Czech Republic 2003

Kyla Cole and Monika Vesela, Czech Republic 2003
On occasion I'll discover an image from an old photoshoot that for one reason or another didn't catch my attention initially. I was going through some of the stuff I shot for the Stockroom in the Czech Republic a few years ago and found the following image which now I really like a lot.

Vegetables

I recently learned that my parents (age 84 & 90) hate vegetables and have generally avoided them during their long lives. What do they eat? McDonalds and Dennys. They were from the WWII era when it was important to support only American-oriented interests. None of that Mexican, Italian, or Asian food would do. Hot dogs and hamburgers were the essential items.

I always ate poorly when I was a kid but always assumed it was because that's what I wanted and my parents didn't enforce that I eat the good things. I didn't start eating healthier until I moved out on my own when I was 20. There in Chicago, I started eating all the various foods that an advanced urban city had to offer. Although I still have urges for junk food, my favorite foods are Indian and Thai. I hope that because I eat better than my parents, I will lead an even more healthier and longlasting life as they have.

Nice DVD Packaging Almost Gone!

For those of you who have thought about purchasing my DVD but never did, I only have a limited amount left with the fancy, SuperCase clear plastic packaging. After this supply runs out, manufacturing and distribution will be done by Music Video Distributors (MVD) where the DVD will be housed in the common ol' traditional black DVD case with no insert. So get the cool version while it lasts! Nice stocking stuffer for $19.95!

Get it HERE.

Tower, Best Buy, etc

I'm really sad that Tower Records is practically gone. I enjoyed going there to pick up the latest new releases and buying obscure indie releases. I went out today to buy 3 releases which were coming out today, Ali G "Indahouse" DVD, Beatles "Love" CD, and Tom Waits "Orphans" CD. I had to settle for Best Buy because that was the closest store to my house. Of course they had the Beatles CD, but when it came to Ali G and Tom Waits, there was nothing in stock. I asked a seemingly hip clerk to check the computer for stock (he ended up not being familiar with either Ali G or Tom Waits, ughh). As it turned out, they had only ordered one Tom Waits CD for the store (sold already) and didn't even order the Ali G DVD! Good lord! You'd think after the success of Borat, they would've ordered at least a box-slot of Ali G DVDs. With the exception of when I'm near Amoeba or Virgin MegaStore, I'll have to do most of my buying online which sucks cuz I love going to a physical store to buy stuff on the first day available.

Best Buy sucks also because of what they did to independent record stores in the mid-1990s. In order to lure people to their stores to buy electronics and appliances, they sold most of their music at or below cost. As a result, local mom-and-pop stores went out of business. At that time, I worked for an old indie record chain in Chicago, Rose Records. They had around 30 stores in the Chicagoland area and all had to close due to Best Buy. The 3-story flagship store downtown (where I worked) was purchased by Tower Records, and they retained the original staff. Tower was a great company to work for, and I consider it one of the best jobs I've ever had. An end of an era is certainly at hand.

At least I got the Beatles CD. I've been a fan of the mash-up movement and was excited that George Martin and his son, Giles, completely reworked 26 Beatle songs. There are some spectacularly chaotic moments on the CD, but a lot of the songs sound too similar to the originals. It's usually in the intros and closings of the songs where they really do some fun experimentation. If you're a Beatles fan, like I've always been, it's a fun new perspective on their work.

Underwater People

My ex-girlfriend Tuula and I went to the San Francisco Aquarium a few weeks ago and took these fun underwater snapshots of each other. Shot with the good ol' Casio Elixim point-n-shoot.

Sin

A recent photo of my friend Sin who used to work at that Cheetah's place. I shot this a week before she moved to Florida last month.

DietMobile 4 Sale

I'm getting rid of my 2001 duotone hardtop Miata. It has 52,000 miles and has automatic transmission. I'm posting it here first so that maybe someone in the community might be interested in buying it. If not, I'll put it up on Craigslist or eBay later on. The Kelly Blue Book value is around $11k, but I'm willing to part with it for $9k.

