Pangea Day!!

This looks really cool! I want to get involved!!! Do you?

I'm Featured on Nina Corvallo's Blog :)

Check it out!

Wyatt Gallery is an immensely talented photographer and I in particular love the work he has done in the Caribbean. Wyatt also went to NYU Tisch School of the Arts and after graduation won a Daniel Rosenberg Award that he used to travel the Caribbean and which resulted in a collection of images titled: "Spiritual Sites, A Caribbean Portrait".
During his journey in the Caribbean he spent most of his time in Trinidad & Tobacco which now has become a second or may I say spiritual home for Wyatt. The work resulting from the Rosenberg award let to a Fulbright scholarship which in turn let to another beautiful body of work titled: "Trinidad, Between Sacred and Secular".
Wyatt's photography is always marked by excellent composition, a great appreciation for light & color and a sensitive timeless observation of his surrounding. For me his work is at its best when he celebrates the beauty of what another might overlook as mundane.

Anya Wins Miss Trinidad & Tobago Universe!!!!

I'm happy to announce that my girlfriend Anya just won the Miss Trinidad & Tobago Pageant and will compete for Miss Universe in Vietnam in July 2008. She had never considered doing a beauty pageant before, but after some dramatic changes in her life she felt it was time to take a leap of faith and try new experiences. So at the last minute she just decided to go for it, and she won!!!!!

Congratulations to her!!

PS: Yes, you can call me Mr. Trinidad & Tobago! :) hahaha

Santa Fe

I'm in Galisteo, New Mexico for a little while. Taking some time away from NYC. Galisteo is a small artist community 25 minutes outside of Santa Fe. It is sooooo beautiful out here! You can see for miles and miles over open plains with small mountains popping up here and there. At night there are more stars than sky! It snowed yesterday which was also beautiful. Everything's beautiful......

i hope to get some organizational work done while i'm here. i need to make a list of what i need to do. Trying to make this into my own residency program, know what i mean? i have so many photos and projects that i haven't put on my site and i need to get them out there. today i'm going to make a list of what i need to do. Which will include exercise and meditation. i gotta get back on track.

i'm not going to FotoFest this year, applied too late and didn't get a slot. but i think it's for the better. i don't want to just show work for the sake of trying to show something if i don't have anything i'm really excited about. do i have to always have new work that i'm in to? do i hav eto attend every photo review seminar and continuously "hob-nob" with the people that have the power to get my work out there? don't get me wrong, Fotofest has helped me A LOT and i LOVE it and i love that i have made good friendships with other photographers and gallery owners and curators etc. but i'm just kinda anti-social right now i guess. not feeling too into my photography right now. although the photos i've been taking of Anya i think are really interesting and i want to continue that as soon as i return to Trinidad.

Well that takes me to my next thought these days. Should i move to Trinidad??? Anya, my girlfriend is from there and she moved back there and has been asked go up for the Miss TNT Universe. As well she has a great job with the Above group which is the leading design firm of the Caribbean. They have asked me to join them part time if i move back to Trinidad so that helps a lot and makes it somewhat feasible for me to do so. Of course i wouldn't be making US $$$ but maybe i'd be happier overall and maybe that is more valuable. I feel like i lost track of my #1 goal back in 2001 when i lost a lot of money in the Stock market. Since then i've just been scrambling to make $ with no long term goal and stopped focusing on what I REALLY WANT TO DO. I think i have tried hard to stick to my guns and to 'my art', 'my projects', but it is tough. It is not always easy to make enough $ off of them so you need to do commercial work too. I have tried to keep a balance but i think commercial work has taken over. I enjoy much of the commercial work actually and don't see it as "a job" but it is annoying to constantly be "looking for work".

so? who knows...

My Brother's Amazing Film: Graduation Day

You might have seen my little brother Andrew Gallery on CNN and many other news stations, as well as TMZ.com when he released the teaser to this moving film entitled Graduation Day. It is a PSA film against drinking and driving. It is really startling and effective, I strongly recommend that you check out the trailer.

Converse Job - I'm With Basketball: New Orleans

From Christmas to New Year's Eve, I went to New Orleans along with writer Will Steacy and filmmaker Andrew Gallery (my brother) to document the love for basketball on assignment for Converse. It was a challenging yet highly enjoyable job which lead to this booklet, which was given out at the 2008 NBA All-Star game in New Orleans.

In fact, this was the perfect job. To be able to earn a living photographing the type of assignment that really moves you, motivates you, and makes you feel alive, is a dream come true. Big thanks to Elizabeth Bruneau, and Stan & the whole Anomaly NYC team.

(Click the photo to see a larger version)

Trinidad carnival 2008

Hey Everyone!

I just returned from my 11th year in a row celebrating Carnival in Trinidad. I think that is seriously the most consistent thing in my life! wow...

Here are some pics from the Fetes and the Carnival. I will post some more "professional" pics from Carnival soon.

enjoy!

