Preparing For A Fight

This is Assane training at Mendez Boxing Gym to prepare for his fight this Friday. After an intense sparring session, he took time out to shadow box for me. He will be part of the stop motion project that I'm working on.

Finding Atlas Cafe

This is the owner of Lower East Side's Atlas Cafe, whose name I didn't get, but we chatted about Italy, which is where he's from (Tuscany, to be exact) and where I spent a great deal of time years ago. I was at Atlas Cafe photographing a friend and took this shot as I was leaving. The coffee shop is small but has great coffee, pastries, and panini. I had a warm brioche-like pastry filled with cheese and prosciutto. It was delicious and I find that I'm falling in love with this lower east side of New York, which has so many small unique cafes and shops...

Dining with Danielia

I met my friend Danielia Cotton at Empire Diner for brunch last weekend. I haven't seen her in a while so it was great to catch up and chat about her music (I shot most of her album covers). Danielia's a rocker and usually glamorously made up, but that day she was headed to kickboxing class after brunch so she arrived au natural. Still, she looked beautiful as always.

Easter Escape

On Sunday, Lyla and I drove an hour and a half upstate with a friend of mine to the beautiful Mohonk Mountain House. We made it there in time for the 10 a.m. Easter egg hunt, which was a big hit when the guy in the bunny suit showed up. Afterward, we hiked all the way up to the Sky Top stone tower and all the way down. It was a trek, but our efforts were rewarded with a great brunch in the resort's dining room. (Lyla loved the chocolate eggs covering the buffet table.) It was a great day out of the city.

Back in the Ring

I've been on hiatus from shooting boxing for a few years now, but I stopped by Mendez Boxing Gym yesterday to shoot a young Senegalese fighter, who my friend is training, during a sparring session. I ran into people I hadn't seen in years - the boxing world is a small one - and it felt great to fit right in again. I'd forgotten how exciting it is to be around all that energy. Can't wait to go back.