We are in the midst of spring and everyone’s gardens are in full bloom. Mayberry actually looks inviting at this time of year so it seems odd that I write about a recent shoot we named Gray Gardens. This foray into fashion doesn’t include the typical Mom’s that I dress up to be fashion icons of my past or about my cynicism directed at being stuck in suburbia but instead it is a celebration of what can be achieved anywhere with all the right players.

My dear friend, hairstylist extraordinaire, Christine Zilinski asked if I would shoot a fashion story to highlight some amazing hairstyles and techniques she learned on her recent travels with the artistic team for Davines. Time for both of us busy moms and business owners is in short supply and even though I love the idea of shooting fashion (that’s the real reason I  conceived this blog in the first place) I was skeptical that we could truly find talent in the burbs.  I begged her to see models from NYC but she was relentless about her search for local talent.

To my astonishment the team she put together rivaled any crew with NYC fashion credits (I mean I originally started in this business as a fashion stylist so I think I can say this with certainty) and I am hoping this fashion shoot brings them the credentials to venture out of the “burbs”, into the spotlight of the big fashion cities all over the globe.  Of course I am also hoping that everyone that sees these images will recognize that I can shoot way more then just children’s lifestyle photography .

So this post is not only about the beauty I am starting to appreciate out her in “Mayberry” but also about friendship and collaboration. Talent in this day and age is everywhere and if you keep your standards high anything can be achieved anywhere.  Don’t you think?

Thank you to my crew ( Jeff Salmon and Dee Cleare  who are also dear friends and helped me schlep and light this story in a cold dank warehouse in Mayberry – Hence the name Gray Gardens)

Fashion Credits and more thanks : Hair created by Christine Zilinski, Davines Artistic team and Owner of Salon Concrete, Make-Up by Juan Dejesus  , Models Kat and Alex from Red Bank Barbizon , Clothing Top Shop  Styled by Larry Wolf (a very talented accessory designer as well) Shoes by Luxury Rebel

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I love whiny woman singer/song writers. At least that’s what I name my playlists that include my favorite female vocalists. Their struggles in love and life speak directly to me since the mid 60’s when the genre was filled with what have become the folk heroes of an entire generation. Janis Joplin, Carole King and Carly Simon are but a few that make a consistent rotation in my ITunes catalogue.

But Joni Mitchell was one of my first discoveries.  A cousin gave me one of her albums as a gift and I swear I wore out the vinyl playing it over and over on my portable stereo record player (portable back then was about 10 lbs!).  Big Yellow Taxi, Both Sides Now, Help Me and California are the songs that still speak to me some 40 years after their release.

Speaking of California (the state not the song) I just got back to Mayberry after a whirlwind 5 day trip to LA LA land that included a meet up with childhood friends (they too held up well some 40 years later), an intense professional branding session (change is coming), a portrait shoot (3 adorable kids on the Santa Monica Pier) and even an internet date (that didn’t work out so well).

All it was really the catharsis for an even bigger life-changing event, keeping a promise to my son. I quit smoking….

 Again a big thank you to  Nichole, a very talented makeup and hair artist, who worked with me on the previous post of Bardot and  my muse Dana M who also posed as Bardot on the last post insisting that Joni was really her doppelganger… Didn’t realize till I got her out in the sunlight that she was right. The cigarette in the above picture was a first for her and one of the last ones for me….

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Brigit Bardot is truly the quintessential blond bombshell, a natural beauty, exhaling in every breath an  innocent sexuality. Unobtainable to most women (no matter how hard they try out here in the burbs) and a fantasy unobtainable to most men.

I have always been fascinated with her. Not so much for her looks (I realized early on in life, any attempt at trying to even reproduce her looks on myself would have been cartoonish at best) but her comfort with being beautiful and sexual and still having a voice. I always thought of her as the polar opposite of her American contemporary Marilyn Monroe.

She had enough sense to retire from the industry at 40 but still use her notoriety to publically fight for the rights of animals, a cause that was dear to her. How many of us are willing to acknowledge our longevity within our industry in front of or behind the camera. It definitely has an expiration date. Doing the same thing day in and day out and expecting different results is insanity. Going forward we must change or wither away.

I have been thinking a lot about the successsful woman I know. So many are giving up their dreams and professions to embark on new unrelated career paths. One friend after years as stylist is studying to become a financial advisor. Another with a successful career as a film publicist is now in graduate school to become a landscape architect. It seems woman change careers and men just change wives ( a bit general but you do see my point).