PROS: Duotone removable hardtop, never been in an accident, always been extremely reliable, almost every model I've photographed has ridden in this car

CONS: A few minor shopping cart scrapes on the doors and parking scrapes on the bumpers, driver seat has some wear, the soft-top (which is tucked under the hardtop) has a cut which was used to break into it at one one point

Any questions or interest, just email me at stevedg at gmail dot com.

New ArtFart Pics

New artfart pics at my Flickr account. Enjoy or ignore.

Justine Joli, again...

Just for the hell of it, here's another shot of Justine Joli.

World Trade Center

These photographs are some of the only architechural shots I've ever taken. Back in 1997, my ex-publisher had an American office across from the World Trade Center, and I took a few shots because I was early for a meeting. With coincidental timing, I found the photos in a box yesterday and decided to post them here as a tribute to all the victims of 9/11.

New SDG Site Design

I completely redesigned my website a few weeks ago and forgot to tell anyone (except for one bulletin on MySpace). Go take a look if you're interested. There's a bunch of new pics in addition to all the ye ol' classics of last century.

The members site has some exciting new updates with Justine Joli (new BWs just added) and Miss Conduct.

I don't like making posts without some sort of attention-grabbing photo so above is one of my most recent images of Masuimi.

OH! BTW, it's totally cool for ANYONE to add me as a friend. I use LJ for promotion so I want as many people as possible to see this. Thanks.

Love Hurts this Weekend

If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend (Friday or Saturday), I highly recommend LOVE HURTS in Silverlake. I've seen it TWICE!

The time has come for music and leather to come together. Mistress Crystalwind Moonfyre Child Vampira and Dogmeat Slut Butt Ass Slave bring you harmony and dischord when it comes to matters of the heart. Through song and story, pain and pleasure, these sadomasochists from Poughkeepsie explore the reasons why any of us would want to fall in love – when oftentimes it only brings us agony. So then, why love?

Moonfyre and Butt Ass will musically transport you with the song stylings of Foreigner, Pat Benatar and of course, the maestro of love songs, Barry Manilow. So, cinch up your corset, fasten your nipple clamps and don’t forget your safe word.

Cavern Celebrity Theatre
@ Casita del Campo Restaurant
1920 Hyperion Ave. Silverlake, CA 90027

Ticket reservations and info: 323-969-2530
Restaurant: 323-662-4255

More info and ticket reservations

Latex in W Magazine

The August issue of W just came out with three amazing fashion spreads photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott including a House of Harlot latex shoot (reproduced here).

Some New Pics

Kumi in a lace dress and hood designed by Joey Sanchez


Asia DeVinyl photographed in vintage sweater in Atwater Village.

Kalani in Las Vegas

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to work model/performer Kalani Kokonuts in Las Vegas.
Beatrice Neumann was kind enough to introduce us. Above is a fashion shot with Kalani wearing a Diane von Furstenberg wrap. Despite it being 108 degrees, Kalani braved the heat and my improvised strobe set-up, and we came up with some nice images.


A few days later, Beatrice shot Kalani in her Jessica Rabbit costume which is one of her acts. I've had the shot of me with "Jessica" on my MySpace profile for about a week now, and people are still commenting how much they love her whole transformation as Roger Rabbit's wife. You can read Beatrice's blog about Kalani and see a nice solo shot of her as Jessica.

Photo ©2006 Beatrice Neumann

Fun with Kumi weekend

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Seven Songs

I was recently asked to list seven songs that I'm into right now, no matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good. So here you go!

- Arcade Fire - entire Funeral CD
- Johnny Cash & Emmylou Harris "Where the Soul of Man Never Dies" - I love this old gospel song and especially the intricate harmonies that Johnny and Emmylou do in this YouTube video clip. I find myself playing this clip over and over.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
- Kelly Clarkson "Since You Been Gone" - This fucking song has been stuck in my head for over a year. Reminds me of all those great Pat Benatar power songs I was in love with when I was an adolescent.
- The Pogues and the Dubliners "The Irish Rover" - Another YouTube video clip I can't stop watching over and over from two of my favorite bands. Great performance!
- Jay-R "My Other Car Is A Beatle" - Awesome mash-up of L'Trimm (cars that go BOOM), Armand Van Helden, Beatles, and Gary Numan)
Downloadable at http://www.bootiesf.com/bestofbootie_2005/
- Bow Wow Wow "Do You Wanna Hold Me" - I loved this song when it first came out in the early '80s but kinda forgot about it. Then while waiting for a flight at the Burbank airport, they played it on the overhead speakers and I was suddenly reminded of how much I loved that song.

