Most importantly, I've added some new photographs to my store! Simply click the "Buy My Photos" link above to see my latest work. You can order prints in a variety of sizes and they are quickly shipped right to your home or office.
Best Wishes for the Happiest New Year!
spike
Venice by Spike
Michigan Central by Spike
Elephant by Spike
Venice > Manarola > Vernazza > Monterosso > Riomaggiore >
Pisa > San Gimignano > Florence > Tuscany > Rome
We stayed in this village in Cinque Terre for two nights... my favorite stop! Here I am, waiting in the cliffside vineyards of Manarola for the sun to set and the right light to fall on my subject.
...still can't believe the access I was granted. :)
more U2 Photos from Michigan (including Bono mocking the photographer)
more U2 Photos from Philly (no access but got my camera past security)
my 2010 Exhibit is STILL SHOWING:
at COSI
28674 Telegraph Road (at Twelve Mile Rd)
Southfield, MI 48034
map
Hours: daily 7:30am - 10:00pm
I'm especially excited about this exhibition due to its size and scope. My biggest installation yet, it covers a good deal of my work over the past five years in large wall-size format. Please stop in there anytime to check it out - it's free!
For more recent work and regular updates,
become a fan of my Buzz Click facebook page.
Purchase select prints from my photo exhibits on this page.
For inquiries into special projects or to order signed, limited-edition pieces, e-mail the office: info@buzzclickphotography.com
Thank you for allowing me to share my love of photography with you!
~ spike
A Few blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a massive, crumbling building rises up like a medieval castle over blocks of modest, middle-class homes mixed with brownstones. Welcome to Eastern State Penitentiary.
This was the world's first true Penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence - or true regret - in the hearts of criminals. In 1787, a group of well-known and powerful Philadelphians met in the home of Benjamin Franklin. They wanted to create a prison where reformed criminals could someday walk away to lead a new, better life... rather than being locked up in isolation until death. It took more than 30 years for "The Pen" to open in 1829. It was a great success and over 300 prisons worldwide were built based on the plans of this Philadelphia landmark.
Its revolutionary system of incarceration was the first to establish the policy of separate "solitary" confinement, emphasizing reform rather than punishment. The original seven cellblocks had running water and central heat before the White House. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells held many of America's most notorious criminals, including "Scarface" Al Capone.
Pennsylvania closed the prison in 1971 when repairs became too costly. The prison stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling prison cells and a surprising, eerie beauty. It is still used for film shoots, most recently Transformers 2.
This photo is of one of the cells that was turned into a barbershop. Haircuts were rewards for good behavior. Although some prisoner diaries reveal that this chair may have also been used to "persuade" misbehaving prisoners to change their ways. Some torture and prisoner abuse happened even as the Penitentiary's goal was to reform prisoners for a non-violent lifestyle.
Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods.
Image made in Stony Creek Metropark, Shelby Twp, MI 10.18.08
Detroit's Fox Theater opened in 1928 and seats over 5,000 people. It's the second largest theater in the country after the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Fox was a majestic movie house which also housed concerts by the most famous orchestras and bands of the 1930s, forties and fifties.
By 1980, the theater was a run-down Kung-Fu movie house with standing water on the floor and rats living in the stage. The Fox Theater was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1985 in an effort to ward off demolition.
The theater changed hands several times before Detroiters Mike and Marion Ilitch of Little Caesar's Pizza purchased the theater in 1987. In just under two years, the Fox underwent a $12 million restoration to regain its glorious appearance from its earliest days. It reopened on Nov. 19, 1988 and was designated a National Historic Landmark. Inside, you can hear one of the last five remaining all original, as built, still in it's original home Wurlitzer theater pipe organs. Only the Radio City Music Hall organ has a larger Wurlitzer.
This photo was taken on 9/2/09. The Fox Theater in Detroit is still open for a full calendar year of concerts and touring theater shows.
This is the wall right next to the stage entrance. Anyone who has taken the stage at the legendary Fox Theater in Detroit has signed the wall backstage (or stairwell to the dressing rooms). I could spend HOURS looking at these walls and the decades of signatures. Since I once hosted a concert there, I signed the third floor stairwell... somewhere between Ozzy Osbourne, Run DMC and the guy who plays Elmo for Sesame Street Live. I didn't think I was worthy to be on the Sinatra wall or Ray Charles wall. Click on the photo to go to the page that will help you identify some of the autographs.
