From happiness of life to the struggles of Life....August 31st 2009

From happiness of life to the struggles of all the farmers, bankers, truckers, doctors, but worst of all the animals such as fox, bear, beaver, raccoons, bobcats, mountain lions, wolves, rams, bison, and moose that hang from dress racks and are covered by a huge tent just along the side of the road.

While on my way back to Cody, Wyoming I had the pleasure or misfortune of stopping in Bridger, Montana at a local market called The Bridger Fur Company which has stood in Montana for over a hundred years working or trading as fur traders to the local and those passing through.

Les and Maybelle have been working there for over 50 years and married for 60 years. I do not believe in fur or the fur culture but here it was. Starring off at the hundreds of hanging skins, hanging heads, life-sized stuffed animals. This is no zoo, this is a trophy shack at best. I started shooting pictures of the place when I got introduced to Les and Maybelle asking what I was doing. I made a few jokes about life and explained I was working on a story about local culture and how the economy is affecting both the local trade and the tourist trade and wanted to see if I could ask them some questions. I was in asking questions and Les began showing me the best furs as he was telling about his best hunting stories but most of the time he was joking around about his uppity clients. In the land of the rich and famous the lewd and crude comes some of the funniest stories of Californiaians! Whether celebrity or other the people of the west coast take the cake. The bargaining, the bitching, the shipping, as it was told a movie producer client could not risk flying into LAX with 5 boxes of bear, moose and fox skins for his mistress’s home. It would be rude to get caught with all these furs and have to explain to your vegan /animal rights activist wife that these are not a sick joke for you but these furs are for my mistress…..



I am not here to make a stand but there are better ways to spend money… This is the Wild West, still. Where wolfs and coyotes are slaughtered and where cows have the right of way. Where a one light town meets a local private poster of speed signs posting messages to tourists that read “What about 25 M.P.H. DON’T you Understand?!” A place where skoal chewers and beer drinkers out number the tourists, and humans only being out numbered by the cattle or horses.

I loved Montana and Wyoming, I loved almost all the local beers that I tried and there were a lot…. The food: after eating at some of the best restaurants and at some of the dirtiest road side out house types of stands I can honestly say that the steaks and chops and burgers had been some of the best tasting flavors that I ever had.
But getting back to “From Happiness of life to the struggles of”, Struggles of what I am still attempting to figure out. Without water there are no crops, without gas we would have to figure out how to get to work, without nature there would be no nurture, without pain there is no pleasure, without all these hardships to make us think bigger, work more efficient, focus more on the needs and not the wants. Understand you are not special, you are not supposed to be anything more than who you are now.. Your destiny was then, your destiny is now and your destiny will be in the future….Your Destiny….. My destiny….Our destiny is just that….

Happiness for me is being on the road!

I work humbly on the many types of assignments that come my way. Creating these experiences into reality. The roads have been and leading up to signs that read: follow your dreams, scoop your poop or warning this is bear country, enter at your own risk or the road that I am on I see spider webs of lightening streaming in the sky. Watching just as a flash of a lighting bolt comes down and then I notice a burning tree that stands over 300 feet in the air burning. This road ends ahead and the many others that prevented me from traveling forward such as the nuclear power plant in Ohio where the road leads through tens of thousands acres of the most groomed, manicured farms that I have ever seen. Miles of corn, potatoes strawberries, tomatoes, and then boom the road ends and 2 huge mountain size towers jut out of the landscape. While one farmer is riding a tractor over the strawberry fields in the distance one of the plants towers spews smoke, a colorless and odorless cloud of chemicals into the sky above.



This is America this is my country this is your country of which we all have to take the time to explore our own lands, our own history, our own heritage and only then should you move onto visiting other cities, other countries other destinations. There are so many forgotten roads, lost towns, abundant rural areas that once had a purpose that once had a church following, a Friday night town picnic or movie night or a simple farmers market, but now it is what it is….. Life in America…….

Many horses of East Glacier Montana

This blog entry has more to do with one person named Many horses or Mouse to his friends then anything else. It was a day that Erin and I happened upon a decision to go horseback riding at Glacier National Park.