I too am ready for a change. Not so drastic as my friends but something that will bring me closer to attaining the professional and personal success I covet. So I am on my way to Los Angelos  to work with “Photo Therapists” and get a new vision on my beloved profession…so stay tuned “Change is coming”

A Special thank you to  Nichole, a very talented makeup and hair artist, who braved the morning with my felines to recreate images of Bardot and  Dana M, not only a  beautiful and an easy subject to photograph but a smart savy mother of 2 little ones. She has a PHD from Purdue is an accomplished, singer, songwriter and presently  a practicing yoga instructor.

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I’m staying with the Laugh In theme on this one. After we accomplished the “Goldie Hawn” version of this Suburban Bliss shoot, I took Kelly outside to a little corner of my backyard (mind you my backyard is little to begin with so you can only imagine the corner I cramped her into).  I shot her in the late afternoon light with just a reflector to enhance the moment. The purpose was to capture her as just a pretty woman she is. No theme in mind.  Since she still has the body paint on from the “Sock It to Me” shoot she looks pretty groovy, don’t you think?

We never just stop during the course of our day or week and look at ourselves for the attractive woman we are. Having businesses, kids and homes just about takes over our entire being. Recently I lost a lot of weight (Thank you Dr Emma) and am realizing that I am still an attractive woman with a lot of “Joie de Vivre” in me! … I’m glad my ulterior motive wasn’t to please a man or society but to just be happy with my own reflection.

Ultimately I am pleasing some men:) and almost everyone I have come in contact with has noticed and been so complimentary to the results (BTW, thank you for noticing). It feels good to throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or a simple sundress and not hide beneath layers and layers of cloth. I am wearing more jewelry though! It seems my nature is to accessorize and because I’m not hiding rolls of fat, I can wear a new pair of earrings that calls attention to my neck or tons rings because I don’t have fat puffy fingers anymore.

Life has little twists and turns and we sometimes get lost in all the muck along the way. So today’s Suburban Bliss is about rediscovering who we are by way of shedding a few of those pounds and adding maybe a new bangle to our already sparkling personas.

Thank You Kelly for being such an incredible subject, Christine for the great hairstyles (at a moments notice) and Ann Marie for the inventive body painting.

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Laugh In was the first show on TV that I begged my parents to let me stay up and watch. I was all of 10 when it premiered and most of the gags were way over my head, but I just loved the silliness of it all.  I don’t think there is anything close to it now on the tube (traditional or u-tube) that has it’s simple purity.  Yes, there were risqué jokes, scantily clad woman in bikinis, politically incorrect remarks and sexual innuendo’s. But it wasn’t crass and it certainly didn’t make you feel uncomfortable watching it ,especially with your parents next to you, which is the case with so much that’s in the media these days. The late 60′s, early 70′s was the start of this revolution that has evolved into a full out bombardment on our innocence ( especially our kids). Please can’t we just be silly again!

Goldie Hawn was by far my favorite character on Laugh In. She had the funniest laugh and a downright goofy delivery to all her gags. I love her even more now, seeing the woman she matured into. It was fun to re-create her character with Kelly Silver, a suburban mom of 2 adorable girls.

Kelly and I met over 8 years ago through a German Client who had me photograph him in NY. She was this hot English singer that was dating him and I took some shots of both of them together. It was a strange shoot as it had no purpose (well maybe it did but nobody told me what it was for) but it paid well and it was a relatively easy day (remember my specialty is kids). This assignment was photographing a handsome guy that loved the camera and an added plus, he brought a beautiful accessory to enhance the shots. Fast forward 8 years later and I get an email from Kelly, reintroducing herself and letting me know we are practically neighbors. She too is a suburban mom and a working DJ and we are booked on the same gig in August. Small world!  Suburban Bliss is reconnecting to old acquaintances and becoming fast friends. Someone else stuck in the burbs to act just plain silly with.

Thanks to Christine @ Salon Concrete for creating the great hairstyles of era I miss so much and Ann Marie Bontempo for her intensely great body painting and especially her patience and dedication to detail.

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Vacationing with an 8 year old at your elderly parents home in South Florida is anything but relaxing. Really shouldn’t call it a vacation at all…more like relocation with better weather then home.

