Robert Carrithers

Lucy and Max Dax in Prague

Lucy and Max Dax in Prague working on an article about Prague for Electronic Beats. A pleasurable night out at Klubovna to see Nikki Nevver and enjoy a nice night outside in the beer garden. Friday, July 27 2012 — with Max Dax at Klubovna.

Oli Sexačová

Oli Sexačová, the one and only! A happy naughty Russian woman in Prague that enchants people with her smile and laugh wherever she goes. She is continually researching life, multi-talented and always has the best ideas and philosophy! I went to an art opening of Daniel Vlcek in Prague and saw the enchantress Oli. I took one look at her tattoos and saw the colour of this wall and starting photographed her. The magic of Oli created this photo! Thanks you Oli for being you!

Miron Zownir Berlin 2012

I recently went to Berlin to screen my short film "Jákob’s Ladder" (also made with Marianna Auster and the music soundtrack by Czech composer Vladimir Hirsch) at the Directors Lounge during the Berlinale on February 17th, 2012. One of the highlights of my week there was the screening and my experience with the people who organize the Directors Lounge. Julia, Andre and Kenton are now top on my list of people I want to work with in the future and as friends. It was also nice to see Nick Zedd who flew all the way from Mexico to show his films in Berlin at several venues. I also appreciated the support of all my friends in Berlin who attended the screening of my film. You know who you are. And through all of this a miracle happened in Berlin for me. I reunited with a person who I have not seen in over twenty years. A person that I truly like and respect: Miron Zownir.

I have not seen Miron since the wild early days of my life in New York. If my memory serves me right, I first came across Miron when he was the doorman/security at the club Danceteria. I was going into the club and I saw this huge hulking menacing figure in the person of all leather clad Miron. He looked me over with his cold steely eyes and grunted something to me. I thought to myself, "Hmmm this is one guy I am not going to fuck with for sure!"

Also, if I am not mistaken, it was the same night, when I sat down next to him at the bar and had a cranberry and vodka. We looked each other up and down and he laughed that Miron laugh of his and said in a fun way, "What the fuck are you looking at?"

We started talking and found out we had a lot in common with our photography and interest in the sub-worlds that existed in Manhattan at that time in the '80s. We had very similar interests, but with a difference. I would enter these worlds and experience them to the fullest and observe and record mostly in my brain these creatures of the night. I was involved in the club scene and I chose specific personalities to photograph that I found who stood out with their creativity, but I certainly enjoyed the decadence of that time. It was a time of intense creativity, but also New York was damn dangerous and not only did you have to have eyes in the back of your head, but also on the sides of your head and have your radar up constantly not to be attacked by the dangerous elements of the night, but at the same time you could walk through the doors of what looked like ordinary buildings into amazing worlds of colourful creativity or extreme sexual decadence beyond the imagination.

Miron was also fascinated by these various worlds. He always lived his life on the edge much more than me and took things much further than I imagined. He would enter these extreme worlds with a detached eye and started photographing. He would enter the world of people who lived life on an even more extreme level. A lot of these people are no longer alive because they took their lives to such an extreme level through their individual lifestyles with their excess use of drugs and sexuality. Miron never shied away from the extremes and he was able to capture these people in their raw state. He disappeared towards the end of the 80s' from New York when the gentrification started to set in. I had no idea where he went. I now know we traveled similar paths without knowing it, but with a slight difference. He traveled to Los Angeles in the '90s with a car loaded with guns in a wild west drug filled journey. I took a plane. In Los Angeles, He once again involved himself with extremes and was brutally beaten and then imprisoned by the then fascistic Los Angeles police for several days in solitary confinement. I had an argument with the fascistic Los Angles police because I got a ticket for jaywalking. (Crossing the street by foot when the light was red) I took photos of some extreme, but Miron always was one step ahead. 

