The Empire State Building

Until I was seven years old, I lived only a few blocks from this great building -- it literally loomed large in my childhood, and I used to love to ride the elevators to the top and look at the city spread out below. It was the tallest building in the world back then. I still love photographing it from every angle. This was done with a 1,000 mm lens.

The Death of the Charles Hotel

Walking on Miami Beach's Collins Avenue today, I remembered the now-vanished Charles Hotel, a Deco gem built in 1938, but demolished in 2004 -- even though it was in a supposedly officially protected historic preservation district.


The owner seemed to let it deteriorate until it was deemed structurally unsound and he could get official permission to knock it down. Now a not-bad, post-modern, low-rise condo building has been erected on the spot.


But the Art Deco panels -- some of the best bas-reliefs in South Beach -- that decorated The Charles are gone forever. Here's what they looked like. The first picture is of the north wall; the closeup is of a more or less identical panel on the west wall, beside what was the main entrance to the Charles Hotel.

Wild Thing, I Think I Love You

I've been playing with dolls. Yes, this beautiful doll, designed by my pal Sarah Quyen of Chic Boutique Doll Design, was in my South Beach studio recently for a major shoot to help establish her image.

But let me tell you: this doll is a real f...ing princess -- what a bitch. She goes by the name "Rapunzel" -- but she wouldn't let down her long, long hair unless I practically begged her. And, at first, her movements were so stiff! But we drank some champagne and I put on some early Prince cuts -- "Do It All Night" and "Head" -- and, man, she really loosened up!

"I just love Prince," she said. Whoa, girl, I can't show some of those pictures we did; Sarah would kill me. But once we were in the groove, we got back into that proper Grace Kelly thing, and just nailed a series of fabu Rapu images for her pre-teen fans. (That's what I call her, Rapu).

Used a cheap, optically uncorrected lens and special lighting to create a dream-like ambience.
Or maybe it was just the champagne that did it.

Rapu, wild thing, I think I love you!