I grew up listening to Slippery When Wet, so it was a real riot to hang with the entire Bon Jovi band last night and do their Wikipedia portraits.  Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan all showed up for the premiere of a documentary about their lives, Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful.

As with all my photography, these images are licensed Creative Commons and may be reproduced, altered, photoshopped and copied (with my photo credit) as long as you ensure you don’t violate anyone’s personality rights.

Jon Bon Jovi

Richie Sambora

Tico Torres

David Bryan

It’s all about freedom – these images are Creative Commons. Click here to see more.

Eric Bana’s directorial debut, Love the Beast, premiered last night at the Tribeca Film Festival.  Bana spent perhaps ten minutes signing autographs and taking pictures with his fans – that is truly the sign of an excellent character in a celebrity.  Almost nobody else has done that to such an extent in my three years photographing the festival, with the exception of Tobey Maguire at the premiere of Spiderman 3 (see that photo here).

Below are two portrait shots now in use on the English Wikipedia.  As with all of my photography, these images are licensed Creative Commons and may be reproduced with attribution:

Eric Bana

Zachary Quinto

Click here to view all photos uploaded from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for use on Wikipedias around the world.

It looks like Gawker’s John Cook decided to pick up the gauntlet this blog first laid down (without credit) and has started his own “Ambush Jesse Watters” campaign.  What they don’t tell you was this was a campaign started here:

If we find him, we’ll post the video as soon as we can. If we don’t, we’ll keep trying, and for that we’ll need your help. What do you know about Jesse Watters? Did you go to college with him? Do you ride the train with him? Do you work at the Starbucks where he buys his coffee? Let us know. We’ll get you started:

Watters was born in July 1978. He was raised in Philadelphia, graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., in 2001, and has been a producer for the O’Reilly Factor since 2003. Before that, he spent about four months in 2002 working on federal judge Dora Irizarry’s losing campaign for New York Attorney General (making less than $12,000 per year).

He is married to Noelle Watters—maiden name Inguagiato—who works at Fox News as well, as the host of something called iMag Style on Foxnews.com. They live together in Manhasset, N.Y.

If you see him, snap a camera phone picture and send it to us. Or better yet, ask him why he stalks and ambushes people that his boss disagrees with, and tell us what he says. Two years ago, during an on-air celebration of Watters’ ambushes, O’Reilly had this to say about his young charge: “Jesse Watters, everybody. He’s becoming a big star all over the world.”

Let’s make that happen.

This blog considers imitation the highest form of flattery, and we first started the “Ambush Jesse Watters” campaign on March 31st with this post.   On April 6th, a bounty of $200 was offered for the production of an actual ambush video of Watters (Gawker is offering nothing), the same day Haikuku haiku-ed the Ambush Jesse Watters campaign (giving credit).  On April 7th Transracial also spotlighted the Shankbone ambush Watters campaign (giving credit).

Gawker came a little late to the party, joining on April 24th – but we are glad that they did.  Thanks for picking up a campaign started here, John Cook.

When I first started to photograph the Tribeca festival for Wikipedia in 2007, I was pretty lost on how to shoot, and I had bought my DSLR camera the morning of the first day.  I had no idea how to use it, nor the somewhat challenging conditions posed by hundreds of other strobe flashes, celebrity drive-by poses and tungsten lighting.   The photos weren’t very good.

I also did not realize that editors on Wikipedia only wanted portrait shots, and that even eye contact is considered “less flattering” than a far off gaze (I can tell you this is the case – Wikipedia editors always like the eye contact shots less than the gaze shots).  As I wrote earlier about being screamed at by another Reserved Pen photographer during the Sarah Jessica Parker/Matthew Broderick shoot, professionals must have eye contact.  They must have full body shots (for “what are they wearing?” layouts).  Editors on Wikipedia could care less about either.

In 2007 I tried to mimic what the other photographers were ddoing, and the shots looked pretty bad when they were cropped down, particularly because of my technical inexperience.  Now I only shoot portrait shots.

Here are a few shots that, as with all of my photography, are licensed Creative Commons:

Sanaa Lathan

Philip Baker Hall

Steven Strait

Click here to view all photos uploaded from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for use on Wikipedias around the world.