Old Poems, or thoughts, from Blanchisseuse Beach, Trinidad

My friend Adam just found these poems, if you could call them that, which I wrote in 1999-2001 while living on the beach in a 500 person village at the end of the Northern Main road in Blanchisseuse, Trinidad. I had a Fulbright Fellowship to photograph religious places in Trinidad and then extended it to live there longer. During that time I had no phone and no TV, only a 4x4 truck, my surfboard, and my 6x7 camera. It was the happiest time of my life. Oh, I just saw the movie Into the Wild, it reminded me of this time in my life.

After you read these enlightening poems ;) you might want to check out this small photo gallery from a recent trip to the Blanchisseuse village. (and a few old classics of me!)

Sept 19 2000

I walk in D road barefoot
Everywhere I look is a view
Everytime I turn I want to capture a photograph

The water is so refreshing
All it touched was my feet
But all it effected was my soul.


Oct 8 2000

I feel like I'm in some room in heaven
Everyone has no worries, only smiles
Bodies floating around with no gravity
Everyone jus freein' up dem self

I love hanging out with elder people
Trinis are so alive, relaxed, and full spirited.

Watching this old man sway slowly back and forth
Singing as only a man of his age could
I feel for love
Though watching/witnessing, being a part of today makes me infinitely
happy.

Being here, I am so lucky and fortunate.

I smile while wanting to cry.

How music touches the soul.

#3

Rain, Rain, Rain
Gray, Gray, Gray
It's not that I'm in pain
Just feeling some way
Is it because of the day?
How people wish to be here
I don't wish to be "dey".


#4

To be free
In NYC
One must have money.
Can one have money
In NYC
and still be free?

Or will one be a slave
Every morning having to shave.


Rules to Life

Stay in shape
Eat properly
Be spiritual not Worldly
Do what makes you happy
Don't do things for security
Live by your own rules
Make your own rules to life, don't follow the ones Society already set for
you

Help others
Make an impact on your world, no matter how small your world is.


Oct 7th 2000 Am I?

Am I happy?
Am I lonely?
I hear the sea.
Why can't they see what I see?

It is night.
I should not feel fright.
I shouldn't fight.
I don't have THE sight.

Am I content?
Will I ever be content?
Can I be Content?
In the Ocean I am.

The waves hit me with freedom.
Freedom from the past
Freedom from the future
They wash thoughts from my mind.

They give me a priceless present.
The present.
It and only It.
What joyful peace it is.

I wish it didn't end on land.
But change is in my hand.

Island People Mas - Trinidad Carnival

I just returned from a two month trip to Trinidad by way of New Orleans (shooting for Newsweek) and Tennessee(shooting the new Gray Fossil Museum). I was in Trinidad preparing our Carnival band Island People Mas for our 2008 presentation which is called Animal Instincts. Not sure if you new I am part owner/creator of a Carnival band in Trinidad. We create the costumes that people wear throughout the two day "parade", as well create the theme and provide the music trucks and free drinks for two days. I shot a New calendar of our new Carnival Costumes and we have already sold out of most of the costumes in the band. But you should take a look at our site.

I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO COME "PLAY MAS" IN TRINIDAD'S CARNIVAL WITH ISLAND PEOPLE MAS IN 2008. It will be one of the most amazing experiences of your life!

islandpeoplemas.com

MS Bike Tour

Last year I joined the Aardvarks bike team and rode my bicycle 30 miles in the MS Bike tour to help us raise over $5000!!! I want to invite YOU to join our team and ride with us this year on October 14th. Or if you'd rather just donate money that's great too! The ride is so beautiful because they close off the West Side Highway and the FDR and you do a whole loop around Manhattan. It's soooo beautiful and it's for a good cause.

click the link below to join the team or to donate $$$

https://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=226878&team=2052630

Barack Obama - wow!!!

So as you all probably know, I've never been too interested in Politics. Yes i vote when needed but that's about it. But last night i had the opportunity to attend "Barack on Braodway". an event hosted by many talented Broadway performers. The performances were great! but best of all was seeing and hearing Barack speak in person. I have to say, I was REALLY REALLY inspired and moved. This guy is amazing. and although i was already going to vote for him, now i really think it's important that you all do as well. Or at least go see him speak in person and listen, really listen, to him. It was amazing!!! seriously.

So he will be having a rally in Washington Sq Park this Thursday in NYC. for more info click this link. A few of us are already going so if you want to come, let me know.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/semnycrally?source=SEM-event-google-newyork-site-national

My 32nd Birthday Party

We had a GREAT time at my birthday party at the Yard at the SoHo Grand Hotel. Here are some photos

OPENING RECEPTION PHOTOS FROM PEER GALLERY

If you missed the opening reception of AFTER at Peer Gallery you can get a glimpse of some snapshots from the night. The show closes May 12th 2007

SEESAW ONLINE MAGAZINE

This was from some time ago but have a look if you haven't seen it. SEESAW is a great online photography magazine.

