Benedict Shiloh

I was all up in London during the 4th. What a traitor. :)

Wish I could have made it this year, but I'm sure everyone had a great time and I can't wait to see pictures.

Try and keep this short - haven't kept this up very well so need to catch up.

I wrote a really long rant about Michael Jackson and then deleted it cause I don't want this to turn into one of those self righteous spaces for people (me) to self indulgent rants.

So my run down as follows:

Stayed in New York for a couple days with the man Jack Shapiro, got to see some great folk, Lea and Adam and others. July 1st had a 5:45pm flight out of JFK so went to Spa Castle with Jack, his brother Dimitri and a great cat Bill - it's like a Korean crazy bathhouse, with baths and saunas and cold plunges, but also lots of food and sleeping rooms, outdoor pools. Pretty much heaven. Was a great way to head off to the airport for the flight to Dusseldorf and then Stanstead.

Made a realization on this trip. If you can get a nonstop flight to the city you want, it will be cheaper than a connection to the cheap city and then a train ride to the city you really need. 

It's been the hottest it's been in years in London so my one pair of shorts have been getting their fair share of wear.

So the 2nd was a bit of a blur, Sean Fox and Estefi are being kind enough to let me crash on their sofa for the week and their apartment is in a great part of London, Hackney - I think - it's so confusing all the different areas.

The third I started planning a photo shoot and spent most of the day online trying to line up some clothing designers / stylists, models and Make Up Artists. I met with a modeling agency, Oxygen Models and showed them my book - they gave me a bunch of models comp cards and gonna shoot some of them tomorrow or Tuesday - so that was cool.

Went to see Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens which is where J. M. Barrie wrote most of it from what I've been told. My friend Jonathan Hyde was playing Captain Hook and we was awesome! Also they were performing in this giant tent where they would project 3d animation in 360 degrees so when the actors were lifted up into the air to fly, it looked like they were moving through London - pretty amazing.

So yesterday was crunch day - if I was going to try and get the shoot together - as rain is planned for Monday and Tues then I'm off to Paris on Weds. 

So lots of emails and frantic calls to Make Up Artists and Models and it didn't look like it was going to come together, like it always does - but by 8pm last night everything was set. Have a designer, Make Up and Model arriving at Sean's at 5pm today - we'll get 5 looks, I hope some more. Sean will assist me - sweet.

So then I take out my Profoto head that I had packed in my bag, just to make sure that it survived the travel, which I'm sure it had. Pull it out, whole flash bulb is broken! So bummed.

Basically now I should have just rented the lights out here instead of bringing it with, it's a $600 part to replace, AHHHH! So off to Calumet to get a new one (so glad you're open today Calumet, thank you!) and have to change my packing plans.

So that's my catch up - hope all is well and everyone had a great 4th!