After I was put in my place at the Sarah Jessica Parker/Matthew Broderick premiere of Wonderful World, I returned to the main venue of the Tribeca Film Festival to photograph the premiere of An Englishman in New York.  The film chronicles English gay icon and writer Quentin Crisp’s later years spent in New York City.  It is a follow-up to the 1975 TV movie The Naked Civil Servant, with John Hurt reprising his role as Crisp.  The film is directed by Richard Laxton, and also stars Denis O’Hare, who I photographed at a private screening of Milk with James Franco.

Cynthia Nixon and Swoosie Kurtz look great.  I’ve heard for years that the Sex & The City women look really old in person, but I can tell you now that’s not the case (here’s my Sarah Jessica Parker – even her hands look youthful).   I had to tell Swoosie how good she looked, and our little talk messed up one of the other photographer’s shots, though he was able to shoot plenty of other good ones since there were only five of us in the A-List pen.

As with all of my photography, these images are licensed Creative Commons.

Cynthia Nixon

John Hurt

Swoosie Kurtz

Click here to view all photos uploaded from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for use on Wikipedias around the world.

Last night at the Tribeca Film Festival in the “Reserved Pen”–colloquially referred to as the “A-List” amongst photographers–I majorly pissed off one of the other A-Listers.  Anyone familiar with me and my photography knows that I am only an artist attempting to do photojournalism, in the same vein that I was an artist attempting to do journalism with my interviews of global cultural leaders.  I make no money off this work, I release it it to the public, and I have no training.  I’m an amateur who must learn on the spot.  In the process, I sometimes step on toes as I discover what are acceptable practices.

Last night I was put in my place.  I started to move around in the reserved pen to photograph Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick at the premiere of Wonderful World (sponsored by L’Oreal), and I was immediately screamed at by a usually nice A-List photographer.  He yelled, ”Stay in your fucking spot!  You’re fucking up all my shots and this isn’t the first time!  Get the fuck back over where you were!“  Right in front of Parker and Broderick.  <sigh>  

The issue wasn’t that I was getting between the photographer’s camera and the subject of the shots; the problem was that by moving around and calling out “Sarah!  Over here!  Matthew!” I was diverting eye contact away from the other photographers.  Those photographers must have eye contact in their shots to make their paycheck.  I was screwing that up.

Photographers aren’t known for graceful intercourse, but it was upsetting.  I didn’t know that I was doing anything wrong.  I apologized several times, but he didn’t seem ready to forgive my lack of knowledge of the customs and practices of the Reserved Pen.  There is no manual that explains, “This is the way things operate in the A-List Room” so that I would know not to move about.  But I certainly won’t repeat the mistake.  That’s how amateurs learn.

Below are some of my photos from the premiere, licensed Creative Commons, as with all of my photography.  Click on them to go to the subject’s Wikipedia article.

Matthew Broderick

Sarah Jessica Parker

Kim Kardashian

Click here to view all photos uploaded from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for use on Wikipedias around the world.

Today was a very good day for portrait shots at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of City Island (sponsored by L’Oreal).  These  portraits–I am not finished uploading, and it may be a week or two–are now part of the Creative Commons, via both Flickr and Wikipedia’s Wikimedia Commons.  Andy Garcia was really nice and patient posing for shots in the reserved pen – I have so many that I will never get around to uploading them all.

Thanks to noted photographer Richard Brill for showing me a few tricks with my camera settings – they paid off.

There was a little bit of drama tonight in the reserved pen, and Garcia had to step in to referee.  During the cacophony of flashes and “Andy, over here! Andy!”  After one photographer yelled something along those lines, another photographer (one of the old hands in the business) yelled out, “Don’t look over there – his never get published!”  This high insult to the other A-Lister immediately turned into drama when the insulted A-Lister thought a third, innocent A-Lister was the one who said it.  Tempers flared.  Mr. Garcia had to clear things up with who said what.  The A-Lister who said it pretended like he didn’t.

Interesting night in the reserved pen.  Click on the photos below to go to their Wikipedia articles, and as with all of my photography, these are licensed Creative Commons.
UPDATE: More Mickey Rourke and Andy Garcia photos here

Mickey Rourke

Mickey:  Rumor has it that you are considering adopting another rescued Chihuahua.  I used to foster for the main New York Chihuahua rescue, and we just won a victory on the April 23 episode of the People’s Court.  You should come to the victory party this Thursday for Waggytail.

Julianna Margulies

Andy García

It’s all about freedom – these images are Creative Commons. Click here to see more.