He went on to capture the breakdown of social order in Russia in Moscow, looking death and danger in the eye and capturing it all with his camera. He told me he often had to literally run away from photographing some scenes or be killed instantly. I moved to Prague and was involved with the changes in Czech society. I did my best to capture some of the events and outstanding personalities of that time, but without the danger. Now here we are in 2012 and Miron and I meet again. It was like we did not have this gap of time. We really had the pleasure of talking and exchanging our stories. Miron is also involved with writing and film. He has had several films out and many books published. I consider Berlin my second home and will hopefully see much more of him. I am now preparing to have a gallery show of my photographs from New York in the 80s' in the Prague photo gallery Školská 28 Galerie Fotograf and along with curator Pavel Turek, we will present "The Groovy Dada Lounge Revisited" with the opening on March 20th. At the opening, I will have 99 photographs of all sizes, New York musician Mark Steiner and his problems (Czech musician Pavel Cingl and Argentinian musician Henry Hugo) will play, the amazing creative talent of DJ, Miki-discjokey and special screenings of films by New York underground shock filmmaker Nick Zedd. I am writing all of this about me along with Miron's photo portrait because, I feel the comparisons between him and I are important and I hope humorous in some ways I also strongly feel that with our meeting along with my gallery opening I have completed some circle in my life which is important. Please click on the highlighted names above for much further information.

 

Newly discovered '80s N.Y., Club 57, Danceteria, Wendy Wild & John Sex and Old Flame photos

I have recently discovered a lot of photos from New York that I had put away and forgot all about. Actually for me at this point in my life it is a perfect time for me to take a journey to this distant time of magic for me before I take a new journey into the future with some specific creative projects that I have in mind. It is cleaning my closet and finding these gems and jewels. Some of these photos are of performances of some amazing people who are no longer with us, but they are still very much part of me and who I am. Other photos are portraits or special snapshots of these (for me) magical creatures. I have also included some fashion photos that I took for the London fashion house Demob which are quite nice. After those photos, well, a few photos might offend some people, some specific people and I am sorry for that if that is the case. The last photos are of lost loves that meant something to me, maybe more than what was imagined at the time. Join me in this journey if you want. I will do some writing for each group of these photos. I will be going through some more photos in my closet soon and if I am lucky I will find some more.

These photos were taken at the Club 57 benefit party at Danceteria. Club 57 fell on hard times, back in the '80s other creative clubs supported each other. Danceteria (for those that do not know) was four floors of nonstop happenings and during the summer the rooftop would be open with the view of Manhattan surrounding you. Click on the name Danceteria and the other names here in these postings for further information about the subjects. These three photos are of John Sex performing at the benefit. John Sex was a singer, performer, a damn good dancer, loved performing with his python snake and with his singers The Bodacious TaTa’s. (Wendy Wild, April Palmieri, Micki French, Myra Schiller and others) He was one of my favorite people. He was really fun to be with. 

Peter Kwaloff hanging out as Miss Thang.

Two young girls hanging out at Danceteria. I don't know who the girl is on the right, but the one on the left is Debi Mazar. She went on to become quite a successful actress, jumping from music videos by Madonna to a starring role in Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas and she has just kept on working in films and TV ever since. She is presently is in a supporting role in the popular TV show Entourage.   

Fashion designer icon Katy K basking in the limelight (not the club) at Danceteria.

The Club 57 and Danceteria go-go girls dancing the night away. I think there's a go-go boy there too. In fact I know there is! And a pirate go-go girl with a hook for an arm. All the other go-go girls were very friendly with her.

In the photo above and below, Ann Magnuson sings with Kenny Scharf with the wild performance artist Ammo doing an interpretative dance. Whatever happened to Ammo?

Photos above and below, the one and only The Sick Fucks performing at Danceteria.

Elvis (played by the one and only, the talented J.P. Dougherty, who went on to star in some great shows on Broadway, such as Les Miserables, Hairspray etc.) comes out of hiding and performs at the Club 57 benefit at Danceteria and is worshipped by John Sex, Scott Wittman, Vicky Schrott and Tracey Berg.

Wendy Wild becomes the mushroom queen and performs with her band The Mad Violets along with Dino Sorbello.

The fun after party photos: John Reade, Ammo, John Sex, Vicky Schrott and Kenny Scharf.

John Reade, Ammo and John Sex. Ammo was a mischievous imp! An imp is a mythological being similar to a fairy or demon, frequently described in folklore and superstition.

It must have been a successful night indeed because here we have Danceteria owner and host Rudolf singing! I never remembered him singing ever before. Standing next to Rudolf is Scott Wittman. He produced and directed the Club 57 benefit that night and he certainly seems pleased by the event and hopefully with Rudolf's crooning as well. 

A very young Wendy Wild! This is the first photo that I took of Wendy. I remember it well.

Ammo performing at Club 57 at a night he created called "Universal Interaction". Everyone who attended the event had to perform.

Jimmy Joe was Club 57 regular, bartended and played music there. He was in the house band with Kai Eric.

