Walk To Work This Morning
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, NYC, Personal Work, Red Hook
A couple flicks from the morning commute. It’s only 3 blocks.
Tags: Black & White Photography, Brooklyn, Canon s90, Red Hook, Street Photography
How To Save A Life
Posted by Matthew Furman / Blog, Brooklyn, Personal Work, Stories
This is Salvador.
He works the morning shift at the bodega that is on the ground floor of our apartment building. So every morning around 4am I hear him lift the metal gate up. I usually just go back to sleep, but a few months ago I heard it go up, and then I heard some commotion. I went into the living room and put my ear to the floor. I heard some more commotion and I thought some yelling. But wasn’t sure. I then grabbed my phone and waited to hear something else before I made the call. Just then I heard a scream. Holy Shit. Salvador was being robbed.
Long story short, 3 guys armed with guns and ski masks tied Salvador up and beat him pretty good while trying to find some $(there was none). Since I heard it happening I of course called 911 and then posted up in front of our door with the biggest knife I could find(only thing I could think of at the time). The cops got there pretty quick and all 3 robbers scattered. 2 of them jumped out of the window just a few feet from the door to our apartment. The other one tried to lift the gate and run out the front, but the cops chased him down. He eventually ratted out his 2 friends, and all 3 are now in jail.
Scary event for sure. But for Salvador it was REALLY scary. He’s convinced they were going to kill him, so he thinks I’m his guardian angel or something.
Now he’s always there to help carry that extra bag of laundry, groceries, photo gear, etc. Which is great, and really sweet of him. But it wasn’t until the other night after a long and grueling day of shooting that I realized the bond we now share. I opened the front door and there he was with a big smile and an ice cold Corona for me.
Now that’s a guardian angel.
Trek Home To Brooklyn
Posted by Matthew Furman / Black And White, Brooklyn, Personal Work
A few photos on my way back from Manhattan last night. All shot with the s90 at 600 iso.
Tags: Black and White Photography, Brooklyn, Canon s90, Street Photography
The ReDesign
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, Cats, Office, Personal Work, Studio, design
You’ll notice a few changes here on my blog and at my website. I worked with the very talented designer Greg Lutz on this, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It’s all consistent and flows the way I want it to now. Even the cat that hangs around my office seems thrilled about it…
Rooftop Shoot
Posted by Matthew Furman / Behind The Scenes, Brooklyn, Graffiti, Music, NYC, On Location, Portrait
Yesterday in Williamsburg, BK.
Stylin’ 101
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, Music, NYC, Personal Work, Stories, fashion, iPhone
I met up with the artist Jeremiah today to discuss concepts for an upcoming photo shoot we’re planning for his new album. I’ve known him for years, and he always comes with some serious style. Today he was rockin a bow tie. Not everyone can pull this off so easily…
Defonte’s Sandwich Shop
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, DigiRoid, NYC, Personal Work, Red Hook, iPhone
Shoot The Freak
Posted by Matthew Furman / Black And White, Brooklyn, Coney Island, NYC, Personal Work, Street Art
Coney Island over the weekend.
My Office This Morning
Posted by Matthew Furman / Behind The Scenes, Brooklyn, Office, Personal Work, Red Hook, iPhone
iPhone style.
Madrid Madness
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, Emma, NYC, Personal Work, Photo Gear, Red Hook, Videos
I’m shooting an Ad Campaign in Madrid this week. Going to try and do some posts from the road, but its a pretty hectic schedule so I might just do a big one with all the details and pics when I get back. I’m going to be shooting a lot of video on this trip since I picked up a 5D MK 2 this week. I even got a Steadicam to keep it looking smooth. That’s right, it’s getting serious over at Furmanfoto Inc. A little note about using a steadicam with the 5D - It’s not easy. I thought, ‘how hard could it be?’ But it really takes some practice. I tried it out yesterday just around the neighborhood while taking Emma for a walk. I didn’t have the shake that I had when shooting handheld, but now I have ‘the wobble’ because I couldn’t quite get that sonofa balanced! Peep the video below to see what I mean. And I promise I won’t always be posting videos of my kid.
Ciao!
FURMANFOTO Vol.1 Out Now
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, FURMANFOTO, NYC, Personal Work, design, the magazine
Issue #1 is now available for purchase HERE. (US, UK, and Canada only). International orders please contact me directly. Design by The Outfit.
