Pulp Covers

     About 8 years ago my friend Serafina gave me a thank you card for helping her out on a project. The card was actually a post card of a vintage pulp cover. I thought it was funny and ridiculous. It was around this time I had gotten involved in studio photography and thought it would be fun to recreate this pulp cover.

Dime a Dance Queen

     Pulp fiction had its heyday in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Genres ranged from westerns to science fiction to hard-boiled detective and everything in-between. Today it’s the illustrated covers of these novels that are popular and kitschy. These trashy dime a dozen novels (some writers were paid per word) weren’t the only novels to have these illustrated pulp covers. After a novel went through it’s hard cover printing, a soft cover printing would follow, and sometimes it would be with a different publisher. This new publisher would commission a new cover that would help sell these books at drug stores and news stands across the USA. So you could have a tawdry pulp novel like Divorce Bait next to a famed work of fiction like Catcher in the Rye. Actually J.D. Salinger was quite furious with that illustration that donned his novel so when it came time for the the next printing he took control. The new cover was just maroon with yellow lettering which I'm sure you’ll probably be familiar with from your high-school days. But regardless of whether it was a trashy novel or a great work of art, the covers tried to be a sensationalist as possible. Here’s a good article in New Yorker Magazine about the pulp business.

Five Years of Stripped Screw Burlesque's Disney After Dark in Photos

As I headed out to photograph Stripped Screw Burlesque’s Disney After Dark show last week, I realized the show is in it’s 5^th year. I have photographed the show every year, first at The Jewel Box Theater at the Rendezvous back in 2011 to just last week and The Colombia City Theater. Since I’m sentimental, you know I would want to have a photo retrospective of those 5 years. Over that time, troupe members have come and gone and there have been several guests along the way. I'm grateful to have photographed their show these past 5 years.

Congratulations Stripped Screw Burlesque for 5 years of your awesome show Disney After Dark.

                                                     All photos © Paul O'Connell   

Roxie Moxie-DAD 2011 

Trojan Original & Long Richard Longfellow-DAD 2011 

Creating With Photoshop

     I think I’m at my most creative when I don’t put any expectations on myself. That can be difficult at times when I think whatever I do has to be the greatest thing ever or if I've been hired to be creative. My thoughts usually go something like this; “Okay I’ve got to be creative now. Think. Think! THINK!” Of course, no matter what your discipline, there are plenty of Zen ways to get down to the creative bone. I won't get into those ways here though, I'll just share how Photoshop helps me create some cool looking photos.
     When I started taking photos a few years back, I only used Photoshop to clean up the photo. Removing blemishes, fixing those wild hairs, erasing scuff marks from the seamless background and other things like that. But after a while I started get board with just  regular looking photos. I wanted to do something different and Photoshop was definitely a tool I could use to help me achieve that. I started to manipulate the colors, add different textures, experiment with the blending modes, while at the same time learning the vastness of Photoshop. There were also many times where I would wake up from a restless sleep, go to the computer and just start working on a photo without having any real idea of what I wanted. Here's an example from a recent photo-shoot where I had done a little midnight editing.

Paris Original & Trojan Orginal in costumes designed by Louise DeLenge 

Go on a Photo Walkabout

        Over the years people have asked me, “How do I take good photos?” Like anything else, you practice. Then I tell them to practice by going on a photo walkabout. This is exactly what I did when I got my first camera some 12 years ago. For me it wasn’t only learning how to use the camera but I was also discovering my new city of Seattle. By simply walking around and taking photos you can easily become one with your camera and learn the fundamentals of what makes a good photo.

From a photo walkabout earlier this week