Snooky and Tish at Club 57.

Kim Davis with Eric Goode and Shawn Hausman at Club 57. Eric and Shawn were the owners of the popular themed nightclub at that time called Area. I don't know who the woman eating in the background is, but she sure looks hungry!

This is not a product placement ad. I did not get paid for it. This is Wendy Wild at the Grand Old Opry, a country and western theme night at Club 57.

I did a series of fashion shoots in New York for Demob, a London based fashion house. (Thanks to Jon Mole Baker) The dapper John the Greek looking happier than ever strolling down 42nd Street with the incredible beauties Carmel, Mandy and Michelle Young. 

I had to include the above photo because of the expression on the face of the man on the left side walking.

The lovely Pilar Limosner hanging with style on the water tower on the roof of Danceteria.

Mandy always looked good....

Carmel, John the Greek, Michelle Young and the Empire State Building on the rooftop of Danceteria.

Carmel with the New York City Public Library lion.

A photo shoot promoting the Psychedelic Weekend at a club that was called The Cavern. The most popular psychedelic garage bands and people in New York got together for this photo shoot. I shot these two photos in front of the famous (at the time) psychedelic painted building on East 6th Street where all the Indian restaurants are. It was a building that was painted in the sixties at the height of psychedelia. It lasted quite awhile, but is no longer there now. I do not remember all of these people in the photo, but I remember most of them. There is Rudi Protrudi and Deb O'Nair from the band The Fuzztones, Wendy Wild and some members of the Mad Violets, master of ceremonies of the Psychedelic Weekend and DJ Tom Scully, Rene Laigo, Viva and a girl named The Runt. If anyone can help me with the others or if I made a mistake, let me know.

Now we are going into the naughty section of this posting! I hope you like naughty! If you don't like naughty, scroll quickly down because you might get impure thoughts. How to explain these photos? Through a friend, I got a photography job to somehow capture the downtown East Village scene in an erotic or sexual way for the New York infamous porn magazine: Screw Magazine. First of all I want to say, I never did and I do not do porn photography of any kind. Screw Magazine was famous for porn, but it was also well-known for their strong political views and extreme humor. I got together with Wendy Wild and John Sex and told them about this. I asked them if they had any ideas for this article. We decided to try to make a porn parody. New York City has garbage cans out on the street and back then people threw out perfectly good furniture and all sorts of usable items that people could find and use in their apartments. Once in awhile you would find something unique and special. As we were trying to think of how to do this photo session, John spied a thrown out mannequin on the street outside of a shop. A very special mannequin indeed!

What made this mannequin special was, for whatever reason, this particular mannequin had it's mouth open with it's tongue sticking out. The mannequin magically told us what to do for this photo session. We found out it was a she and we had a lot of fun with her. These are some of the less explicit photos. The mannequin got really carried away with us and we had to end the photo session and before we knew it we were seduced by her throughout the night. We all passed out in a state of exhaustion. When Wendy, John and I woke up the next morning, the mannequin was gone and we never saw her again, but here are the results of some of the photos. Screw Magazine was very pleased with these results. The above photo of Wendy reminds me of some famous burlesque queen. The three photos below were the beginning of the debauchery with the mannequin! I have never had one like her ever again!

This is a self-portrait of me in my hallway. After the mannequin experience I temporarily turned into a Druid, but it did not last long.

I found these photos of Lynn. Lynn was a woman in New York who I had a mad crush on. I was smitten. I was too young and shy. I felt I re-found her in the future with these photos and reflect back on the past with the experience that I have accumulated and I want to time travel to.... well, I don't know. I would bring some viagra in any case. I wonder what she is doing now and if she reads this I hope she is not offended. I just looked at the last photo of her here and the key says it all, but like many things with time I lost that key.

I normally wouldn't put a photo of me here with someone, but it better illustrates the photos below. These are not just snapshots. This is someone who made my heart beat faster, but made me crazy, Nina. I will explain in the last photo why these are not snapshots.

Why are these not snapshots? This is Nina with Charlotte Scully. I was seeing Nina at that time and I guess we were babysitting for Tom and Sibylle Scully. The contrast of Nina and Charlotte has some connection somehow for me with the eyes and the color red. The photo below are eyes looking down at me from the past. I have no idea where Nina is and what she is doing. I would like to know, but it is interesting that I know Charlotte and I am in contact with her. She is living in Paris and working as a make-up artist for film and television. Life keeps moving and changing. We live many lives in our one life and there are so many chapters. I am ready for the next chapter in my life.