The Hungry Hyaena Blog Reviews "After"

This guy is sort of an idiot in my view but you take a read and see what think of his review. He chose the Ninth Ward (my least favorite, most typical photograph) as "my successful".

VILLAGE VOICE BEST OF SHOW - April 17, 2007

R.C. Baker was kind enough to add our show "AFTER" to the Village Voice's Best of Show column!!!

Baker writes:

'After'
The environmental holocaust sparked by ill-advised Soviet-era irrigation projects has left the once thriving Aral Sea practically a desert. Radek Skrivanek's warm-toned black-and-white photos of rusty buoys and abandoned boats listing on dry, scrubby planes limn the ongoing ruin. In contrast, Wyatt Gallery and Will Steacy document the drenched aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Gallery captures the devastation wrought on buildings, his saturated colors bringing out blooms of mold on the walls and reflective puddles covering the floors. Steacy discovers pathos in anonymous snapshots snatched away by the deluge—his poignant prints of stained, crumpled prom photos, wedding portraits, and family pictures are fossils from the flood.

THE MORNING NEWS INTERVIEW

This is a very interesting interview about the exhibition AFTER featuring fellow photographer Radek Skrivanek and myself. If you would like to know more about why I photographed the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina and what my thoughts are regarding these disasters, please have a read.

Zone Zero features REMNANTS by Wyatt Gallery

Take a look at this really well designed web page on Zone Zero which features my series REMNANTS: After The Storm. Photographs from the Tsunami in Sri Lanka and Hurricane Katrina in The Gulf Coast.

Mike The Suit's 27th Birthday!!!

It was a great night as you can see in this photo. Enjoy the photos :)

A Recent Interview

A German newspaper is publishing some of my photos from my series REMNANTS: AFTER THE STORM. Here are some excerpts from the interview:


1. When did you do the pictures for "Remnants Katrina" an how often did you go to New Orleans for doing them?

I went to New Orleans on two trips. The first was 6 weeks after Hurricane Katrina in October 2005. The second trip was in April 2006. Each trip was about 10-14 days.

2. Why did you decide for this project? Why did you go there? What was your motivation, what were your ideas before you got there?

I don’t think I ever decide on a project or consciously choose to do a project. Honestly, I don’t really feel I have a choice in the matter, the project sort of chooses me. In this case it started with the Tsunami in January 2005. I just couldn’t get past the wide spread devastation. Day after day I was glued to the TV watching what to me was the most horrifying event in my 30 years. I decided I wanted to help, I wanted to be involved in the recovery effort but I didn’t know how to get involved. Two weeks later I decided I had to go there and I’d bring my camera too. I wanted to show my view of the situation in the small island of Sri Lanka.

I get a certain feeling or instinct when I see something that makes me want to set up my 4x5 camera and transform or render the scene with the camera. It’s not a thought but more of an emotion. This project on the tsunami is what lead me to document people’s lives after the floods of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

I had no idea what to expect after Hurricane Katrina. I try not to arrive with expectations but rather be drawn effortlessly to scenes that interest me deep in my soul. Being there was very different than Sri Lanka because it was a ghost town. Every neighborhood I visited in New Orleans was completely abandoned. The only things that remained were people’s personal belongings. That’s when I began to really be drawn to these items. They told the story of the people, their interests, and their culture. As well, it shows that this could just as easily happen to anyone of us. It is easy to relate to losing one’s quilt, or personal files, or books, and other items that we all have in our homes.

3. How do you see yourself in this project? More as a journalist, who documents the horror or more as an artist who also records the beauty within the destruction?

I definitely see my photographs as artistic documentary. I do not alter the images so they are truthful documents but I do capture a sense of beauty within the horror. Many people have referred to the images as being “hauntingly beautiful”. I am not as interested in showing the whole picture or the longer timeline. My interest is in giving a sense of the people who were effected by this natural disaster, as seen through their belongings and personal spaces. The viewer should feel the people when looking at these photos. They are present through their remains, it’s almost like archeology of lost civilizations.

4. How did you feel while you were doing the pictures and what is the feeling like when you are confronted with that work today?

Everyday that I photographed in New Orleans was like the first day. I never got used to the unfathomable level of destruction and emptiness. As well, I never got used to the depression I felt when I entered someone’s mold infested house, church, or school and saw all of their possessions ruined and sitting there under layers of mud and mold. Everyday I imagined driving to a point where on one side would be unaffected by the storm and the other side would show the destruction. I never found that line, it seemed to be endless.

I could only stay in New Orleans for about 10 days because I begin to have nightmares that I am sleeping within the muddy debris of people’s homes and lives.

When I look at my photographs today, I feel they are successful recordings and interpretations of this tragedy. But they don’t effect me in the same way as being there did. There will never be any comparison in my view. My photographs, nor anyone else’s, can’t ever show how saddening and depressing this situation was and is.