Mirabelle Marden

If Mirabelle Marden isn't the coolest girl I've ever met, then maybe I don't know who is. Like cool to the core. And sexy in a way that photos just don't do justice. Well, not the photos we took anyway, when she came over for a portrait one spring afternoon, along with Benjamin Sturgill (who is pretty damn cool himself), for the latest issue of HE. A little bit Patti Smith, a little bit Girl From Ipanema, she's the type of woman that launches ships and breaks up bands. I think it's the overbite.

BS Shirts

Been meaning to get this one up for a while. Seeing Hardy on 14th Street yesterday reminded me the day we hit the streets with a couple of cute kids from Vision (Hardy McCall was a fresh face; seems like he's at Fusion now), and Chris from BS Shirts, who we met at his table on Broadway. Looks like they're moving up in the world, with a real store in Philadelphia. No surprises there. Talent + ambition = success. No BS.  Linkage: BS Shirts website V Magazine / Hustle and Go

Real Politique

It's been a long-ass time since we've stopped to do any blogging. Months and months. How do people keep this up every day?!

Anyway, no time like the present. And no-one like our man Alex to help make that point. Alex is the dude, and Real Politique is the shit. He's a kind of mad genius of political fashion, with T-shirts and hoodies that hit just the right balance of hot-in-the-hood street style and on-the-mark political awareness. It was an honor to work with him on his lookbook, and Alex, man, we wish you nothing but the best.

Check Real Politique's website for the goods (starring Michael from Re:Quest)

2008 is outta the gate!

2007 was a banner year for EXU. We wanted to do a year in photos but we had so many amazing shoots with so many amazing people we get dizzy just looking at them, let alone making some kind of coherent order from them. Maybe our resolution should be to update our website...

I'm sure we'd just put everyone to sleep if we thanked you all by name, but you know who you are, we know who we are, and here's to a happy, eye-catching, and unforgettable 2008.

I Am Legend / Parkour

Parkour is just getting bigger and better. Did we call it or what? Will Smith's new movie I Am Legend is apparently full of some slick parkour scenes, so naturally we'll be in Times Square with all the opening night hooligans. Not that Will Smith attracts that kind of crowd really. But it looks pretty action-packed. Please don't tell me you still don't know what parkour is. Really? Okay, check it out:
We did a slideshow for V to illustrate the blog and (deep breath) long-ass (but well-researched!) article about parkour coming to America. Cool? We can't really get enough. There's another really good article in The New Yorker, but that one will break your Blackberry if you try to read it in one go...

This guy jumping around is Raquiem, by the way, a model with Red. He didn't know what parkour was either. He just did it. Which, they say, is the pretty much the best way to do it.

Day in the Life of Akon

The only things I really knew about Akon before we shot him was that he and Young Jeezy take it easy and he likes to Smack That --- (til you get sore). We also learned–after a 6am trip to Chicago that turned into a weekend of free time when his manager took us aside at the airport to tell us maybe it wasn't a good day to be shooting him after all, how about tomorrow in LA?–is that he travels with an entourage and can be hard to pin down. No biggie. We're flex. We had gelato with friends in Wicker Park and hooked back up with him when he was shooting his Vh1 Rags to Riches in New Jersey the next week. He was real. He took us to White Castle in his Escalade and signed his fans' boobs in the parking lot. At the concert that night, maybe it was the sparkly jacket (or the thick cloud of ganja in the concert hall) but he turned into a different person. It was suddenly extra clear what it is that makes him star. (Here are some photos from the Day in The Life of Akon, for VMAN9)

The Irreplaceable Bobby Roache (and Friends)

I'm not sayin I was starstruck when I found out that Bobby was the dude in the Beyonce video, but I'm not sayin that I wasn't (the one where she pretends she's about to kiss a guy then rips off his sweater and diamond chain and sends him off in a taxi). There are interviews where he comes off cocky, but in person he blinds you with his personality. Complete superstar of a guy. So when we had a chance to tag along on a recent night out with his brother and some friends, we were there!

There's also a slideshow of our summer shoot with Bobby on our myspace.