Some of my recent shots from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for the Creative Commons.  Click on the photos below to go to their Wikipedia articles:

Matt Dillon

Elisabeth Shue

Geena Davis

Click here to view all photos uploaded from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for use on Wikipedias around the world.

Yesterday I, along with Lisa Levy and Little Man, appeared on the People’s Court on behalf of a dog rescue who was being unfairly maligned and sued.  I wrote about the experience on this post.  The short version is that a woman adopted an abused dog from Waggytail Rescue, paid the standard donation, but then discovered–after she had the dog–that a friend of hers had a dog that she could have free.

Treating an abused dog like a piece of luggage, she returned it to the rescue and wanted her donation back. The rescue offered to help her find another match if it didn’t work out, because she had signed a contract that stipulated that the donation was non-refundable, and helps to cover the cost of medical bills for the rescued dogs (for instance, I once fostered a 14 pound dog that had been anally raped by a man – you can’t adopt out a dog with the sorts of medical problems that creates).

The People’s Court judge agreed, and Waggytail won!  Incidentally, the woman who sued?  She received back all of her money via her appearance fee on the show.  In the end, it worked out for everyone, and justice was served.

If you are reading this post and live in New York City, join us at a viewing party where you can see justice working on behalf of those who can’t defend themselves: abused dogs.  Below are the details:

Where:  Whiskey Town bar in the East Village on 3rd Street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue (click here for their website)

When:  Thursday, April 30, 2009.  Party begins at 8:30, viewing of the episode will be at 9:00

Hosts:  Lisa Levy, Holly DeRito and David Shankbone

Every year I forget how rough the Tribeca Film Festival can be on me, physically.  A typical day for me goes like this:

7:00 a.m. – Wake up, jostle about
7:20 a.m. – Walk Little Man
7:50 a.m. – Shower, dress, get ready for work
9:00 a.m. – Arrive at work
5:00 p.m. – Get off work
5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.  – Run all over New York City to disparate locations where premieres are happening to photograph on the red carpet.
10:30 p.m. – Get home and walk Little Man, who is adopted by my building (several neighbors have keys to my apartment), so I feel assured he is not a lonely little guy during the day.  My neighbors take Little Man on walks so often, that sometimes people on the street ask me things like, “Hey, isn’t that Pedro’s dog?”
11:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.- Upload and Photoshop a few of the photos.  By no means am I able to upload all of the photographs I take of different people, so I try to get at least 5 to 10 from the day uploaded to Flickr (for the non-profit news sites) and Wikipedia.
1:00 a.m. until I fall asleep – It’s difficult to wind down from such a day, and I am so over-exhausted that I have trouble falling asleep, so I will usually put on Jon Stewart on Hulu and drift off to sleep before it’s over.

Then I do it all over again, until the end of the festival.  On some days, like tomorrow (Friday), I have to wake up an hour early and get to work an hour early so that I can leave early to make a 4:30 p.m. premiere.  

It’s taxing, because all of this is physically exhausting, and the lack of sleep makes me mentally exhausted.  I become more prickly than usual, sometimes snap at people and always–always–start to question why I put so much work in to expanding the photographic work available to the Creative Commons.  I make no money on this photography, nor will I ever since I release it at the highest resolution possible.  Besides,  I have no desire to be a professional photographer. 

The reward is in seeing the work used; in filling a need that exists.  It’s also rewarding to see and meet some of the people I have watched on film and television screens my entire life.  Most important, over the three years I have shot at the Tribeca Film Festival, I have gained artistic skill in photography, and I am proud of the work I produce (most of it – there’s always a few stinkers, but that’s true of every photographer – we talk about it). 

Another reward is that I lose about ten pounds each year during all of this, which helps to prep me for the summer swimsuit season.  My diet during Tribeca consists of Xanax, coffee and Saltine crackers.  If only I were joking…

It sure can be a hard day’s night, every night, for a week and a half.  I am unable to answer most e-mails; I don’t listen to my voicemails; my snail mail goes uncollected and my apartment becomes a Beyond Thunderdome horror of strewn clothing, infosheets, papers, business cards and processed food wrappers.

Below are just a few of the shots that I had time to upload last night from the premiere of Woody Allen’s latest film, Whatever Works (as with all of my photography, these images may be reproduced under the Creative Commons attribution license)

Woody Allen (I need to get rid of that red eye)

Soon-Yi Previn

Click here to view all photos uploaded from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for use on Wikipedias around the world.