T.A.T. x Tastes Like Gold... An Early Afternoon Photoshoot. part 2.

Continuing from the last thought I had, T.A.T.'s brand "History Class" is defined as such " a formal account of a collection of people sharing a common natural phenomena". Think.About.That. It's deep, but that definition includes YOU, all of us. In my opinion, that common natural phenomenon is life as we know it. We all make impacts on history, some minute, some rather large, but we all influence the way this world spins. 

Following the shoot, Terrance and I headed out to lunch, a local favorite of mine. Ben's Pizza on Spring and Thompson in SoHo. Heaven-like slices are served here. No matter what, I always end up here, even when I'm not hungry. Tip: Get either the Fresh Mozzarella & Basil or the Fresh Tomatoes & Onion Sicilian Slices. Trust me on that. 

Throughout the day, we had an interesting, poignant conversation that ranged from the current state of Hip Hop to the Girls we remembered from High School. At the end of the day I wished I had a tape recorder to make note of the more quotable moments. 

The moment that resonated the most with me was his commentary on Hip-Hop and integrity. Terrance preached "Many people mistake movement for progress, a movement could in fact lead people in the wrong direction". I definitely agree, today people get caught up in the whole "mob" mentality philosophy. Sure you may have strength in numbers but what is the message? Many artists are guilty of forgetting their message or not having one. 

Terrance and I agree wholeheartedly on the integrity vs. fame issue. If we don't believe in someone or something we are not going to lend our names to that movement, person, etc. We're not in this for the paper chase unlike a lot of people are. "I'm not doing this to get rich, but if riches come with my work, that's fine." 

Overall, I am impressed with what T.A.T. has to offer. They're aren't a lot of dudes out there like him, especially from Yonkers. 

Stay Tuned for T.A.T. and "Think.About.That." 
After the photo shoot, T.A.T is officially part of the TLG Family. 

Welcome.  

-TLG 

T.A.T. x Tastes Like Gold... An Early Afternoon Photoshoot. part 1.

Terrance "Think.About.That aka T.A.T." Turnage and I went to high school together; we weren't the closest of friends but we respected each other and from time to time rode the same public bus home from school. Since he was in the class above mine, I hadn't seen him since his graduation in 2007. 

The power of facebook brought this collaboration to light. Don't underestimate the networking qualities of facebook, it's quite a powerful tool. Terrance approached me about a photo shoot about a week ago and up until yesterday I was brainstorming the location, the poses, the lighting, anything you can think of. 

T.A.T. is making his entry into the rap game with his debut album "Think.About.That". When presented with this info, automatically I said: New York Public Library, Main Branch Building, Reading Room. Mind you I had never been there, but there have been movie scenes featuring this room. One of them being "The Day After Tomorrow". 

I did some scouting a couple days prior to the shoot, I visited the library for the first time and it was absolutely breathtaking; stunning. There were not enough words to describe the architecture, paintings of the sky on the ceiling, arched windows, high ceilings, marble staircase, it is truly a GRAND structure. Perfect. 

So we met up on the bus and head downtown. Take the 1 train downtown to Times Square. walk over to 5th ave and the library is right next to Bryant Park, you cant miss the building. Once we walk inside and grab a table I started off with my concept: Gather books by famous philosophers and psychologists, stack them up and have subject set his arms on top the of the books. Titles of books facing the camera. *Snap* 

 Second Concept: One thing that I have learned about artists, in any profession, is this: It is quite common that artists creating beautiful masterpieces often destroy their surrounding workspace. A very interesting phenomenon. 

Third Concept: Purely for his namesake, I needed "Think.About.That" to be incorporated in some form of written word. Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to also incorporate his brand "History Class" into the photo shoot, but I'm certain that we will have something for that in the future. 

 After a nice session we stepped outside for a few photos on the front steps. This is one of the head shots I took.