it ok? Brian was gracious and as entertaining in person as on stage. We chatted about doing another shoot soon and he talked about being delighted to be on Broadway. Jeffrey joined us after the show and we made our way over to Robert, a spectacular restaurant that has a unbelievable view of the city and overlooks Columbus Circle. If your catching a Broadway show make sure to reserve a table by the window to watch the city sparkle under a great meal and breathe. Said our goodnights and took the subway home at 2am and crammed in some Z’s before sun up Friday.

Word Theatre

2011-03-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

For a few years now, I have been privileged to be a part of a genuinely great nonprofit organization, WordTheatre®, dedicated to nurturing a love for language and literature. World-class actors and authors bring literary works to life in America and the UK. They also create original programming for fellow educational and charitable organizations. Audio and video recordings will soon be available.

If you are interested in literature, and an evening of absolute enjoyment, please go to WordTheatre® and buy a ticket to the performance of your choice. You won't be disappointed.

M.D. Walton

2010-11-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

Guest Speaker at Charter Oak High School

2010-11-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

I had the special priviledge to be guest speaker to five periods of digital photography at Charter Oak High in West Covina on Friday. The teacher, Mr. Holguin, having around 25 students each class, seems to have his work cut out for him but manages to command the respect of his students. The classroom is equipped with a computer for every student and a completely outfitted studio. I'd say plenty of opportunity for those student who want to take advantage of it.

The Mammoth Book of Gorgeous Guys

2010-11-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

It may be premature but I want to whet your appetite and mention "The Mammoth Book of Gorgeous Guys." It is a mammoth anthology of men, nude and semi-nude, published by Constable & Robinson in the UK and by Running Press in the US. Sales will be primarily through Ann Summers outlets in the UK but it will be available through Amazon as well. The book will feature around 50 photographers with 10 images from each artist, Eric Raptosh being one of them. Arthur Tress is one of my favorite fellow contributers. Great news, huh? The bad news is that it won't be available until September 2011 in the UK and November 2011 for the US. It will be worth the wait.

Anna Anka

2010-10-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

It's happening in Sweden. Anna's new show, "Getting Fit with Anna Anka," premiers today in her home country. She takes Americans who are fattish and blasts them into shape with the help of Marcus Kowal, a Krav Maga trainer and MMA fighter. It all takes place on the beaches of Santa Monica.

Brett Leonard

2010-09-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Venice is a cool neighboorhood. For instance, I had the opportunity to work with Brett Leonard, a Venice denizen. He is recognized as one of the entertainment industry's digital media visionaries. As director and co-writer of the hit movie "The Lawnmower Man", he is heralded as a maverick in science fiction, fantasy and adventure for creating films with a strong visual presence. He is up for an award for digital innovation and required a portrait for the write-up in Variety Magazine.

As down to earth as you can get, his skills as an actor made for a comfortable relaxed shoot. Add to that some interesting conversation and the result was pretty much a perfect shoot.

WIN-Initiative

2010-09-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Last October, on a scouting visit to New York City, I had the pleasure of meeting Hans Neleman, a famed photographer, who currently runs an agency called WIN-Initiative. The WIN-Initiative image collection brings fresh and unique rights-managed photos from diverse cultures and countries around the world. At the time Hans invited me to contribute to the collection and, after 10 months of sorting through images the fruits of my labors have now come to fruition.

Graciously, Hans has edited my work and put together an narrative gallery aptly titled "Genuine" to show work for sale through his boutique agency. I am so appreciative to Hans and his friendly staff at WIN for this opportunity to market work that might not otherwise be available. Please enjoy this creative colloboration between Eric Raptosh Photography and WIN-Initiative.

Fourth of July Fun-Raiser

2010-07-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend marked the start of our ninth year here in Venice and our eighth Fourth of July party. For a change of pace, we experimented with a few new twists to add some purpose to all the vodka tonics and Coke and Malibu’s. Our summer intern, Keats, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Kathryn Davis Project for Peace to travel to Cairo, Egypt, for six weeks to assist in the renovation and outfitting of a school that caters to the children of Egyptian rubbish-collectors. Before she departs on the fourteenth, we decided to have the party dual-serve as a fundraiser (later renamed “Fun-raiser” by our new roommate, Bill Watson) to help provide more needed supplies for the school (laptops, tables, school supplies, etc.).