 

Holidays/End of 2011

I am wishing one and all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, of all religions and whatnot's. It all comes from the same river anyhow! These two photos may not be my best, but it is more about the hope and feeling that they give to me. The photo on top is located at Václavské náměstí at the statue of sv. Václav (Saint Václav) in the center of prague. It has always been a tradition for Czech people for large gatherings. In this photo Czech people showed their grief with candles, flowers and tears at the passing of Václav Havel. I was told by Czech people there that Václav Havel in recent years was better appreciated abroad, and not so much by Czech people, but now that he died, the reality hit the Czech nation that he is no longer here anymore, he is now missed and appreciated more than ever now. This was evident in this outpouring of grief the day of his death December 18th and the days of mourning afterwards. It gives me hope that it woke people up and made them realize who he was with the importance of his work and words. I spoke to many young Czech people since he died and they expressed that they want to follow some way in his footsteps. He was not some normal politician. He was something more. All politicians worldwide are now obviously concerned about themselves, power and money. This is what most people expressed who I met this holiday week and I think this is what people are expressing in their own way throughout the world in 2011.

The photo on the bottom was a vision of pure goodness surrounded by evil. I went to the opening of an exhibit at DOX in Prague. It was called The Lucifer Effect: Encountering Evil exhibition. it was inspired by the book of the same title by a leading American psychologist Philip Zimbardo and it shows how surprisingly effortlessly people turn evil. It shows Zimbardo's psychology experiments that he did at American universities in 1960s and 70s and with his experiments/studies of taking normal people and putting them in situations like prisons playing guards and prisoners. Most of the guards become brutally violent against the prisoners. He did many more experiments showing how easy it was for normal people to turn into evil. The exhibit also has artwork by artists such as Hans Haacke, Jenny Holzer, Harun Farocki, Antoni Muntadas and the Bureau d’études group and then on the third floor there are interpretations of evil and good expressed through art by Czech artists. The images were overwhelming and very powerful. I was strongly effected by all these evil images, one after the other, but out of the corner of my eye I would see this image of goodness and purity passing through the gallery. It was this man with a baby. I finally had to take this photo, a father and son in a moment of pure love amongst all this evil imagery. It gave me hope when I was extremely depressed. This year, 2011 was difficult all over the world and for most people's personal lives. I felt we were all being tested. These images give me hope for 2012. Forget all these big mouth stupid head no-nothings blabbering about the end of the world! It is what you make it. If you think negative that is what you will get. I think it will be the beginning of a better world. It will be for me and I hope for you too!

David LaChapelle opening at Rudolfinum in Prague December 6th 2011

Saint David LaChapelle relaxing after his successful opening at Rudolfinum in Prague December 6th 2011. I had the pleasure of attending the opening and taking these photos and also enjoyed meeting David and many other special people. David is one of my favorite photographers and certainly an influence. I could certainly write a lot about him and his work, but if you are interested please click on his name above which will take you to his website and click on David afterwards which will take you to his wikipedia profile. I highly recommend seeing the exhibit here in Prague. It is from the beginning of his work when he worked in his darkroom producing highly charged other world religious... saint-like photos. The exhibit then goes through his different periods up to the present time. Some of the photos are the familiar fashion photos that then transcend to other realities of glamour, fashion, celebrity, sexuality and desire. The end of the world photo series are incredible and hits you. The cut out photos come out of the wall and the floor to actually create a new feeling of image, art and photography. I appreciate Saint David LaChapelle because he really does have original ideas and is not afraid of doing what he believes in. The following photos are captured moments at the opening and the after-party. Please click on links of people below for further information.

Above, Prague performance artist Darina Alster looking up at David LaChapelle's heaven.

Another age looking at another age.

Above, Talented Prague music composer and artist Vladimir Franz atteneding the opening. The photos below were all taken at the after-party at Rudolfinum. 