Umbrella Comes In Handy
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, Music, NYC, On Location, Outtake, Photo Gear, Portrait, Red Hook, Stories
Last Thursday I shot a new artist named Sean Ray for Brag Media. We did the shoot outside in Brooklyn and it was a low budget thing so I didn’t have an assistant with me. I also only had 1 light, and planned on doing mostly natural light. But of course when the time came to shoot, the light was shit - so I broke out the strobe. I start setting up my soft-box when I realize I forgot my speed ring. The only other thing I had was an old Profoto Umbrella that I don’t think I’ve ever used. Not even sure where I got it. I think it came with my Acute’s or something. Anyway, of course I didn’t mention this to the Art Director and just decided to roll with it. Turned out to be pretty cool. There’s not much control with the umbrella, but when you’re shooting outside and mixing ambient - not so bad.
And then when it started to rain later, I used it as an actual umbrella! Worked out great… Moral of the story: Always keep an umbrella in your kit. You just never know…
Chandler Burr Outtakes
Posted by Matthew Furman / Black And White, Brooklyn, Celebrity, NYC, On Location, Portrait, Published
A few months back I shot author and NY Times Scent Critic Chandler Burr for The Advocate. You can see the story here. And also a couple of outtakes…
Shoot With Mr. Boyd
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, Fedoralime, Mr. Boyd, Music, NYC, On Location, Portrait, Press
Talk about multitasking… One day this guy is Art Directing campaigns for companies such as Avirex, Akademiks, and G-Unit Clothing. And the next he’s producing his own album and videos. He needed new images for some upcoming Shows/Press, so we made it happen last week. Here’s one of my favorites…
You can check out his work and music here.
Bus Stop Portrait #2
Posted by Matthew Furman / Black And White, Brooklyn, Bus Stop, Personal Work, Portrait, Red Hook
This guy today was a little camera shy and asked that I didn’t show his face. I obliged.
Black & Mild Barter
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, NYC, Outtake, Personal Work, Portrait, Red Hook, Stories
I met this guy the other day when I stopped in the bodega down the street for a coffee. He asked me for some change so he could buy a Black & Mild. I said sure, if he let me take his picture and he agreed. He told me his name, but I can’t remember it. Nice kid though.
The Reason I Didn’t Go Into Filmmaking
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, Emma, NYC, On Location, Outtake, Personal Work, Red Hook, Videos
Patience. I realize now that there’s a reason I do what I do. I took a few filmmaking classes while at Penn State, but I remember always getting frustrated with all the bullshit that you have to deal with. Some people love all the pre-production, meetings, scouting, etc. But I just want to get on with the shooting and see the finished product. I ended up doing photography because I love that instant gratification. And it’s probably no accident that I’ve fallen into this type of shooting that most of my shoots are done in under 20 mins. It just seems to suit me.
The video stuff is all new to me, and I love shooting it. However, I spent many hours yesterday trying to edit the footage I have into a music video. Not as easy as I thought. It takes a lot of time and patience to get this stuff worked out. I’m using a program I’m not that familiar with and I’ve got this vision in my head of how I want it to look, but making that a reality …well, a different story.
I am happy with one of the videos I was working on yesterday though. Before I took the camera back I shot my daughter Emma blowing bubbles in front of our apartment. She’s a pro, and nailed it on the first take. No editing needed. My kind of shoot…
Weekend Roids
Posted by Matthew Furman / Brooklyn, DigiRoid, Graffiti, NYC, Personal Work, Street Art
Shoot With Somi
Posted by Matthew Furman / Behind The Scenes, Brooklyn, Music, NYC, On Location, Outtake
Yesterday I shot ObliqSound recording artist Somi for her upcoming album cover. We did the whole shoot in Wangechi Mutu’s studio in Brooklyn. Wangechi art directed and had built some amazing sets for it. She’s got a real gift for mixing textures with the props and backgrounds that she chose. Of course, I can’t show any of the images yet - but just to get an idea, here’s one of the sketches she made as inspiration for the shoot. I love that she painted it instead of just pulling some tears from magazines.
Red Hook Project
Posted by Matthew Furman / Black And White, Brooklyn, Graffiti, Personal Work, Red Hook, Street Art, Videos
Here’s a slideshow of images from a personal project I’m doing on Red Hook. Be sure to let it load up before playing.