Detroit League of Photographers PREMIERE STUDIO SHOW
Images + Music + Cocktails by a select group of Detroit Photographers in our working studio space... a former auto-body manufacturing plant (designed by Albert Kahn) converted into more than one million square feet of studio space.
Thank you to everyone who attended our PREMIERE exhibit. More to come!
Just got back from our "Up North" vacation and I hope to get some images posted soon. I have so many great photos to share from the past three months. Stay tuned!
This sunset was over the East Bay in Traverse City, MI.
U.S. Navy Blue Angels
"Thunder Over Michigan" Air Show
Ypsilanti, MI 7/19/09
New images in my online store: 20% off sale!
0 Comments Posted by spike on Wednesday, July 15 at 8:00 PM.
I finally added some new photographs to my online store and to celebrate, I'm having a summer sale. You can get 20% off your entire order!
All images on the website are available for your home or office including fine art, Red Wings, Pistons, Barack Obama, Detroit and more. Check them out! Click the "Buy My Photos" tab at the top of this page or
Go to this website: http://radiospike.exposuremanager.com/
Use coupon code: hotsummer
20% off your entire order! Offer good on prints (all sizes except 4x6 reprints), cards and gifts. Expires on Labor Day.
Feel free to share this offer with your friends!
With Michael Jackson's death, there's been a lot of focus on the legendary Hitsville USA... Motown's Studio A where the Jackson 5 created some incredible music. It's an amazing place to go for any music fan.
But there's an overlooked gem in the Motor City's musical landscape. United Sound Systems Recording Studio - in Detroit's New Center area - should be a museum as Detroit's first major recording studio. It opened in 1933. It's the location where John Lee Hooker recorded his first song, "Boogie Chillen" in 1948. In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. recorded the first Motown Records song here before opening his own studio in his home. Others who recorded here include Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Parliament Funkadelic, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Wonder and The Rolling Stones. Its windows were boarded up a decade ago to fight off neighborhood vandals but United Sound is still in use as a recording studio for local hip hop artists to this day.
25th Anniversary Balloonfest
Howell, Michigan
6/26/09
to see the whole set, click here
Not a good photograph at all, but a great story in how I got to capture the King of Pop on film...
During a live broadcast from an awards show in Las Vegas, word came down suddenly that MJ was on his way down to our room to grant us a three-minute interview. We had no idea he was in the building but within minutes, the room was shut down by security like something I haven't seen outside of President Obama. An entourage of 40 people walked in and chaos ensued. So many people were in the room trying to get a piece of the King of Pop - I knew our interview wasn't going to happen. The record label rep asked for a microphone and MJ stood on a chair to address everyone in the room. Cameras were forbidden and they turned the lights down so nobody could take a photo as he removed his mask. I shook his (gloved) hand as he walked by and stood ten feet away as he addressed the room. I snuck this one pic when security wasn't looking. I never got to interview him but I still got the bizarre Jacko experience!
I'm not a huge Michael Jackson but I like some of his older music and it was cool to see a living pop legend. MJ was an original. His talent changed the face of pop music and pop culture, much like Sinatra and The Beatles before him. Everyone who came after him could not deny being influenced in some way. His career and life unraveled in the past 15 years but his music is as relevant now as it was the day it was pressed on vinyl.
Michigan and Trumbull is missing an old friend as crews demolished the last of Tiger Stadium this week. The Stadium once was filled with the roars of baseball fans cheering but has been host to wrecking balls and dump trucks for the past few weeks. The last remaining portion of the stadium's upper deck collapsed at 2:30 p.m. on June 22nd. Baseball has been played in this historic spot since the late 19th century. Now it will be another empty lot of bricks, broken bottles and high grass. What is America's fascination with knocking down historical architecture just because it's old?
This photo is two-years-old but with another 96 degree day yesterday, I thought it fit perfectly.
taken by Spike in Windsor, Ontario
Chris Chelios, 47, is the oldest active player in the NHL. He’s won the Norris Trophy as top defenseman thrice over his 25 seasons there. He’s played in more NHL playoffs than any other player in history and in more games overall than any current league player. He won an NCAA championship in college and Olympic medals and world tournaments playing for Team USA. This season, Chelios almost won his second Stanley Cup in a row and fourth overall. Alas, the Wings need to make room for their salary cap and Cheli spent most of this season injured and slow. He vows to continue playing somewhere else and vows to continue calling Detroit home as his family will continue living here.
