nathannovak net: I have one image out of roughly 20 that I “kinda” like.
markx908x: hahahahaha
nathannovak net: It’s pretty much a “Nathan Novak”
nathannovak net: It has all my ingredients.
markx908x: hahahahahahahaha
markx908x: tits, fire, pig faces
Philadelphia is my new home. So far, everything has been awesome. Despite it being cold as hell and despite almost getting run over by a dump truck that one night, everything’s rad. The temperature has me missing the south quite often, but Philadelphia will make it up to me in the summer I’m sure.
I’ve enrolled back in school, and am currently attending the Art Institute of Philadelphia. After a few years without school, it’s a bit strange to dive back into it. Going back with the knowledge and skill set I have already accumulated puts a new perspective on everything. I now feel as though going to school will be beneficial in ways it couldn’t have had I gone to school sooner.
My aesthetic is changing and I’m prepared to embrace it. Growing as an artist is an apotheotic experience in it’s own right, but when combined with a completely new environment it is a new monster all together. I no longer have access to a pool of friends who were willing to get naked at the drop of a dime. I now have “…and how do you feel about nudity?” conversations with complete strangers to look forward to. I left behind countless locations that I wanted to shoot at, but just never got around to doing. Don’t fret- I’ve already taken sketchy photos in sketchy locations.
Philadelphia is going to be a lot of fun.
If you’re “hip” enough, there’s a good chance you have a Twitter. If not, don’t fret, I rarely have anything important to say. It’s primarily assorted photography tidbits such as my latest work, news, art shows, info on TheObscura.org, other photographers I admire and so forth. Other things tend to slip in every so often, such as observations on the occult, obscure death metal and hip hop references, fun shenanigans, and an occasional inside joke.
One day, via AIM, my good friend Sarah informed me that you can buy pig heads in Virginia Beach. So, I bought one, and decided I was going to have a mask made from it. Luckily, Sarah attends culinary school and isn’t afraid of decapitated swine. I drove to Williamsburg with a pig head in my passenger seat, and brought it to her apartment.
The flayed skin from a pig head weighs a lot more than you would think. And it’s slimy. And gross. And fucking awesome. Luckily, I have a good friend who’s all three of those things. I poached holes in the sides, and ran shoe string through them. I originally tried to prop the snout up with half of a small plastic cup, but eventually scrapped that idea.
We shot at night, which is always more fun. Davood Salek (http://davoodsalek.com) was my lighting assistant, and Terry Steel was my model. The bugs were horrendous, but I think Terry suffered the most. Something about raw flesh on his face made him a prime target.
We shot for entirely too long. I think we ended at about 2am or so. Two of the images are on this site, “Pearls Before Swine” and “Pummel Hog.”
Terry and I are both vegetarians. Horrible, horrible vegetarians.
Pummel Hog.
Pummel Hog will be on display in this years Damned show in Detroit on October 29th and 30th. I am especially excited about this show, because Marilyn Manson and HR Giger are featured artists. It’s a good feeling to be in a show with two of the people that influenced me to make violent art in the first place.
Come in Alone by Mark Luckasavage.
I love trading prints with other photographers. This is a personal favorite from my friend and fellow Obscura contirbutor Mark Luckasavage.
http://markluckasavage.com/
http://theobscura.org/author/capomorra/
I’m in the upcoming Dirty Show in Detroit.
This is the photo that got in. I dropped a print off at Jerry’s Artarama to be matted and framed. It’s supposed to be ready Tuesday at 6pm. It needs to be in Detroit by that Friday. It’s going to be close.
I’ve been selected to create a photograph for Amanda Palmer’s upcoming Tarot deck. The card I was given is “Four of Pentacles.”
I’ve got to work quick, my deadline is October 1st. They’re trying to have them ready in time for Christmas. The cards are supposed to relate to Amanda’s album “Who Killed Amanda Palmer?”
http://whokilledamandapalmer.com/
I’m looking forward to the endeavor. I need to research the tarot as a whole, but particularly the Four of Pentacles. I plan on getting a reading soon, I just need to figure out where.
Silver #877 on 100lbs black card stock. Super sexy stationary.
A special thank you to Norman at Progressive Graphics in Virginia Beach. He took care of me once again. And thank you to Jeff Crag for helping me with the layout. Jeff is also responsible for The Obscura’s logo.
Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark! (link)
A few weeks ago, there was a house fire a few miles from my home. Since, I’ve driven by the boarded up windows everyday. Yesterday when I drove by, there was a construction crew with sledgehammers tearing out the walls. I stopped and talked to them for a tick, and one of the guys with a hammer was the previous owner. I asked a few questions, and he asked me if I was a Private Investigator. I told him “No, just a photographer.” The conversation progressed and when I asked if I could come back at night and take photos, he obliged.
I put out the word that I needed a last minute model on a few various outlets. I also sent out a slew of text messages, and found the girl I wanted to use. I ran out and bought 68 candles. We rendezvoused at JB’s Gallery of Girls, had a Jack & Coke, discussed details and rode to the location. It’s much harder to make a pentagram out of candles than you would have thought.
life rules.
http://revue.andreassaudemont.com/
It’s an App for viewing photo websites more efficiently.