The biggest hit of the night—besides our charming bartender, Jason—was a “presidential photobooth,” so named because it mimicked the scene of a presidential portrait--with powdered wigs, tricorner hats, a stretch of thick manila rope, a globe, and a sword. A friend commented that it would look like a poster for tea partiers except—oh wait!—there were books.

Guests could pose however somberly or scandalously they pleased in exchange for a $10 donation to the Cairo Recycling School. The snapping of the flash prompted some to expose their inner gangster, to unbutton shirts, and even to drop jeans. In total, the evening raised almost $300.

The progress of Keats’s project can be followed here: http://recyclingschoolpeace.blogspot.com/ and the entire collection of presidential photobooth photos may be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericraptosh.

A big thank you to all those who made the party such a success and to those who were generous enough to donate to the school.

Road Trip to Liberal Arts

2010-06-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

This is Keats writing, Eric’s niece and intern for the summer. I had the pleasure of blogging on the Ireland trip also, so I may be a familiar narrator to those of you who followed our adventures there. Since we haven’t written in quite a while, I’ll do some “back-blogging” on our activities since our last post in May.

After returning from Ireland, Eric and JJ enjoyed a month interim period in Venice before road tripping to Idaho, my home state, in the silver studio minivan. What on earth would compel someone to travel to Idaho? Well, in its defense, Idaho is nowhere near as boring as it may sound, particularly for a photographer. The primary goal of the Idaho trip was to shoot at the College of Idaho, a private liberal arts college in rural Caldwell, 35 miles from the capital city Boise. The College was most gracious in granting us access to the campus, allowing us to shoot in any of its students in any of its buildings. We took full advantage of this and took stills and video footage of swimmers in the pools, basketball players in the gym, and “slackliners” balancing on a rope stretched taut between two trees. We also coordinated a mock movie theater shoot in the College’s Jewitt auditorium—so realistic it even included obnoxious cell phone users, boxes of “propcorn,” and a boy in the back row throwing his empty cup of soda at another boy’s head. Other unique features of Idaho, endearing in their quaintness, were the Roadway Inn and Lardo’s Restaurant in the quiet ski resort town of McCall.

After three weeks of continental breakfasts—conveyor belt muffins, carbon-footprint-costly bananas, and pancakes made from batter in Styrofoam cups—we repacked our gear into the minivan for the hundred and first time (now including my suitcase, laptop, and rollerblades for the Venice boardwalk) and set the GPS to track us back to So-Cal.

Because the drive between Boise and Venice is so long (675 miles to be exact), we made an overnight pitstop in Tahoe. There we stayed with our good friends Jeffery and Agustin, both experts at hosting travel-garbled, ravenous house guests. Jeffery cooked a fantastic dinner of grilled vegetables and chicken breast, and even made a special dinner for me, the obnoxious vegan: cashew egg noodle pasta. Turns out, though, that egg noodles have—go figure—eggs in them, so I had to be so rude as to turn that down, too. Instead, Jeffery was kind enough to candy a mixture of walnuts, cashews, cranberries, and tomatoes, spiced with rosemary and olive oil—a combination I recommend for any adventurous eaters. Despite the hospitality of Jeffery and Agustin, we left for Venice the following morning, another eight and a half hour drive. We dedicated a good eighth of that time paying our respects to Idaho—listening to the entire Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack.

Finn MacCool vs. Benandonner

2010-05-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

One of the legendary connections between Ireland and Scotland is the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. As the legend goes, the Irish giant Finn MacCool wanted to out-muscle his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. The Causeway was used to cross the ocean but was torn up by Benandonner because, by one account, Finn's wife covered Finn in a blanket and told Benandonner that it was Finn's infant son. Being a little intimidated that the infant was so big, Benandonner reckoned the infant's father must be gigantic so he ripped up the causeway to insure MacCool could never cross.

You would think that instead of desiring only to beat each other up, the giants could enjoy each other's company. I mean, how many giants were there hanging around? It's not likely they had a high school or a recreation center. Some company may have been nice. All I could see that Finn might have found to eat, besides seafood, were the yellow wild gorse flowers. It could be that Scotland provided some appreciated culinary diversity. Or not... What do I know about what giants think about or need?