Been doing kid stuff down here and there is no camera around my neck ( just the iphone and flip video like any other tourist). Hanging at parks, pools and the beach so I have the luxury of just observing my contemporaries. Seems the middle age mom’s down here just look more put together. With the sun always shining they don’t have the luxury of hiding under layers of clothes so staying fit is a mandatory requirement. And of course the constant sunshine gives that all over healthy glow to everyone. I know this is not my hood and I am not catching these women at school drop off or the supermarket so I really shouldn’t be comparing to my life in Mayberry.  But even my kid says everything looks better in the sunshine state ( he thinks his life would be all pools, parks and beaches if he lived here…Ha!). I know the weather will start to warm up when we get home so I won’t be so morose ( long cold winter blues) and the next vacation we take will be something that has some inspirational merit for moi ( good ole mommy needs  a break too)!

Have a few shoots to do when I get home for his blog (Bollywood and Audrey Hepburn are two I want to tackle next week) but this week I thought I’d share more Foxy Brown images of Alexis but this time with saturated color to celebrate the sunshine.  I understand up North it is still cold and dreary and that’s a plus to being away.

Always looking for subjects for this blog. Do you have an icon you want to recreate or do you deserve a moment to really doll your self up (Hair and Make-up available)… In the midst of our suburban chaos, my camera can capture a moment of Bliss and you will have it permanently embedded into the digital history of your life. I am constantly inspired by films, theatre and music from mid century and earlier and love to create modern day iconic images with my peers and friends as my muses. That’s my suburban bliss!

Credits for these images are on the last post.

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In my quest for creating the Bliss in Suburbia, one of my goals is finding the diversity. The first and foremost reason is so my son does not experience the exclusion of the typical white “burb” upbringing, but also because diversity is a major component that incites my creativity.There are so many film and recording star icons from the past millennium that I want to recreate with the diverse group of woman I see daily in “Mayberry.” There is Audrey Hepburn (we do have a Tiffany’s in town) and Raquel Welch, Sophia Loren, Carmen Miranda, Marlena Dietrich …the list is endlesss. Unfortunately, there are very few universal black icons that exist before the 80′s. There’s Josephine Baker, Leona Horne, Dianne Carroll, Dianna Ross (and a few other Ronnie Spector girl group types) and of course Claire Huxtable. My favorite is the 70′s character Foxy Brown played by Pam Grier. Foxy Brown was the embodiment of all that woman could be. She was sexy, intelligent and a staunch upholder of justice. She not only changed how we thought about black women, but gave power to all of us. With all of those values it was only natural to be obsessed with recreating this image.

Since the obvious is never a given for me, I figured that someone who was not the ordinary Suburban Mama would be the perfect candidate. Alexis bravely stepped into her boyfriend’s life in burbs to wholeheartedly become part of his kid’s life. She cooks for school dinners, helps with homework (you have to see her paper mache empire state building she built with his son for a book project…it puts my paper-chain snake to shame), schleps both kids to after school activities and does all this in heels.

Thanks again to Christine @ Salon Concrete for making the wig look natural. Gus and his Barber shop on the west side for the perfect location on a rainy day and Alexis for being the perfect model….

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Change is good. I know that no matter how hesitant I am to evoke any in my personal and professional life. Seriously, I really am the poster girl for “You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.” Being a mother to an eight-year-old forces me to change my behavior, attitude and even my style as he becomes so much more than the little baby I held in my arms a few short years ago. These days he has opinions that I must take into consideration each and every day. Some I can pass off  like, “don’t buy the organic apple juice from fresh pressed apples,” or, “McDonald’s hamburger are really better then the one’s you cook, mom,” but others are so insightful that I stand back and realize how right he is.

A few weeks ago I was speaking on the phone to someone I was about to meet on a blind date and I was within ear shot of my son. The speaker phone was on and this guy heard my kid in the background. He asked him if his mom was pretty. My son responded, “Maybe if she didn’t always wear black and put on some lipstick.” Wow, that stung. Then, a few days ago as I was showing off the images to my latest “Suburban Bliss” muse,  she asked if I ever thought about wearing color.  So today I bought a bright yellow trench coat and took another look at the last blog post and realized that maybe a shot of color works both personally and professionally. What do you think Mimi?

Credits are on the last post but thanks again to Mimi James @ I love 4B for inspiring a great shoot and Christine and Rachel @ Salon Concrete to creating art with the hair.

PS: That blind date didn’t work out. I am still available!

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Just when you think you’re the only one that had an interesting life before being a chauffeur and short order cook, along comes Mimi. Mimi owns 4B on Front street and has the best casual style I have come across out here in Mayberry, bar none.  Some people buy expensive clothes and just wear them, Mimi has style. Sometimes I stop in to her store just to see how she is put together. It is subtle, but there is a finesse to her casual sensibility.

