Our little Secret is finally revealed!

The cat is finally out of the bag....Sir Reeves was asked to be Perez's official photog for the One Night in Austin at SXSW on Saturday night. We couldn't jinx it by telling anyone but now we are so psyched to have over 50 party pics on Perezhilton.com! Be sure to check back here for the full posts tomorrow night...

Catching Lightning in a Bottle... Kanye West and the Demons

So Kanye has finally declared his War on the Paparazzi!!! How very exciting! I have to talk about this because I fucking love Kanye West. We link his blog, he is at the forefront of music and fashion and he is a total punk and dickwad. He has always been one of those guys that I just want to have ten minutes with and tell him about our site's love affair with music, nightlife and fashion but he's pretty skittish...And neurotic like any other true artist. Someone needs to stand up to them slimeballs, whether its considered strong arm battery or not.

I had my Paparazzi moment with Kanye earlier this summer when I spotted him and Don backstage at Saul Williams during Lollapalooza. I didn't get within 200 feet of him before he bee-lined it to the trailers. I felt sad but then I realized I had like, 3 cameras hanging off me and now?


Now I'm just glad he didn't fucking trash them mistaking me for TMZ. (Clayton ended up getting the coolest shot of the weekend after I had given up...even though it has Pete in it. Heh Heh.)



Make no mistake. We loathe the fucking Paparazzi. It's a line most of us party photobloggers have never crossed. Our bank statements prove it. But it still stings to see that camera get smashed in the video. Like watching a child get beaten. I just love that Kanye doesn't smash the flash until AFTER Don destroys the SLR. It's like he's not quite sure if they're gonna get away with it and waits for the cue to get angry. Cute Kanye. Still, major Kudos. I mean, who the fuck wants to be stalked while they're at LAX. Move back to Chitown bro. We'll protect your image.

Problem is, I think that the Paps are gonna hound him even more, knowing they can get Dennis Rodman money out of it if he assaults another one.

All That Could Have Been...shooting Nine Inch Nails

"Lucky Shot" NIN @ Allstate Arena 10.18.05

I've mentioned earlier that Lollapalooza is single handedly the most stressful weekend ever. It keeps me up at night, much to the wife's dismay. There is so much that occurs in such a short window that its hard to feel like you get anything out of it all. How do you conquer such a monster with just one or two cameras? The answer is: You don't. Take for instance this year's schedule: Someone decided that it would be a good idea to have Kanye take the main stage as the closer and shovel NIN to the Bud Light stage at the North end. They start within 15 minutes of each other, meaning that if we wanted to shoot both, Reeves and I have to split up.

No fucking way. We're shooting Nails.

"Skip Kanye, are you mad?" Well, allow me to explain....

I wouldn't be in this predicament if it wasn't for Trent Reznor in the first place. When I first picked up a camera 3 years ago, I begged a dear friend of mine to call in a favor to Trent's manager. I had just gotten sober 7 months earlier and this was a HUGE selling point to the man behind the curtain (Because he and Trent are men of recovery as well). He agreed and hooked me up with photo passes for the show. There was a catch on my end though: I didn't even know how to properly shoot concerts, let alone handle my boss's Canon 20D. I had been shooting on an elaborate point and shoot until that night. I was welcomed with skeptical eyes by the two wire service guys who saw my black nail polish and eyeliner and were like "Who the- what the fuck is this?!?" (They ironically are not allowed to shoot this time round) Yet upon hearing my sincerity, they tried to teach me what I needed to do. "It's all smoke and mirrors. Lots of strobes so shoot fast. LOTS OF LIGHT. No need to pump it past 800." they said. I nodded and wondered who shoots at a shutter speed of 800 (like I said, I was just starting) I listened, but my heart was pounding so loud that I couldn't really hear anything. I nodded and hoped for the best. The rep came out and told us not to get in Trent's eyeline and stay the fuck away and not to take any shitty pictures. Fair enough. Seeing as he is TRENT, I made a note to do just that. We signed our lives and legal away and were escorted backstage after Queens of the Stone Age finished up (I had shot them the night before at the last day of the Belmont Army Surplus). By the time the lights went down, I had forgotten everything the wire guys had told me. I started shooting and was getting nothing but black. I frantically fiddled with the camera as the smoke poured out and the burning lights seared my skin and tried again...nothing but light streaks and smears this time. I was creating art without even trying...but I just wanted that one shot. By the March of the Pigs I was so determined and in awe of the spectacle that I fell into the forbidden zone near Trent. He gave me a glare through my lens that sent shivers down my spine.