When you download it, it comes with a list of preloaded websites. You can also add your own. The Obscura is compatible with it. What’s awesome though, is that when the next version comes out, The Obscura will be in the catalog of suggested sites.
http://theobscura.org
Pretty gnarly.
A few kinks to work out.
A few kinks to work in.
Stick around for new updates. I promise to keep it interesting.
I’m in a charity art auction on August 28th. It’s for an amazing woman named April, who was in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident in North Carolina. There are a LOT of talented artists on that list. I’m honored to be on it.
Yesterday, I spent much of the day inside, at my desk, working on photography related things. It’s cool. Days like that happen often, and this one in particular was very efficient.
So today, I decided I was going to enjoy the summer’s warmth, and read a book in the park. I grabbed a book and drove to Lock’s Park. I arrived and decided to walk one of the paths. I was excited, because it was the first time I had been back in probably four years.
I did my first photoshoot on that path in 2002. I grabbed two friends, stripped them down to their skivvies, wrapped them in plastic and awkwardly shot off two rolls of T-MAX. I may still have the images saved on my computer. I might even still have the negatives. I had this on hand, so I took a photo of it.
That piece was in my first art show. It was the end of the year student art show. If I remember correctly, it was held at Chesapeake Square Mall. They weren’t as moved by my work as I had hoped.
I digress- back to the woods.
It was the opposite end of the year when I took those photos, so there wasn’t a lot of greenery. As I approached the location, I heard people talking. I saw a tripod. I saw a make-up bag. I saw an ax. I saw a bottle of fake blood. And then I saw six or seven people working on a movie.
I introduced myself, handed out Obscura stickers and my business card. I hung out for a while and watched them film the final scene for that location. We walked back, traded contact information, shot the shit and parted ways.
It was kinda cool.
Foremost, there will be a new nathannovak.com very shortly. Considering the newest image on the current site is (embarassingly) two years old, it’s about time for an update. The new site will feature my 2008-2009 work, my 2006-2007 portfolio (+others not here yet), and (eventually) some of my live band photography work.
If you want free stickers and/or buttons from The Obscura, visit:
http://theobscura.org/obscura-paraphernalia/
I’ve been wanting to do a Virgin Mary photo for a very, very long time. It’s difficult to talk a pregnant female into modeling nude.
I have a newfound respect for natural light.
The Obscura now has web-banners. Spread them like wildfire.
Things are going well. Wednesday night I have a headshots/promos to do for an actor/musician. On Friday I have a shoot that I’ve been looking forward to doing for a long time, but never found a model for.
I finally got in touch with the owner of some property I’ve been wanting to shoot on for a while. The guy was way nice and explained the historical significance about the building I wanted to use. I gave him a brief overview of what my work is like, and what I wanted to do there, and he just laughed and said it was okay.
Two days after the piano burning, I went to Philadelphia with Ms. Jess Hawk and her family. I fell in love with the place. I’m going to be spending a lot of time there in the near future. On this last excursion I met Jon Mayyyhem, and Mandy from Bombshell Pinups. I had dinner with (and assisted on a shoot with!) Tina Dolin, who’s one of The Obscura’s contributors. You can see Tina’s Obscura posts here.
The Obscura has been having some amazing photographers contribute work lately. It’s awesome. It’s a great feeling to display my work with the likes of people I look up to.
The piano burning went better than I had anticipated.
A special thank you to Cody Blair for the piano, Harley for the field, Pat for helping me drag the piano 60 miles to the field, Hunter Smith for modeling, and Evan, Cait and a slew of others for gripping. And especially Joey at Jinxt Photo for letting me use his battery pack and transmitters that actually work.
Today was the day of the Naked Tokyo exhibition. Although I didn’t go, I’ll be celebrating tonight.
Tonight I have a photoshoot where I’m going to set a piano on fire. Afterwards, there’s going to be a party.
Also, The Obscura is doing very, very well lately. A lot of amazing photographers, posting a lot of amazing photographs. A few site updates happened today as well.
http://theobscura.org
Photography has been going very well as of late. Especially The Obscura. Some of the contributors I’ve been adding have been producing incredible work. Actually, everything posted lately has been great. I need to post a bit more.
I was in an art show that just passed.
It went well, a lot of great art by a lot of great artists. Charlie Restless had a painting that was named after me. Davood and Chris Bautista are on the next show, so I’ll definitely be in attendance.
I’m also going to be in an exhibit in Japan later this month, called Naked Tokyo. http://nakedtokyo.com/
It’s been going on since 2002, and usually follows themes of carnality, sexuality and anonymous nudity. A total of 42 photographers worldwide were accepted this year, and I was one of them.
This is the image that made it in.
This is my latest post to The Obscura.
I’m currently gather a mass of new work. Anticipate new work to be posted here around July/August.
I just posted a new image on http://theobscura.org
It’s violent, vulgar and uncomfortable.
I love it.