Circus World: Circus Cirkör/Wear It like A Crown

 

I really enjoyed taking these photos. For me, these are some photos that I am satisfied with. A big thanks to Zuzi Ki and Caroline Binon for inspiration. I think of magic when I think of the circus. As a child you are transported to an amazing world. I heard about the Swedish circus Cirkus Cirkor, but when Zuzi Ki took me to see their performance of Wear It Like A Crown last summer it took me to new places. They are circus and beyond, something different, art surrealism and daring performances that are all about risk and opportunities (the theme). A visiting friend Caroline Binon was so inspired, she went back the next day and volunteered to have Jesper strap her on a spinning wheel and throw knives at her. When you see these performers with what they actually do, you can not help but to be moved and shocked that they can actually do what they do. Training and talent have something to do with it, but pure dedication and living life on the edge has something to do with it too. This circus performance travels all over the world and I highly recommend it. I will introduce the people and the photos will speak for itself. Above is the amazing David Eriksson marvel of the century. Juggler, acrobat and talent extraordinaire... what he does with simple ping pong balls is incredible, especially when it involves the incredible Fofo (Fouzia Rakez) below. She is simply magic with David performing as a couple, but she can twist, turn and go in many directions! Wild, weird and wonderful!

The mistress of mayhem Anna Lagerkvist below! An extremist acrobat that does things with a Chinese pole that is certainly challenging and with a vertical dance as well. 

Jesper Nikolajeff, nerves of steel. I guess you must have nerves of steel when you throw knives at a woman on a spinning wheel or when you juggle activated chainsaws. 

Louise Bjurholm, miraculous and supernatural contortionist acrobat who takes you to different realities with her expressive beauty and talent.

And the master of ceremonies and wizard of wonder Henrik Agger takes you and guides you through this amazing show. He explains this world of risks and opportunities. Enjoy the following photos. This is just a taste of these talented people and what they do. Enjoy! 

Autumn 2011/Prague Portrait: Elis Unique

Elis Unique is one of a kind as her name applies. She is a multi-media artist and performer. She was one of the organizers of the Prague Biennale, the director of SPAFI the association for support animation and film in Prague. She also writes her own Elis blog and is a an emerging talent in Prague. I am pleased that we have been collaborating together and I hope we do more work together. She was recently at a great group gallery show at the Prague National Gallery curated by Mark Divo Utopia on the Abyss. Please click on the links for further detailed information. 

Autumn 2011: Fire Women and Fire Man

Autumn 2011: In Europe there is the burning of the witches in spring to clean the negativity of winter and to be reborn with fire, but I remember growing up in the U.S. and when Autumn came, there was the ritual of raking leaves into several big piles, putting the leaves together and having one big fire. I loved the smell of burning leaves. I also love the colours of leaves and the rituals of October leading up to Halloween when the spirits are let loose with mask or without. It is not politically correct I guess to burn leaves now, but I think it is better maybe to burn huge wooden men and for women to dance with fire. Please click on highlighted words below for further information or to see videos.

This is Icelandic artist  and art provocateur þórarinn ingi jónsson lighting up his wooden man sculpture at an outdoor exhibit in Prague. He is presently doing his studies  and doing his work in Prague after art provoking in Toronto and Iceland. He knows how to burn a good wooden man!  þórarinn ingi jónsson in Prague infoBelow are fire performers Michaela Hradecka and Linda Mikolášková performing. Tereza Georgievová and Linda Mikolášková founded the Amantis Fire Theatre in Prague 2010. At the present time, the group consist of 8 performers – professional actors, jugglers, artists and musicians whose mutual goal is to create performances where the new circus techniques, fire art and acrobatics are combined with a very strong components of visual art, custom live music resulting in the dramatic-theatrical rendition of the story. Great emphasis is based on the stage make-up and body painting, which enhances the overall atmosphere and illusion of the show. A fun Amantis Fire Theatre video.

They are particularly know for the cyberpunk performance KO.MIX.X1 which is inspired by a comics illustrated by Kaja Saudek and written by Miloš Macourek Muriel & Angels and Muriel & Orange death. The story is full of wings, fire, light, love and hate draws you into the world of comics. Physical Theatre in fusion with the elements of fire show, new circus, acrobatics, giant fire ropes and chains, high feet and hand stilts, juggling pyramid and cube manipulation, flaming hoops and claws in impressive choreography and in conjunction with live music.

Autumn 2011: Kill The Dandies

These are photos from the Kill The Dandies CD release party October 19th at Malostranska Beseda in Prague. An amazing concert and they are taking a year off because La Petite Sonja will be a mother and Hank J. Manchini will be a father. They will be working in studio composing music next year. The new music is amazing. The new CD is called  "Those Who Hold The Flame"  and I highly recommend it! Here they are joined by fellow musicians Richard Fischer, Vratislav Placheta and Michal Hořejší.