I of course, didn't get the shot because I was too busy running away from his formidable glare and newly shaved head. But the lesson was learned: The man gets what he wants. Don't fuck around. I took a hard breath and set my camera to a setting I understood (in hindsight, yes, this is all terribly embarrassing- but you live and you learn.) and fired. I got a few. And when I mean "a few" its no exaggeration. I got like 5 good shots off in 3 songs. And by my standards today, its nothing that I'm proud of, I"It didn't turn out quite the way you wanted it to, did it?" No, but at least my purpose was revealed: I was going to be a photographer. Or at least die trying.

So now 3 years have passed and I have taken a half million pictures since then, shot a ton of concerts and studied the way of the camera. I have partnered up with one of the best shooters in the country (ahem...Sir Reeves) and feel like I am ready to take this on again. Today I got an email for photo requests for the Nails set and smiled, hoping that I could redeem myself and see how far we have come. We're also hoping that Trent's photographer and designer ingenue Rob Sheridan is coming with for an interview. Keep your fingers crossed. And as for Kanye? Well, I got hooked up with him just a week after Nine Inch Nails that fall. And in this race, there is no room for second place. Sorry Ye. We still love you. But this is Nine Inch Nails.

"I forgive you Tyler!" Kanye West, Fall 2005

Here is Jay Z... you have 12 minutes...

Jay - Z by Danny Clinch

EW recently showcased legendary rock and roll photographer Danny Clinch. My favorite story talks about how long Jay Z gave him to shoot a 6 PAGE COVER SPREAD. Ready for this? 12 minutes. You can't even cook a fucking Tombstone Pizza in that time. And to think I was upset when I only got 3 minutes to shoot Diddy for the newspaper. Just goes to show: Know what your gonna do before they get there just in case they leave before you attach your lens.

Kanye by Danny Clinch

Damian Marely Daguerreotype by Danny Clinch

Flashing Lights - A memorable day.

I had a hard fucking memorial day. My external HD crashed, leaving me in a lurch, contemplating what it would've meant to lose everything I've shot in 3 years and every song I downloaded. My IT guy made an emergency visit and we circumvented the problem by using the drive on a PC, leaving my new MacPro empty and shallow and ready to hit the shop for diagnostic repair. 5 grand for a headache. But once I took my Jamaican Aspirin, I was ready to visit Liberty City and get dirty with Manhattan's doppleganger. I'm speaking, of course, about Grand Theft Auto IV.

I had this moment. It was a forced gamer moment. GTA is known for its supreme musical choices. I thought San Andreas might have the upper hand on the tunes if it weren't for the Tuff Gong channel that rocks the Reggae all the time while I'm slaying Guineas and Micks. I'm at a point in the game where apparently half of Liberty City (aka NYC) is in awe of my prowess as a cleaner. There is no one I won't work for, nor is there anyone I won't kill for money. So when I go to Little Italy to take a job from a shifty mob capo, I would have never expected the payoff. I was to go to the Latino projects and check in on this cat named Teddy. After intimidating his lookout with my very nice knife, I took the elevator to the twentieth floor of the shithole tenement where my uphill battle would begin. It was a pretty standard climb and shoot, with goons in every nook and cranny trying to get a pop shot off on me. I took down three floors, all the while the hip hop station is droning in the background. Nothing really big came of it, until I reached the top floor and a song that I hadn't heard on the radio (in the game) slowly crept in as I made my way to Teddy's apartment.

The song was the fuckng awesome and haunting "Flashing Lights" by monsieur Kanye West.

I sat there mesmerized by the ghetto blaster sitting on the kitchen table, pounding out the best song on the soundtrack so far. I had been playing for 26 hours and hadn't heard it yet. I was convinced it was an in game ad for Kanye. Honest to the Gods, it was so fucking cool. I then went up to the roof and shot ol' Tedddy's head off during the muffled coda of the song.

Not bad.