Mouse’s roots are here in East Glacier but his story began over a hundred years ago when his father a native Texan rancher moved his cattle into Montana and leased land from the Native American Indians which mouse’s family still lives on today. He is related to Lewis and Clark and two past presidents of the United States. Although his lease to his lands expired 4 years ago he has no intentions of leaving today nor does the Indian nation intend on giving him another lease. The story of Mouse comes from a chance meeting of a chef named Jonny B who I had met in Livingston Montana a few weeks earlier. He persuaded Erin and I to visit East Glacier National Park we had other plans but as fate has directed me in the past it has directed us where we were going now.



Our detour was just another day our chance meeting was not: Mouse an ex bronco riding champion, cattle rustler, horse thief and from what I had heard a real wild child. At 81 his smile and his stories are as real as the champion belt buckle that keeps his pants up, or the scares on his fingers and the calluses on his hands. His knowledge is un-matched and his sparkle in his eyes still glistens with a threat that he could hurt you. We spoke to him for over an hour we learned much from him and then we booked out ride.



Erin and I ran back to the motel changed and then quickly headed back to meet our guide. We were greeted by Mouse’s son in law who also was a bronco champion, horse trainer and guide, Tony informed us that Mouse would be taking us out into Glacier National Park and through and over the reservation for our tour. Nice I respond and then Tony mentions to us that Mouse never takes out tours or people he rarely spends more then 2 minutes with clients, he barely rides so here we are honored by his presence in awe of what has transpired prior and about to be blown away by more of his stories and sites to come. For the next few hours time stopped and we were in Mouse hands and on his prized horses.

Cedar Rapids Iowa: July/ August 2009

Along the way I found myself lost in Iowa and I happened to get lost in a town called Cedar Rapids. While going through my images I am lost for words. I have googled Cedar Rapids Flood to find out more details of the flood and why after a year the affected downtown area is deserted and only a few people have since returned to that part of town. A question for FEMA?...



It is August 2009 over a year has past and very little has changed since the water receded. I lost my count while I was walking around town: All the vacant boarded up homes, the retail stores, the chain restaurants, the vacant lots and a few closed churches. What I did not lose count of were the number of images that I shot……………………






Words to live by: Remember to always "LEAVE ONE FOOT EARLY" [Flood Brochure...]

Montana’s Ole time Fiddlers August 2009………

Montana’s Ole time Fiddlers Celebration August 2009………

Once again I had followed the signs that initially lead me to Montana after meeting an art curator in Big Sur a few months ago. She mentioned that her family had a guest ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado called The Boyer YL Ranch which has been a favorite to many prominent and recognized guests since 1926. It is located along the Savery River in Southern Wyoming close to the Colorado border in Wyoming's Historic Dude & Guest Ranch. I was supposed to stay and work with the owners but the timing was off and I was already on my way out west. After emailing other hotels and resorts I did land three unique and amazing jobs in Montana over the past month.

One of which was for the Best Western in Livingston Montana. After completing my final day of shooting for the Best Western hotel, I found myself following a sign that read “The 35th annual Fiddlers celebration turn here”… The road was bumpy with rocks and dirt which lead up to an open grass field filled with campers and tents surrounding it. Off in the distance Erin and I could smell baby back ribs, burgers, hotdogs and a few other unrecognizable scents being cooked. Parking and grabbing my camera I was welcomed by all. The first person to approach us was a guy named Scott, a native New Yorker who had found himself in Montana a few years earlier. Shirtless and a little drunk walking with his dog in tow. Scott took us to the entrance of a huge barn where both doors were removed and the sound of the many guitars, fiddlers and a piano could be heard and seen. We were introduced to all the musicians and then sat down on the tall grass while listening to the music. Welcoming us in were the host and gate keepers of the Fiddlers ho’ down. I was lead behind the musicians and up a set of stairs which used to be an old hay loft. Cindy the sponsor/ host organizer lead me to an open window that overlooked the event and said “have fun, take great pics and don’t fall out of the window” lol…. For over 8 hours I ate and drank in the hot sun while shooting pictures of all participants and musicians that I had the pleasure of watching and meeting. I came away with many new friends, some cool memories, and a few great images. I now have a new respect for folk /country / western music. Although, I will never again in my life experience this type of day all I can say is thank you to the people that made it a One Of A Kind Day!

