A Westside Story

My grandparents have been married for 70 years. They're both in their 90's now and considering the change and struggle the world has seen in that time, it's hard to imagine the life they've shared. My grandmother Rose was born in Puerto Rico in 1920 but raised in Spanish Harlem, New York. My grandfather Eugene was born in 1921 and brought up in a strict Irish Catholic family in Hells Kitchen, New York. Both fell in love during a bygone era that few in my generation have the appropriate appreciation for. It's a fairy tale romance that lends authenticity to American classics like Broadway's West Side Story and Ben E. King's Spanish Harlem. I was recently sorting through old things of theirs and came upon a red album full of original photographs. Some timeless images of old New York neighbors, honored wartime buddies, quaint backyard BBQ's, and an undying love that still burns strong. 


 
 
 
 
 
 
Katie On Film

Some recent images of Katie at the beach, in the park, and on a bed. Images were shot using a Holga camera and 120 Kodak film. 


 
 
 
 
Sean TullyComment
John Copeland Paintings

Way into these Biker Orgy oil paintings from John Copeland.  I like the Time cover alterations also so I posted those too. John is a capable draftsmen as well and he's got some rad pencil drawings on his website. He rolls with Wes Lang from time to time and I'm sure drinking whiskey with the two of them in a dark dive bar somewhere would prove enlightening.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sean TullyComment
Vintage Mexican Pinups

VEA was a weekly pulp periodical which ran for years throughout the 50's & 60's  but was apparently often in trouble with the law, largely due to censorship issues of the times.  The magazine was a menudo of news, bullfighting reports, pulp fiction (with illustrations that look like Charles Burns on peyote) and breasts.  There is really nothing to compare the magazine to in the states then or now, but it was similar to the Folies De Paris et de Holllywood magazine from France which was running the same time.  Some of the Harrison mags like Whisper maybe.  Large format, large on style and striking today.

Images and text knicked from here.


 
 
 
 
 
Drunk Napkin Writing

​I got really drunk at the bar the other night and scribbled down a bunch of nonsense. It's hardly legible. Don't remember writing any of it. Josiah is my good friend. He's the bartender too and I kinda hold him partly responsible. However, he did get me home safe so I guess that evens things out. Plus I still had the napkins some some how.


 
 
 
Prince x Pacasso

I came across this exhibition catalog at LACMA the other day and was thouroghly inspired. It can artist quicksand to work within the shadow of another and Pablo Pacasso arguably casts quite the shadow. None the less, Richard Prince does an admirable job with his exploration of Pacasso and the female form.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Improvise & Survive

Nearly two years after the start of Syria's popular uprising, the conflict has evolved into a slow-moving, brutal civil war with many players and no clear end in sight. Multiple rebel groups across the country continue to fight President Bashar al-Assad's forces, using any weapons they can get their hands on. While the rebels are using many modern weapons, they've also come up with their own makeshift solutions. In these weapons workshops, anti-aircraft guns are welded to pickup trucks and armor shields are attached to machine guns and cars. Mortar shell nose cones are turned on lathes and explosives are mixed by hand. Homemade grenades are launched by jury-rigged shotguns or giant slingshots in the urban battlefields of Aleppo and Damascus. Gathered here are a few examples of the hand-built munitions of the Syrian rebels. 

Text and images knicked form here.​