Photography

Select Restaurants recently tapped Twist Creative and Taxel Image Group for their new Pier W ad campaign. I’ve wanted to write about this ad series for a while. The ads are finally beginning to appear around town in print, billboards and airport displays.

The creative team at Twist came together with us to stage an exciting couple of days of studio photography that  yielded five new ads, two of which I can show here today.  During the entire process, from choosing colors themes and props, to creating edgy viewpoints and lighting, designers Christine Wisnieski and Mark Nizinski communicated their new vision for Pier W.  Will Green, Select’s ad man, watched and smiled as the imagery evolved.

 The ad campaign’s unique combination of sophisticated copy and ‘to the point’ photography conveys Pier W. The elegance and uniqueness of this restaurant, along with the superb food and service have made Pier W a fine dining destination for Clevelanders and travelers. Previous Pier W ad campaigns have focused on the incredible view of downtown from the bow shaped dining room. But when it comes to the meal- the focus is on the eating (and drinking) experience. Even under adverse conditions, the kitchen and staff, under Chef Regan Reik and general manager G Espejel, turn out the very best cuisine.

A couple of winters ago, Laura and I ventured to Pier W in the middle of a snowstorm. We were crazy to do it, but duty called (Laura was ‘on the job’). Sitting in the Pier W dining room, alone but for one other couple and a minimum staff, we had a fabulous meal, watching the storm blow tons of snow in off of Lake Erie seemingly right into our laps.

Cheers, Pier W!

BT

“What if this life should prove to be a dream,-
A slumber journey to a fancied sphere:
Would the return to consciousness redeem
The loss, eternal, of the dreamland here?

What if the scenes and friendships that seem real,
Were but vision of a reverie:
Would the awakening again reveal
The picture of the dreamland mystery?

Or would the thoughts reflected in review
Of the dream incidents recalled again,
Forever pass away as most dreams do,
And naught of dreamlands memories remain?

What if a choice were offered from above,
To live on earth or dwell with The Supreme,-
Forgetting all the ties, endearments, love,-
In this strange life, if it should prove a dream!

What if the future life, too, were denied
Returning glimpses of the dreamland shore.-
What could the God of all above provide
In lieu of the lost dream—to dream no more.”

Albert Anthony Augustus
Cleveland, Sept. 10th, 1925

 

Lake View Cemetery has been a focus of my personal photography for ten years. Each visit to explore the architecture, history, horticulture, and geology of this wondrous Cleveland destination yields surprise and reward in the form of new impressions and inspiration. The collection of photographs that has amassed since 1999 will soon be published by The Kent State University Press in cooperation with Cleveland State University as part of their Sacred Landmark Series.This week’s discovery of the Augustus family strikes a particular cord of reality. The questions posed by Albert Anthony Augustus in 1925 are timeless and haunting in a most personal way.

BT

I was hanging out with award winning author and Cleveland native son Steven Szilagyi last week. Steven is the author of Photographing Fairies, the delightful and mindful fantasy novel about a photographer who is certain that fairies exist. Steven’s novel became a movie in 1997, directed by Englishman Nick Willing. So what does all of this have to do with The Cleveland Clinic? For his day job, Steven is Senior Writer, Executive Communications, for The Clinic. The Clinic is launching a new ad campaign featuring the new and almost completed Heart and Vascular Institute. 

Steve was my escort and guide for this assignment. Together we found our way around the massive construction site of the new institute from bottom to rooftop. Steve encouraged me to look at this challenge with different ‘eyes’ then I would for the traditional architectural photography assignment. Here I’ve chosen to present some of the ‘out takes’ from even a little different perspective still- in Black and White.

Yes, I’m certain that fairies exist, as well!

Thanks, Steven.

BT

Chipotle is revolutionizing the national restaurant scene by committing to buy locally produced fresh food. Chipotle’s Food With Integrity statement says, in part, “The hallmarks of Food With Integrity include things like unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised, added hormone free, organic, and artisanal.”

We recently visited Holthouse Farms in Willard, Ohio, about 80 miles southwest of Cleveland. Holthouse Farms is growing green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and romaine lettuce for Chipotle restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.