On a recent visit, she asked if I would shoot a head shot for her blog. I threw out the idea of doing one of my mommy shoots for Suburban Bliss. She is the mother of three so it wasn’t a far fetched idea. Maybe, I thought, something inspired by early Jane Fonda movies. Hot pants are the rage right now, so a fashion story based on either Klute or Barbarella would be a definite 60′s cinematic fashion statement that would also parallel recent runway showings. She completely nixed this idea. She shared with me that Gilda is her all time favorite movie (a little father back in time than I thought this blog was going). She is a fan of the iconic ingénue images created in the 30′s and 40′s. It seems that Mimi is an old soul!

Simultaneously, we both said Hurrell. I smiled and said, “Sure, I can do that.” But really, have you seen my work (shameless plug)? I am primarily a natural daylight, lifestyle shooter. If I shoot with strobes, it’s all about making it look natural. This was definitely outside of my comfort level, but I love a challenge. Suburban Bliss is not only about showing off my imagery, but creating a new voice.

Having been in the fashion business as a stylist in LA,  Mimi really understood the need for a great hair and make-up team to pull this off. On the other hand, I knew this was but an excuse not to do the shoot.  Both of us knew Mayberry just doesn’t have make-up artists that understand the subtlety of the camera and no one from NY is terribly excited about schlepping an hour away to make-up some housewife for a blog (if you are please call or text me). We do have Christine (Salon Concrete), an incredibly gifted hair stylist that just got back from Italy and travels the country teaching a modern approach to hair. My solution to the make-up dilemma was the local Mac store. Powder, good cheek bones (Mimi already has this), eyelashes and beautiful red lips. I figured that whatever isn’t perfect I can fix in post production. I was anxious to shoot. Blogging is about creating a following and I needed a good post for the week. Plus, no excuses are going to stop me from doing something once I concede to a challenge.

But I really got myself in a jam. George Hurrell shot on huge sound stages and used gobos, spot lights and a crew to create those glamorous iconic images. I was shooting in a narrow store on Front street between a mirror and the dressing rooms. We used an old chaise Mimi had in the back and I brought some white sheets, a black table cloth, my kitchen step stool and a zebra throw (I got as a Christmas present. thanks, Christine). In order to get some definition on the hair, my 6’4′ assistant crouched into a dressing room and reflected off the strobe. As for the fashion choices, Mimi brought a selection of vintage outfits from her private collection, again confirming her effortless style even on a glamour shoot. The make-up was not pristine but the lips looked good (red and even) and Christine outdid my expectations with her hair.

The shoot itself took about an hour. Shooting in digital is a bit off putting. The color monitor on the back of the camera showed the imperfections in the make-up and of course Mimi was as critical as any other middle aged woman I have encountered. No one should look at themselves before post (really…trust the photographer!), but she was a trooper and took direction without fuss. I was confident that I had achieved my goal of creating an ingénue from a housewife. A photographic transformation from mommy to “The Suburban Bliss.”

At the end, she reminded me that the purpose was for a friendly head shot for her blog. She threw on a simple dress, lightened her lipstick and I did that natural, daylight thing I do on a rainy street outside her store. C’est la vie… That’s what I am known for.

All the credits are in links. Please check out I Love 4B, the store (12 W. Front St. Red Bank, NJ), the blog and stop into Salon Concrete and see Christine or someone from her superb team of stylists. Both proprietors are talented souls, moms and great friends. Thank you.

I do have to thank Martin for the loan of his lights and his unconditional generosity. By the way, there was very little post production needed on these shots!

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Wow..it seems inconceivable that my mom’s existence was based on what time my dad got home from work. She was married in the late 50′s and up until my brother and I were in middle school, she bought into that “Betty Draper” suburban promise. It seemed that life was so much simpler when there were set guidelines of what was expected.

Not for one moment do I want to back track in time, but I do wish I could look my son in the eye and tell him the definitive things he can expect in life: eating well will result in a healthy life, college will secure him a great job and giving service will guarantee him a place beyond. So much unrest and too many natural and man made disasters in the world makes immediate life in the “burbs” so inconsequential.

The change in moods and social mores in America during the 60′s were unprecedented and so much of who we are today was determined in that very decade. The only thing I wish was the same was that the quintessential Martini before dinner could make the day seem so much better and the future more definitive.

This image was a commissioned piece for my client’s husband who is a Madison Avenue guy. The home, the kids, the dress and the attitude are all hers, I just brought my equipment and cameras.

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