This is a concrete example of how we, one by one can make things happen.  I invite you to join me in writing an email to one of your friends and asking them to contact one friend and invite them to support this important historical cultural project.

While I would love to support Vanishing Cultures with a larger donation I am doing what I can.  I see that with many of us doing what we can even though it may seem small  we can do big things to make our world better.  Visit KICKSTARTER  and donate what you can then write a friend and ask them join our tribe.

Marking History by Making History

It is rare that we have a chance to be part of making  history. This is one of those times when the marking of history ( 2014 is the 200th anniversary of the creation of the camera) is to be marked by the making of JAW DROPPING 4.5 FEET by 6 FEET  one of a kind view camera. Portrait Photographer, Dennis Manarchy the visionary will use the camera to document our unique and rich American culture.  This is a righteous use of such a remarkable creation.  I salute Dennis and his team.

I invite you to visit  Kickstarter and with me become a Backer and help make history happen. Wayne Eastep

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2060332949/vanishing-cultures-by-dennis-manarchy

It’s large.  The ninth largest country in terms of land mass and the largest in Central Asia.  China and Mongolia are on the eastern border, Siberia on the north, Russia on the northwest, the Caspian Sea on the west and the Stan’s: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan along the southern border.

The landscape is diverse; mountains, forests, canyons, foothills, plains, steppes, semi-desert and deserts.  Climate ranges from very hot summers to extremely cold and windy winters.

To keep my Nikon motor drives working in the winter I had to keep the batteries next to my chest under a layer of tee shirt, thermal undergarments, wool shirt, wind resistant insulated layering jacket and extreme weather shell designed for high altitudes.  I had to slowly hand rewind the film to a avoid static electric streaks like lightning on the emulsion.

There’s a lot to show, so I will break the images up into sets.  This first set will illustrate the mountains.  Subsequent entries will show other features of this diverse and magnificent land.

A permanent library of images is available for purchase as prints or licensing  at  http://eastep.photoshelter.com/gallery/Kazakhstan/G0000xg4sBqG4LWQ/

Photographs by Wayne Eastep in the exhibit "Of Gold and Grass" Mingei Museum, San Diego, CA

Since the beginning of my career as a photographer I’ve been drawn to architecture.  The visual vocabulary of photography and architecture share some fundamentals: shape, form, line, and interplay of light.  Recently I edited this gallery of images.  I hope you enjoy them.

Photographer Wayne Eastep receiving the GLAAD Amplifier Award, NY Oct. 4, 201

Photographer Wayne Eastep won the GLAAD Amplifier Award in New York for “Outstanding Print Campaign” in Mainstream Markets.  The award honors the best individuals and companies in advertising that present fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community.  The event was an official feature of “Advertising Week” Oct. 3-7, 2011 in New York.  Mr. Eastep photographed the award-winning ad “So What’s Cooking in the Kitchen” for GE-Monogram featuring renowned interior designer Robert Couturier and Jeffery Morgan at their South Kent, CT home.  This is his 16^th ad for the campaign, and second GLAAD award.

MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts and Tabatha Coffey of “Tabatha’s Salon Take Over” presented Mr. Eastep the Amplifier Award at the Altman Building in Chelsea.

This event is significant because as GLAAD Acting President Mike Thompson told the crowd, “The advertising industry is premised on the power of persuasion, making it perhaps the most powerful form of media to shape public opinion.”

Robert Couturier & Jeffery Morgan at their South Kent, CT home.

The Monogram campaign is a successful example, having increased the brand’s market share from #13 to #3.

GLAAD Amplifier Award for "Outstanding Print Campaign" Mainstream Markets, for GE-Monogram ad "What's Cooking in the Kitchen"

Layla Eastep, Wellesley College student accompanies her father Photographer Wayne Eastep at the GLAAD Amplifier Awards in New York Oct. 4, 2011

The creative team included: creative director Bill McCaffery, co-creative Sheila McCaffery, GE-Monogram ad manager Paul Klein, stylist Carlos Molta, lighting & logistics William DeVincenzo, and photo assistant Rod Millington.

To view the complete campaign see “What’s Cooking in the Kitchen” http://www.EastepPhotography.com

Summer is the one season that always seems to go by too quickly.  The Joy Motel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas has just the right mix of funkiness and innocence to symbolize summer.

Joy Motel, Eureka Springs, Arkansas

I propose a solution.  Given that the meetings have been going on for months and the only thing that has happened is that our citizens have been pushed closer to the brink of disaster, and those who got us here are mostly men we need to pivot—this is not working.  Those in the meeting should pick up the phone and call their wives and ask them to get the kids and bring them to the White House where they sit in on the meetings.  The least these men can do is allow their wives and children to be witness to the disaster they are causing.

I am paying attention, taking names and will be back November 2012

This ad features Paris-born designer Robert Couturier and his partner Jeffrey Morgan at their elegant Connecticut home filled with centuries of antique treasures.  It is the most recent of 16 ads I’ve shot for the GE-Monogram brand campaign, “So what’s cooking in the kitchen?”  The theme of the campaign features people whose personal and professional lives exemplify style.  Working on projects like this is one of the reasons I do lifestyle advertising photography.  In addition to meeting and working with superbly talented people like Robert and Jeffrey, I get to see and photograph beautiful and fascinating places I normally would not have access to.  Another great benefit is the fabulous food.

Some of the other people I’ve photographed for this campaign include:  Mark Miller, Martha Stewart, Alton Brown, Bo & Heidi Barrett, Richard Wurman & Gloria Nagy, Annette Theisen, Thomas & Justyna Roszak, Phil & Jamie Kellogg, David Cornell & Mea Argentieri, David & Macarena Dearie, John Dransfield & Geoffrey Ross, B. Smith & Dan Gasby, Dr. Walt & Suzie Fairfax, Donald Trump, and Jay Leno.

If you are privileged as I am to work on exceptional projects like this, you’ll acknowledge that the ad only succeeds if the client supports the concept completely.  Paul Klein from GE-Monogram is such a client. The creatives at the agency must have a clear idea grounded in the uniqueness of the product—it’s all about the idea.  Bill and Sheila    McCaffery of The Creative Farm exemplify an approach to advertising that focuses on a clear idea.  I turn the idea into an image, but it’s my team who make it happen.  William DeVincenzo, “D,”  is my right hand man who makes sure every detail is taken care of.  On jobs like these it’s all about the details.

Images of the Couturier Morgan home in Connecticut.  If you would like to hear Robert talk about his new kitchen visit:                                                       http://www.monogram.com/get_inspired/see_whats_cooking/couturier.htm.

To see other images I’ve shot in this campaign visit:  http://eastep.photoshelter.com/gallery/Lifestyle/G0000OyRO5rOs6OA/