BT

     I’ve had several run-ins with goats lately. Coincidences? Maybe, but also possibly a trend. Goats and goat products are quite popular in much of the world. Goat just hasn’t caught on in the USA…or has it?There are several burgeoning goat cheese businesses right here in Northeast Ohio, for instance. Lake Erie Creamery’s Blomma recently won the prestigious 2008 Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Award Grand Prize for Dairy. 
This goat and kid are from Cherry Lane Farm in Hiram were farmer Terry cares for hundreds of milk producing goats- photographing those goats as well as the cheese making process at Lake Erie Creamery in their Ohio City warehouse was a real treat. Note- the Lake Erie Creamery website was designed by Unity Design, the same firm that designed the Les Dames D’Escoffier Cleveland website, subject of my recent blog. Other collaborations I’ve had in the recent past with Unity are Bistro 185 and fire, food and drink websites.  More ‘run-ins? Yes…just a couple of weeks ago a ‘kid’ appeared in my studio…luckily with it’s owner Abbe Turner of Lucky Penny Farm. They appeared to help out with a South Franklin Circle ad project. Nancy Kermode, subject of an upcoming SFC ad, is vitally involved in Heifer International- Ending Hunger, Caring for the Earth. Having Abbe, Nancy, and the kid in the studio was a real treat for everyone.

BT  

The notion of deconstructing buildings that are slated for demolition and transforming, or upcycling, the wood salvaged from those buildings into useful consumer products, particularly furniture and home accessories, is now a reality on Cleveland, Ohio. The materials used to make homes and commercial buildings one hundred and more years ago were of very high quality, lasting many years until culture, technology (automobiles and highways), and politics robbed the old neighborhoods of their original vitality. Currently over one thousand homes per year are being torn down in Cleveland, Ohio, and most of the materials used in those homes are ending up in landfills.  

That’s all changing now. APOC, A Piece of Cleveland, is leading the way for recovering the wood used to build Cleveland from the structures about to be demolished and incorporating, or rebirthing, it into tables, lamps, chairs, beds, dressers, wine racks, cutting boards, countertops, and more.

Aaron Gogolin, Chris Kious, Ezra Taxel, and P.J. Doran are the people behind APOC. Their combined talents and experiences bring a unique service to the Greater Cleveland community; a service that provides useful and creative products as well as contributes to the welfare of future generations.

The thunder::tech Table was commissioned by Cleveland advertising and communications firm thunder::tech. The huge and splendid piece can be seen in thunder::tech’s MidTown Cleveland offices.

BT

The website of Les Dames D’Escoffier Cleveland was launched recently. These distinguished and accomplished women from the fields of food, wine, and hospitality join together to promote quality and sustainability in their culinary endeavors. 

The Les Dames website was designed by Dame Shara Foldi of Unity Design and photography was contributed by Taxel Image Group. The photographs on the website were made for several magazine projects in collaboration with Dame- Carla Snyder, author and teacher.

Of special note is the Les Dames d’Escoffier’s Green Tables Project including the Cleveland chapter’s contributions to the Tremont Urban Learning Garden, a food-growing project for at-risk city teens, since 2006, and the Countryside Farmers’ Markets Jr. Chef Program. In her seasonal dishes, Dame chef Heather Haviland uses produce grown next door to the Tremont cafe Luckys.

BT

Summa Heath Systems announced the launch of the Virtues Restaurant website last Thursday. The website, designed and built by B3 Interactive and photography by Taxel Image Group, is a testament to creativity and innovation in new media. 

Virtues is a great dining experience in the heart of the Summa Heath System’s Akron City Campus. Read more about Virtues here.

BT

Recently I was asked to photograph myself for the cover (see upper left corner) of the Westfield Insurance Annual Report. We were in Westfield shooting for the annual on one of those snowy, bleak, Ohio winter days. Some of the subjects for the project- customers of Westfield Insurance, could not show up for various health and transport reasons. Erin Pierce, the project designer and coordinator, looked at me and I could see her thought- ‘Barney, you’re Westfield customer, aren’t you?”
I’ve successfully avoided being the subject of photography for many years. It’s a personal thing…couldn’t really say why. Actually I can- it’s an avoidance of ‘exposure’.
Portraiture is personal and can be revealing to one who is open to see. How can it not be? The discipline of self-portraiture has been a tradition in fine art through the ages. The artist/philosopher William Segal drew and painted portraits of himself for over sixty years for the purpose of self study.                           

  The three leafed red ’shamrock’ of the Oxalis family is often associated with The Holy Trinity.  Another title for this series images is ‘Joyous’, which is often the outcome of being touched, as I was and am by them.

Making a photograph according to standards and principles that make the image representative of quality and integrity are attributes of craftsmanship.  Recently I received several emails concerning the appearance of the word ‘craftsmenship’ in the Taxel Image Group logo.  Frankly, until that time I had no idea that there was no such word as ‘craftsmenship’.  All things being equal, I was under the impression that men (and women) could exhibit ‘craftsmenship’.  Apparently I was mistaken.  Men (and women) may be craftsmen… as they practice craftsmanship.  My sincere thanks to my friends and colleagues (there are three of you) who very astutely noticed this error in the practice of the craft of language and writing. 

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of this blog.  This has been a truly rewarding adventure.  Thanks to all who have commented- just a few brave ones.  Your encouragement is appreciated.

Cheers,

BT