love is blindness

My friend Sarah approached me several months ago with a photo project. She'd been to a restaurant in LA that featured gigantic closeups of eyes and lips on the walls, and she wanted to re-create the picture. Not just with anyone though - she wanted her own eyes on the wall. Was I interested?

Are you kidding me? Heck yes I'm in.

We did the photoshoot one Sunday evening at Sarah's house, and I was initially a little worried that I hadn't gotten the shot. The concept pictures I had been working off of had really clean lines, and no matter how I photoshopped, I couldn't get it looking like what I thought she wanted. In addition to my efforts, I gave her the raw files and invited her to give it to others to try; I figured she'd have a pro manipulate it a little better than I could.

Turns out she liked my version the best.

She had the picture blown up to about 5 feet long, and printed on canvas. I stopped by to have a look after work today, and I was completely taken aback.

It was huge. It was stunning. And it was my work.

This was the first time I'd really been taken aback by my own picture. I don't think I can adequately describe how it felt to see my handiwork so large on someone's wall. It was surprisingly emotional...and the smile hasn't left my face all evening.

I've been printing a few of my pictures now that I'm in my new house, and I've been wanting to blow one up large (maybe five feet long or so), but I've been nervous about the quality. Needless to say, I'm now convinced it'll be worth it.

Once I get a few more printed Sarah agreed to host a showing of my work at her place. My first exhibition.

17.10.08. Edited and manipulated in Photoshop CS3
3.2.09. Taken with my iPhone (please excuse the quality)