Monday, July 30, 2018

School of Life Monday:
The Children of Snobs


It can be deeply painful to be the child of snobs. That is, to be someone who received a kind of love in our formative years that was heavily dependent on our performance, not on our essence. It can be enough to make a mess of our lives, unless we realise - and get on top of - the dynamics.

FURTHER READING “Given how pejorative the term is, we’re understandably keen to locate snobs somewhere far from us. They are the people in the newspaper, or the ones who live in the other part of town or went to the school we didn’t go to – but it’s nice not to imagine them too near to home. Yet that’s to deny an obvious eventuality: snobs may lie closer to us. Snobs form couples; they have children. And we might be among them. However painful the unvarnished thought, we might be the children of snobs. It’s a situation it can be therapeutic to face up to and to try to make sense of…” You can read more on this and other subjects on our blog, here: https://goo.gl/cgQRoM

Sunday, July 29, 2018

1981 Photo of Me Skating by C.R.Stecyk III
from my IG act.


Yes that's me, glen, bank skating in 1981. This photograph was made by my good friend, and mentor of sorts, Craig Stecyk @crstecykiii at some remote schoolyard he took me to that i had never seen before. I needed a photo of myself for some book that asked me for a portrait. So i called Craig and asked the favor if he would honor me. CRS just asked me to bring a roll of film, after we finished the roll he popped it out of his camera, put it in its little black and gray plastic canister and just tossed it to me. He didn't need nor care, I don't think to see them. i asked him for a photo and i guess he knew he got it and just gave it to me to process, print and do as i needed. Simple. I know no one like him. If I could ever consider anyone a mentor it'd be him. The Godfather of skateboarding culture, period. Six months later he called and asked if I'd send one of my favorites up to Thrasher, he wrote an article he wanted me to be a part of, "Really? A photo of me IN one of your skate articles? Really?" I was fucking stoked! #pure #inspiration #artist #photographyAsArt #respect #SkateBoarderMagazine #theBible #punk #attitude #integrity #DIY #MyRules #FuckYouHeroes #blackANDwhite #BadAss #BankSkating #Bertleman #Bert #style #DoWhatYouLove #KeepItReal #thrashermagazine #photographersthatskate

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Fugazi in Washington DC 30 years ago
on my instagram


Shout out to WASHINGTON DC in the snow! FUGAZI posing for a shot they really did not want to do. circa 1989 ... By this time i was all about FUGAZI they were becoming an all time favorite. So we did this session walking around town and made a great bunch of photographs this day which you can see in several of my books. This one appears up front in my book "KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN - The Fugazi photographs of glen E. Friedman" with an essay by Ian F Svenonious - From their first year, to the last show played on US soil with all different types of photography experiments of light, texture, film stocks, techniques, clearly one of my favorites and best. Shooting good friends for no outlet to share in mind, just for the sake of capturing and portraying something that i knew was special, fantastic, groundbreaking and inspiring. There are some great FUGAZI photographs in MY RULES , but the reason there are not a ton more is becuase of this entire book devoted only to them. If you are a Fugazi fan there is no reason you shouldn't have or Love it. "Maybe the best visual of a single band ever" someone said. #FUGAZI #brendancanty #joelally #guypicciotto #ianMackaye @dischordrecords #integrity #idealism #inspiration #punk #WashingtonDC #photography #ianFsvenonius #GetTheNewBook @chainandthegang

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on

Monday, July 23, 2018

School of Life Monday:
One Reason Homes Cost So Much

Very high house prices aren’t an act of God or a fact of nature. They’re the result of all sorts of policy and design mistakes – which we should try to understand and correct.


Saturday, July 21, 2018

Fat Boys are Back
on my Instagram


The FAT BOYS circa 1985, somewhere in Hollywood on the set of a morning show of some kind. After shooting Beastie Boys, then UTFO, I think the Fat Boys were the next group i had an opportunity to make photos with. Sure they were a bit of a gimmick, but these guys were actually really talented. I saw them get on a shitty mic at a Roller Rink in South Central L.A. one evening, a mic that was so bad it could barely amplify a voice it was so whack and crackly (worse than a distorted style Beastie Boys mic from CYH) that when they were rapping not half the words could be made out. BUT when "Buffy", aka "Buff Love", aka "The Human Beat Box", "Kool Rock-Ski", and "Prince Markie Dee" started beat boxing and passing the one mike around or huddled all together around the one mic, it gave new meaning to "rockin' the house" , it was one of the top ten hip hop moments I ever witnessed, being my first time to a south central roller rink and literally being the only white person there while this whole place (over a thousand kids) started rockin' in unison was a mind blowing cultural experience that i'd never forget. I had my camera, but i believe it was so dark in there i couldn't even see well enough through the camera's view finder to focus and take a photo, so i just laid in the cut and observed the proceedings, it was a great and exciting time, by the time we left (i did come with them i believe) everyone was worn out and sweaty... Probably made this photo with them the next morning, they were in L.A. For a few days and i travelled with them for most of it, i got some other images if i find i will post over time. #hiphop #culture #hiphopbeginnings #southcentral #LA #FatBoys #HumanBeatBox #NewYorkCulture #RapMusic #theDisco3 #FatBoysAreBack #

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on

Monday, July 16, 2018

School of Life Monday:
The Problem of Fame

It sounds so nice to be famous - from afar. But from closer up, there might be a range of problems that make anonymity preferable. This is a film for recovering fame addicts (there are quite a few of us out there...).