Well, besides the miracle of the 37,000 mostly-hexagonal natural basalt columns that exist here, I experienced a little personal miracle myself. Unlike the giants, who apparentely just want to fight, as sunset approached I shared company with a companion I met on the Causeway, also named Eric. During conversation he mentioned he had found a set of car rental keys in the Middle Causeway, which I was exploring about an hour earlier. To my immediate astonishment and then relief I realized they were mine. (I had taken my sweatshirt off and stuffed it in my backpack. The keys must have fallen out of the pocket at that time.) What if he hadn't found them? Obviously, I would have been royally #$^&ed without transportation in the middle of nowhere with the temperature dropping quickly in the land of legendary giants.

What makes for good legends makes for good reflection. Here on these rocks I had time to consider the passage of the 61 million years it took the Causeway to look as it did the day of my visit. Time to sit and observe a natural art installation in slow light and consider my place here at this spot on this planet at this moment. If a giant thinks and feels anything like me, he must have been content here. For Finn MacCool, it wasn't about company. He didn't need Benandonner's companionship because he was happy about his own isolated giant-ness.

I read once that in order to overcome your beast within, you must first learn to love it. In considering my own giant-ness, I first have to reflect on my insignificance. Once this is done—and what better place to do it—I can step on the Causeway as a pseudo-giant headed to Scotland and consider what it might have been like for Finn or Benandonner, rivals linked by a road across an ocean eternally trying to out-giant each other.

In the end, I would like my name to be "Finn MacCool" or "Benandonner" just to be more giant-like—and potentially more popular. But that would be pretentious. I suppose even presently we continue to try to out-giant each other, strutting our giant-ness, to feel and appear more important and less insignificant than we really are. But unlike Finn and Benandonner, we might do better with each other's companionship and company, without our giant-ness, because as the population grows and grows, we all still have to get along.

Coffee, Tea and Make-believe

2010-04-25T02:02:00.000-07:00

Today is my 16th day of being in Ireland. I want to point out that during this time I have not had a single drop of coffee. Not one. Probably a record for me. Not that I'm not getting my caffeine—let's be realistic—I am. In the form of Irish tea. When in Rome…

While tea seems to be the rule, it also seems fitting. Here in the upper latitudes (+-53° N ) this time of year, the progression of light lazes through the day. Light is slow to disperse in the mornings and dissipate in the evenings. (I shot till almost 8:30 p.m. last night, albeit with a Feisol tripod. And I know the 5 a.m. atmosphere from taking my niece to the airport twice as she eventually fled the volcanic ash.) Just like the upper-latitudinal light, tea seems to distribute stimulants to my system in a similar languorous way. Instead of a jolt, it's a gentle easy progression. Don't get me wrong, sometimes a heady uppercut jolt is what I need, but this is a welcome departure from my usual wonts. I don't speak Irish (although it sounds like the greatest made-up language ever—even more than Klingon) but by regular tea I feel a speck of something that isn't the usual Slavic-Sicilian me.

Not being fussed about coffee brings me to other things I am not fussed about while in Ireland. Models. Sometimes I have them, sometimes I don't. I like having models. I am often vexed when I don't because as a lifestyle photographer they are preferred. But I can't just create a model from thin air. (Believe me, I tried making one out of scrap metal and construction tidbits lying around the Reynolds Kingdom junkyard-forest. Ridiculous.) Instead, what I did manage in a small way was to invoke human presence with some old weathered chairs that I selectively placed around the Kingdom of Reynolds.

As you can see, I am playing with invisible make-believe tea-people. You can't see them but you know they are there. This is me, in Ireland, drinking tea, playing, in the sometimes-rain.

Cork-Off-Shannon

2010-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

Minotaur.

The Bull of Minos.

According to Briney Reynolds; I, one, James John Jetel, am the progeny of Pasiphae and the mythic Cretan Bull.

There is really nothing I can do to prove him wrong. However, anyone reading this may email my mother at jjetel@gmail.com . Her name is Janet.

Moving on.
I think it's time to broach the subject of Eric's physical indestructibility. I don't really know how to put this, but I watched Eric Raptosh somehow manage to appear in control of the horse dragging him by his ankle across the field in front of the Reynolds house. Yep. It was awesome, you know, once I found out he was completely unharmed. Not only completely unharmed, but he felt more "alive" after the fact.

Prior to the epic dragging, I had loaned my giant boots to the gracious and fabulous model Deirdre King. Therefore I was relegated dry, sock friendly areas. Due to my zoning, I had the privilege of being at a vantage point which expressed the sheer speed with which a horse can haul a human.

Really friggin' fast.

It's getting late here in Cork...Tomorrow I'll tell you about the Silvermine Mountains, Tipperary, and Count Yorga.