FK proudly hosted 2 fundraisers at the studio in recent weeks.

ArtFix07, http://www.artfix07.com/, drew a crowd of more than 500 guests for an evening of art , music and appetizers to benefit Rebuilding Together-St. Louis, http://www.rebuildingtogether-stl.org/. A silent auction featuring the work of more than 45  artists, food stations provided by 10 restaurants and the sounds of the Curt Landis Band  served as a backdrop for a beautiful and successful evening. Rebuilding Together revitalizes neighborhoods in partnership with the community by rehabilitating the houses of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and the disabled, so that they may continue to live independently in comfort and safety.

The 5th annual Red Door Party, benefiting Almost Home http://www.almosthomestl.org/, rocked the studio with the music of Farshid etniko, a "photo booth" & champagne cocktails upstairs followed by a DJ and a little karaoke in the lower level lounge later in the evening. Despite the fact that Oklahoma stole the championship from the Mizzou Tigers,  a good time was had by all.  Almost Home provides transitional programs and support services for teenage mothers and their children.

Here are some images from a campaign Mark Katzman recently shot for The Ritz-Carlton's new luxury housing development called Creighton Farms.  Situated in the Virginia hill country outside of Washington DC, Creighton Farms' multi-million dollar English tutor style homes will be surrounded by lush golf courses, vineyards and equestrian trails.

More images below the fold...     

...
Continue reading THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTELS AND RESORTS"

Check out the newly launched Michelob.com website which features lifestyle images by Jay Baker. Interactive design by Momentum St Louis.

More screen grabs from the website after the jump. 

...
Continue reading MICHELOB.COM LAUNCHES"

FK is pleased to have six images included in this year's CommArts Photo Annual, to be released in August.

SCOTT FERGUSON - An outtake from an advertising shoot for Bally's Casino Las Vegas

MARK KATZMAN - Five ambrotype portraits from Mark's series Tucker and Convention

...
Continue reading COMMUNICATION ARTS PHOTO ANNUAL"

Currently on display in the studio are 11 portraits from Mark Katzman's personal project "Tucker and Convention".  Made using the historical wet-plate collodion process, the portraits evoke a sense of the socio-economic foundations of the St Louis everyman.  The subjects are all passers-by photographed on the street in the vicinity of FK's former studio on North Tucker Blvd.
 

The wet-plate collodion process, commonly referred to as Ambrotype, requires the emulsion to be hand applied to a glass plate. The photograph must then be exposed and developed before the emulsion has a chance to dry. For this process to work outside of the studio Mark uses a custom portable darkroom installed in the back of his Suburban. Most subjects stayed for only one single photograph before continuing on their way.

Many more photographs from Tucker and Convention after the jump...

...
Continue reading TUCKER AND CONVENTION - PERSONAL PORTRAIT PROJECT"

For the past three years, Scott Ferguson has traveled to Nicaragua as a member of an ecumenical mission group working in El Samaritan.  It was established a number of years ago by Nor and Caroline Syrker upon their return to Managua after years of exile in the United States during the Sandanista rule.  Their primary efforts are focused on youth education and they currently fund three schools in Managua.  Also, as a doctor, Nor is committed to improving the health care of the people.  They have established a clinic on their property and are close to finishing a surgical unit.

The poverty in Nicaragua is numbing and as deplorable poverty is anywhere, it is especially devastating in a land where there is absolutely no safety net.  The work goal is to provide, in a very small way, whatever is needed at the time of the trip; whether it is painting a school, building a wall, hauling materials.  The mission goal of the trip is to be a witness to the people we see and visit, whether they are in the neighborhoods, in the schools, on the street, or in the hospitals.  Despite the history of American involvement in the region, the people are wonderful to us, very open and in spite of their conditions, almost always have a smile.    

 - Scott Ferguson

Play the video to see some of Scott's photographs from Nicaragua

On a bushwhacking journey of three days into the nearly impenetrable reaches of Redwood National Park, Mark Katzman and environmentalist/adventure writer Tom Clynes set out to find - or try to find - the newly discovered Worlds Tallest Tree. The story, published in the current issue of Backpacker Magazine, is an attempt at discouraging people from hiking off-trail to find this tree. The distance from pavement to the area where the tree was found is not so great, but the task of getting there is extremely arduous. Our adventurers navigated through mazes of felled giants where trees become unconquerable walls and also, sometimes, bridges of passage. The impossibly thick undergrowth drove Mark, Tom and crew to hike up river - through the flow of water - because it was clear of vegetation. The exasperated end was as anticlimactic as they thought it might be.  After all, at the base of so many immensely tall trees, how can you tell which is the tallest?

Many more photos after the jump. 

...
Continue reading ON ASSIGNMENT: THE TALLEST TREE"