He was always gracious in allowing me to photograph him during practices and games, although he would show his temper when the team was losing and once took his frustration out with his hockey stick on my zoom lens. Trailing by three points, he was not in the mood to be photographed. But other than those rare moments, he was a great ambassador for Detroit and an amazing player. Thanks for ten great years on Detroit ice, Chris!
I've been trying to make it to one game for each series. The Wings have been offering a great escape for the struggling people of Metro Detroit. The playoffs are always electric and this year is no different as we swept the Blue Jackets and then fought the Ducks. Now, we are facing the Chicago Blackhawks. Next stop: Stanley Cup!
5/20/09.
all images on this website are
© 2009 radiospike photography
all rights reserved
Native to Southwest Mexico, he is smaller than a golf ball... and would hardly sit still for a quick portrait!
a vacation pic from April :)
Flower Day
Eastern Market, Detroit
Movement 2008
Detroit's Electronic Music Festival
I have a new collection of my images on display in Farmington Hills at COSI. It's on the Northwest corner of 12 Mile & Halsted Rd and all of the photographs were taken in Michigan. The exhibit will be up for about six months so stop by and buy me a cup of coffee since it's across the street from my work! They are open 9a-9p and I'll probably do an installation in their Southfield location soon if I can get some free time to prep some photos.
Google Map it:
37652 Twelve Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48331
All images on the website are available for your home or office including fine art, Red Wings, Pistons, Barack Obama, Detroit and more. Check them out!
Go to this website: http://radiospike.exposuremanager.com/
Use coupon code: springclean
20% off your entire order! Offer good on prints (all sizes), cards and gifts.
No minimum order. No limits or restrictions. Expires April 24, 2009.
Feel free to share this offer with your friends!
Lee Plaza Hotel is an excellent example of Art Deco architecture of the 1920s. It rivaled the Book-Cadillac Hotel and Statler Hotel for architectural notice; a soaring 15-story building done in orange glazed brick, capped with an impressive chatequsque roof in copper. The beautiful roof isn't there anymore. Since the early 1990s, all of the artwork, wiring, fixtures and valuable material has been removed illegally by scavengers. In fact, Lee Plaza made national news back in 2002 when terra cotta lion sculptures scrapped from its exterior turned up on a Chicago condominium complex. They have been returned to the city after efforts made by the FBI, but an estimated $2 million worth of damage was caused. Lee Plaza now lays in complete ruins but may just see new life: In January 2009, its owner (the City Housing Commission) was looking to work with a viable developer to build the financing necessary to revive the property. In the case that the numbers could be made to work, the agency would part with the building for $1.
I wanted to get in and photograph the beauty of the decay before the building is rehabbed or, more likely, demolished.
© 2009 radiospike photography
All rights reserved.
Do not use image without prior written permission.
Taken by Spike, March 2008
He weighs 1,150 lbs.
When do you begin to question the glass tunnel that you are standing in?
Underwater exploration at the Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life
...with Fox 2's Deena Centofanti at Gus O'Connor's Irish Pub in downtown Rochester. It was a loooong, fun day!
Philadelphia Flyers at Detroit Red Wings
March 17, 2009 (St. Patrick's Day game)
Detroit won 3-2
Philly hasn't won in Detroit in over 20 years.
© 2009 radiospike photography
all rights reserved - do not use without permission
Contact me for licensing or publushing.
http://www.scouttufankjian.com
What a treat! I got to spend some time chatting with Scout, the only independent photographer to cover the Obama campaign from start to finish... and one of eight people who were in that press corps for the full two year ride! Scout took over one million pictures during the two-year campaign capturing each moment as Barack Obama went from long-shot candidate to President of the United States. The Armenian-American photojournalist lives in Brooklyn and worked photographing the conflict in the Middle East for four years before joining the Obama campaign. Her images have been published in every major newspaper and magazine, including Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, People, Esquire, Essence, Rolling Stone, The Times of London, etc. She was so open about her technique and fun stories from the road. It was a great Friday night!
It was a fun winter break at Boyne Mountain. My girls learned how to ski and we also enjoyed a dogsled ride through the woods of Nothern Michigan.
