Hurst News & oh so Random Thoughts

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Looking at my Google Analytics recently I’ve noticed a random and quite peculiar trend as of late. People, literally hundreds of people, from the auspicious towns of Lafayette, New Iberia, and Beaux Bridge Louisiana were flocking to my site. Now, outside of minor acts of debauchery in the purgatory playground we call New Orleans and a photo shoot in the Lower 9th Ward I have very little connection, if any, to the great state of Louisiana.  How and why this spike of internet traffic occured peaked my interest until I finally found the answer. Google (keyword “Stephen Hurst”) searches. Note both the S and the H must be in capitals for some reason or you get a different result; “stephen hurst” (Yes, I know the last sentence is random and digressive but nonetheless, true). Back on track, “Stephen Hurst”, my google search doppelganger, or shall I say my evil, twisted, and deranged twin (albeit presumed innocent until proven guilty) resides, and for a while, thrived within the Lafayette county school system.

THIS IS NOT ME! and it appears to be a tragically perverse situation…… But alas, I do wonder what type of reaction my website elicits when good ole’ folks come looking for that ‘other’ Stephen Hurst, the one posted on BadBadteacher.com, and yet the first thing they see on my site is a woman covered in blood, confronting the camera, and with text above her head proclaiming that  ’Beauty Kills’.

On a cold winter day when trolling the World Wide Web for editorial inspiration sometimes you just need some old school graphics, pimp white suits, and a boombox to brighten your day. Random side note: LT proves once again that Football Players are, hands down, the best musically inept but thoroughly entertaining sportsmen around.

Rumor has it  Nike produced the Vid a few years ago but it never made it to the air.  Nevertheless, any video that is made in the vein of the  SuperBowl Shuffle deserves my kudos and unapologetic admiration.

A few weeks ago I was appointed to the jury of an International ‘teen Fashion Photo’ Competition and one of the other judges is the undisputed king of late 80′s and early 90′s sci fi and salacious pulp noir cinema, Paul Verhoven! Folks, I’m talking about the director of such classics as

Total Recall

RoboCop

And Basic Instinct!

ITF PC distinguished members of the Jury
Peter Paul Huf het Lab Awarded Dutchdigital scanning and printing specialist using technology recognized by Epson and given the name Digigraphie.	Lisa Sotilis www.sotilis.com Greek by birth,Italian sculptress, painter and jewelry designer whose characteristics and splendid pieces of art work cannot be described in ordinary expressions.	Alice Smeets www.alicesmeets.com www.outoffocus.be freelance Belgium photographer winner of the international photocompetition “Unicef photo of the year 2008″	Paul Verhoeven Dutch film director Dutch BAFTA Award-nominated film director and screenplay writer. (RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers and more…	Andreas Darwis Triadi www.adarwistriadi.com Indonesian Fashion Photographer, Publisher of theIndonesian Photo Magazine, Director ofDarwis School of Photography
Christophe Agou www.christopheagou.com Award winning French photographer (Bridging the worlds of documentary and art photography) -  Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum of National History, New York Public Library and more….	Stephen Hurst www.HurstArts.com American photographer and educator at theInternational Center of Photography ICP, New York City. (“All of my work is, in some small measure, personal”)	Kenji Terada kenjiman-tokyo.com Japanese script writer, anime director, series organizer, producer, novelist, scenario writer. (first 3 games Final Fantasy series, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, Kimagure Orange Road series,  more…)	John Moore Pencil on Paper Studios Brand Engineering Creative Therapy Concept Design Creative Director for Liz Claiborne Inc. and Mexx Blog: Bonfirebeachkids.com	Raúl de Chapeaurouge rauldechapeaurouge.com Argentinian Photographer Fashion, Advertising,Beauty, Covers, Editorial - Buenos Aires -

I couldn’t be more pleased!!!!!!!!!!

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En route from a seminar I conducted @ ICP. En route home.

Gingerly I carry multiple prints, rolled in hand, sized  11 x 17, 13 x 19 and  17 x 22. Images created within the last year and used to illustrate to the attendees my creative process slash workflow.

Two seminars. 90 min each………

I’m tired of talking. Too much about ‘me’ and ‘my style’ for a day.

And now that the seminars have ended what to do with these prints? Lost in thought I enter the train, but we don’t move. Minutes pass until a muted voice garbles details about Service interruptions. ‘Wait for the next train which is one station away.’

And so for 30 min I do just that. I wait. Tired, hungry, cranky, parched.

What to do with these prints?

Finally the next train arrives. I enter, and from the next car, three Mariachis enter as well. They begin to play and ask for tips. It has been almost a year since I created this image

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