Filed under: Art Gallery | Tags: jeff schreckengost, pittsburgh debris, art rock, guitar making, music guide 2010, pittsburgh city paper
So excited to see that Jeff’s guitar work is featured in this week’s Pittsburgh City Paper Music Guide. Read the article here. Here are some outtakes from the photo shoot in our tiny dining room:
Jeff with his guitar babies
guitar face
More beautiful guitars here.
Filed under: Pennsylvania | Tags: butler county, circus town, Pennsylvania, roadside america, route 8
What was Circus Town? A coworker of Jeff’s said this abandoned theme park once housed a petting zoo and carnival rides. I didn’t realize until later that the photos I had taken this past Saturday in Butler County were all circus-related: Humpty Dumpty towering over the Country Kitchen on Route 8; a closed hot dog shop in Butler; and even the Book Nook sign is like a striped circus tent. The 4 o’clock sun cast long shadows across the Circus Town road entrance like fun house mirror images. My photo narrative is becoming more intuitive.
entrance to Circus Town
Humpty Dumpty watching over Route 8
Book Nook
The Hot Dog Shop
4:00 shadow
house skeleton on the Circus Town property
no longer served
final act
Filed under: Art Gallery, Vintage Photo Album | Tags: blondie, debbie harry, morning people, women who inspire
In honor of Women’s History Month, I give you Debbie Harry.
I was obsessed with her when I was a kid. I loved her t shirt dresses and heels, her white-blond hair fluffed around her head like a halo. And I can remember Saturday mornings with my mother playing Auto American on the stereo at top volume, the living room shaking because my sister and I were trying to keep up with her bouncing around the room. I’m sure our neighbors didn’t appreciate their hangovers being interrupted by Debbie’s high notes, but it was a great way to wake up in the morning.
I love these photos of her.
dh
confidence
queen debbie
i love the color in this one
blondie
photo from i am le petite oiseau
Filed under: Art Gallery | Tags: jeff schreckengost, lisa toboz, photo booth, warhol, grapes, telephone, mask
Jeff and I spent this morning working on our photo booth project. We had 3 props which we smuggled into the Warhol Museum via our Pan Am flight bag: an old telephone; a bunch of plastic grapes; and a creepy clear mask that Jeff bought at a Halloween store for fifty cents. We orchestrated the photos from my journal notes. There are 10 seconds between each frame in a photo booth, so getting these shots was challenging at times.
hanging on the telephone
contemplating a beard shave
ghostly grapes
We tried to recreate the photo of my parents in Niagara Falls. I think we did a pretty good job.
mock parents
Filed under: Art Gallery | Tags: in between chapters, lomography fish eye, shameless self promotion, strongbox magazine, the noise upstairs, utata
Last month I had a photo featured in Strongbox Magazine. Check out page 59 and read how I got this shot:
In Between Chapters
This Stasia project photo made it to the Utata front page on January 13. I found the Utata site a few months ago via a search I did on Diane Arbus. I love how this organization incorporates fiction with photography.
The Noise Upstairs
It’s a boost to my confidence to see recognition for my work. It also motivates me to keep going with my photography, especially during winter, when it’s difficult to motivate to do anything except eat this amazing chocolate-drizzled popcorn from Pittsburgh Popcorn (as I’m doing right this very minute) in my pajamas while watching Netflix on Demand (as I’m about to do when I finish this post).
Filed under: Canada, Vintage Photo Album | Tags: niagara falls, photo booth, strongbox magazine, vintage family photos
Snowbound most of the month and struck with cabin fever, I decided to start scanning my vintage photo collection and posting it for others to see. I could spend hours looking through vintage photos at flea markets and antique shops if Monster would let me — there is so much other “trash” to discover!
Strongbox Magazine is publishing an all-film issue this spring and the editor asked if Jeff and I would like to do a photo booth project. I’ve wanted to do a series of photo booth self-portraits, but brainstorming with Jeff has been so much more fun. I’ll post some of the pictures after we hit the Warhol photo booth this weekend.
The following photo of my parents is one of my favorites. It’s from a photo booth in Niagara Falls, where they honeymooned in November 1973, 35 years almost to the exact date that Jeff and I went on our own honeymoon (there goes the freaky date connections again with my family – my sister’s anniversary is in November). I scanned it and left it as-is – speckled with dust, torn in half and tattered at the edges. It makes me a bit sad, knowing they’d be divorced only a few years later. They are so young and for that moment, happy.
1973
Filed under: Art Gallery | Tags: weltaflex, twin lens reflex, valentine's gift, awesome husband
This year I’m going back to film and what better way to start than with this lovely Valentine’s gift from Monster? I’ve wanted a focusing twin lens reflex camera for awhile now, but we haven’t had the extra cash (I could still kick myself for not grabbing the Mamiya for $70 at Pottery City). Now I can experiment with medium format to my heart’s content. The viewfinder has a magenta tinge around the edge of the glass, making it a bit difficult to focus on the subject. As with any less-than-perfect piece of equipment, you just learn to work with it.
the latest addition to my growing camera family
Filed under: Pennsylvania, Vintage Photo Album | Tags: dead of winter, snowbound, hungarian-americans
January 10 through February 10 marks the “dead of winter.” Today is my mother’s birthday. Today is also the day both my grandfather and my great-grandfather died, 9 years apart, the husband and the father of my grandmother (whose birthday was January 10). My grandfather had a heart attack after shoveling snow and I can barely remember how my great-grandfather passed away, most likely old age. The eerie significance of dates and time, the superstitious Hungarian in me wonders what is the connection for my family? I feel tied to this day. When I think of February, it’s usually dark and full of snow, no hints of warmer weather. Promises of spring still 6 weeks away.
1948
Filed under: Pennsylvania | Tags: mid-atlantic snowmageddon, pittsburgh, snowstorm 2010
We don’t have much luck with the snow, do we? Spent the morning watching Deranged, then ate leftover homemade mac and cheese, loaded up the Ansco, the lomo fish eye and documented with the Leica. I’m glad to be home for this snowstorm – it’s exciting to see our little corner of the world stop for the weekend.
last night's surprise
taking analog photos
graffiti in the snow
snow walk
snow-heavy lines
snowbound
handsome snow husband
snow street transformation
self portrait before shoveling snow
Filed under: Art Gallery | Tags: guitars, jeff schreckengost, lisa toboz photography, married artists, rebellious nature, valentines, woodwork
DATE CHANGED TO NEXT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, DUE TO SNOWSTORM. Just in time for Valentine’s weekend.
Our first date was at the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh. We strolled through the art wing, both of us quiet, but it wasn’t until we reached the dimly lit rooms of Taxidermy Hall that we began to see each other’s strange side. Our love blossomed as we stood admiring a wildlife diorama. We discovered that we both loved horror films, ghost stories, dark fairy tales and traveling off the beaten path. We married three years later on Halloween, our favorite holiday. And a creepy, surreal partnership was born.
Our work reflects our shared interest in the curious and the abandoned, along with our travels together. Part of being married to another artist is recognizing when one of us needs creative space, as well as supporting one another. Jeff often stops the car without question for Lisa when she sees the perfect photo opportunity, and Lisa walks with Jeff, picking through the neighborhood trash for future projects. Our art provides each of us the solace of working alone with the comfort of knowing that our partner in crime is on the other side of the house, waiting to vent or laugh or share the love of the process or a hug to keep each other going.
From the Trib-Review