KISS this

A phonecam shot of a nice dress shop in Tijuana, Mexico. What a mis-use of an existing and established logo!

Art Fart

I just started a new gallery on my website of random pics that I'm shooting with my little Casio point-n-shoot. I guess they can be considered technologically-advanced versions of my phone art pics. They're simply photos that I take on a whim for one reason or another. Take 'em or leave 'em.
www.stevedietgoedde.com/artfart

Hot Young Chicks!

A few weeks ago on my front balcony, birds built a nest in a hanging plant just two feet from the window. For the next ten days I had a front-row seat witnessing the rapid growth of four baby birds. Luckily I was able to capture this process photographically. Please take a look if you're interested. Click on a photo for more photos and stories. Anyone know what kind of birds these are?

(Strobe) Lights, Camera, Action!

This is going to be quite a shock to some of my photographer friends but HELL HATH FROZEN OVER - I purchased my first strobe system. Yesterday was my first day experimenting with them. I got together with my good friend and artist Tiffany Trenda and did these shots in direct noon daylight. I'm quite happy with the results. They totally don't look like my usual style, but that's okay. I purchased them mainly for magazine shoots. For my personal work, I'll keep shooting my usual natural light, black and white style (so much easier!).

April New Work

Justine Joli, Laurel Canyon 2006

Examples of a few shoots this month. Above, with Justine Joli and below with Natalie Minx.


Natalie, North Hollywood 2006

Johnny Cash on Sesame Street!

Wow! Johnny Cash with Big Bird. The man in black sings "Don't Take Your ONEs to Town" (instead of "Don't Take Your Guns to Town").

Masuimi Max and Stockroom.com

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Rose Butt

Rose, Seattle 2006
Rose's nice long socks! A snapshot with my tiny new Casio Exilim camera. Great for those spontaneous moments!

Cat suit available at Imp of Satan Clothing

Bob Carlos Clarke 1950-2006

Bob Carlos Clarke & Steve Diet Goedde, 2003
It was 1985, and I had just moved to Chicago from St. Louis. I was at Rizzoli's bookstore in Watertower Place for Richard Avedon's signing of In the American West. It was there that I first saw Bob Carlos Clarke's book The Dark Summer. I had already had an interest in fetishism but had not yet incorporated it into my photography. Being introduced to Bob's work proved to me that fetish photography COULD be done with aestetically pleasing results. Although I wouldn't start taking fetish-themed photos for another five years, Bob's work definitely gave me the artistic courage to do what I'm known for today. Thanks Bob.

Stockroom KinkWire Forum

Adriana Sage, Los Angeles 2006
As a lot of you know, I'm heavily involved with JT's Stockroom. I've been working with them for over 8 years now. They're a great company run by really wonderful people. They are truly like a family to me. Recently they launched the new Stockroom website in addition to the Stockroom KinkWire Forum. I am a 'celebrity' moderator there in addition to Midori, KumiMonster, Violet Blue, and Lucky Lana. There are many topics of discussion there including art, fetish, bdsm, events, etc. Please explore, join, and contribute!

Lost Roll of Kilobytes

In the old days I'd occasionally run across an odd roll of film in a drawer. I'd then have it processed only to find some real treasures on it. The new equivalent is finding a tucked away folder on a hard drive of a shoot that you forget about. That's what happened when I found this pic (amongst others) that Ivy Red and I shot back in 2002.

America's Next Top Model Lisa

SATURDAY, FEB 25, 2006
Did an all day fashion shoot with Lisa from last season's America's Next Top Model featuring the corset designs of Simone from Exquisite Restraint Corsetry. My good friend Molly (So Hip it Hurts) did the hair design and helped with styling (and also provide the great location). Catherine Crump did the wonderful make-up and Oshay helped clean the dirt off the surfaces Lisa had to sit on. Here's a test digital shot (most of it was shot on film).