On a side note…..Erin who knows nothing about folk, western or country music took it upon herself to jump on the piano and jam with the musicians just picking it up as it went… Her childhood lessons paid off and she was the toast of the ho' down and carried the rhythm…..

Cody Wyoming The Rodeo Capital of the World

Cody Stampede Rodeo and Cody Nite Rodeo! Saturday August 15th 2009

After meeting Dusty and Timber Tuckness through a friend or new acquaintance named Mary Lou Bunting who is the manager of Zapatas Mexican restaurant in Cody, we had no choice but to go to the Cody Stampede Rodeo & Cody Nite Rodeo although it was a few weeks after we met them.



I had just wrapped up my last assignment in Montana and Erin and I were heading home to Miami via New York City. A slight detour a few last minute adjustments and we were at the gate. Arriving at 7:30 just a half hour to fine our friends…. Running to the gate and hearing that both Dusty and Timber were off this past Saturday night we had spoken to the gate keepers who directed us to Maury the producer.



We explained that we were invited to come experience our first rodeo by way of Dusty and Timber… He replied come on in and enjoy yourselves we had full access to the event. The cold night air only heightened the mood and starting to enter the gate we made our way over the entrance: Where we found some of the rodeo clowns, doing what they do best: treating all the fans to that special entertainment that could not be matched at any circus it can only be found on the circuit of the professional rodeo here in Wyoming! We were allowed to capture images behind the scenes and up in the score box that overlooked the ring…



Meeting most of the rodeo stars, the host, the judges, the score keepers and the handlers of the bulls and the handlers of the bucking horses. Some of the faces are posted here, other who’s faces are obscured by the rain, the motion of the horses that were throwing them off and into the mud of the ring. This was one of the coolest nights on this journey……It was just another crazy night in Wyoming:::::

The Last job in Montana before heading back to NYC ""The Fairmont Hot Springs Resort""

The past month I have had the pleasure of working with a few hotels and resorts in Montana. I have been extremly busy and today sitting in a cabin in Cody, Wyoming I am now able to go through the countless images from the past month. Driving throughout the states and logging in over 10,000 miles I find myself wondering if I can ever catch up.

So, sitting here in my cabin watching the clouds pass and rain pouring over me it is only now that I can showcase a few images from this week. Fairmont Hot Springs is one of the most unique hot springs resort that I have had the pleasure of working with.
Two Olympic-sized pools bubbling with the purest mineral springs running into two other smaller and hotter pools of natural water. Outside in the 50 degree air sitting on top of the springs lies a 350 foot water slide that shoots you down and out into the belly of the larger of all the minaral pools at a speed of 20 miles per hours..




Fairmont Hot Springs has had some of the most breath taking views that I have ever come across and the people are some of the friendliest people that I have ever worked with... forget southern hospitality, forget the large crowds in other cities, here in the middle of the state remains one of the true gems of the pacific northwest.. Follow me around the Fairmont Hot Springs from the spacious suites, the gourmet foods the ever abundant hot water, where I have just left and I have already started counting the days until I return in winter for a second shoot...

More jobs to come and the people that we've met in livingston working for the Best Western, working for The Broadway Hotel in Philipsburg and stories about the local sheriff, banker, the half-dead motorcycle riding bartender and getting gwendolyzed, and not to mention an indian named 'Many Horses' aka Mouse that we had the pleasure of taking a two-hour horse ride in and over the reservation in East Glacier National Park in Montana. I promise in the next couple of days I'll be updating not only images but a lot of fantastic stories that have come down the pipeline using the words of others and backing it up with images that I've had the opportunity to capture. Until then, hang on cus this ride is gonna be long, hard and very funny.