Behind the scenes!

Lisa and I striking a pose


Lisa and Molly


Lisa and I, yet again

LATER THAT NIGHT...
I hooked up with my friend and artist Tiffany Trenda and headed over to Dave Naz's place for an all-out photographer fest. On hand were Naz, Chas Ray Krider, Octavio, VICTOR, Aaron Hawks, Eric Kroll, Cynthia Patterson, and Renard Garr. I might be forgetting some people. If so, let me know. Much cheese was consumed and many shirts were taken off in front of Aaron's camera.


Krider, Hawks, and Kroll


Octavio and Krider


Tiffany and I

Miss Conduct and Isabella Costumiere Custom Corsets

Last night, I ended up having a nice intimate birthday dinner at El Compadre (my fave Mexican restaurant in Hollywood) with Dave Naz, VICTOR, and Eric Kroll last night.

On Sunday, I spent my last day of being 40 with Miss Conduct doing a fun little photoshoot at my place featuring some nice new corsets from Isabella Costumiere Custom Corsets. We were later treated to a nice chicken dinner from VICTOR. Here are a few examples.

My Trip to Seattle

I'm kinda late writing this but my weekend in Seattle was a blast. This would not have been possible without the extreme hospitality of my wonderful hosts Rose Algren and Matt.

Thurs, Feb 2, 2006
The Traveling Erotic Art Show: Madison Young curated a wonderful group of artists and images for this show – one of the best group efforts I've been associated with. The opening was well-attended, and it was nice getting reacquainted with Kevin H, Hypnox, Noel, Madison Young, and James Mogul. It was also great meeting fellow pervy photog Lochai who was in town from Florida. Other attendees included Joelle, Andraste and Miyou, Lydia McLane, and Jewell Marceau.




Fri, Feb 3, 2006
Rose and I did a sweet and shiny photoshoot first thing in the morning. There was an unexpected hole in the clouds that brought about some decent daylight for shooting. After that, we spent most of the day walking through Seattle in the rain. Prior to the trip, I was expecting rain and decided to welcome it as a nice alternative to warm and sunny LA. The rain in Seattle just comes with the territory, so I viewed it as the quintessential Seattle experience. We stopped by Babeland (formally Toys in Babeland) and signed their stock of DVDs and one copy of The Beauty of Fetish: Volume II. We then headed to Charmed Art's book release party.

Saturday, Feb 4, 2006
At 1:30pm, I did a shoot with Joelle. We had originally intended a more adventurous outdoor shoot but the weather was not in our favor. The winds were gusting up to 60mph and the air temperature was COLD, too cold for latex. So we did some nice low-light shots inside her apartment. I promised to come back in the spring/summer and do the outdoor stuff. Joelle was great to hang out with. I look forward to working with her again. When I got back to the base, Rose made a wonderful Iraqi chicken dinner for herself, the pilot and I. Later on, we all went to Andraste's latex party. There I was reunited with the crowd from the gallery show Thursday night.

Poloroid by Kevin H. of Steve and Rose at the latex party

Sunday, February 05, 2006
Oooops, woke up late not realizing that my flight was in an hour. I decided to not sweat it and take a later flight that evening. Good thing! Matt suggested that we take his Cessna and take a flight over Seattle and through the Cascade Mountains. I had never been in a private 4-seater plane before and was excited about this impromptu plan. Within an hour or so, we were at Boeing Field getting ready for our 2-hour flight. I cannot convey the sense of awe at being able to experience this. In addition, the weather turned gorgeous which made the flight even more memorable. Once back on land, they took me to the BIG airport where I caught the next flight back to Los Angeles.

Initial flight over Seattle

Flying through the Cascade Mountains

Rose and Matt after the trip

Sunset over Sunset Blvd in Silverlake

Good God! I'm showing off sunset photos! What's next, cute cat photos? Oh wait, I've done that too. Oh well.. you'll just have to deal.

This sunset over Sunset Blvd in Silverlake caught my eye this evening because of the spaceship-shaped cloud formations. They very much reminded me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.