2021 KIRKLOVE.NET

4/20/21Getting High on Purple Haze

420 Sunset

4/19/21Super Strong

Sourdough Game

4/18/21Patient Waiters

As Mami got her second shot — Brooklyn Army Terminal

4/17/21Un Vestido Nuevo

Y Un Loco

4/16/21One + One

This song is thumping. Reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age. Which is a very good thing. Dig.

4/15/21Night & Day

F/G Line - Smith 9th

4/14/21Eerily Quiet

Brooklyn

4/13/21This Country Saddens Me

This morning the US called for a pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine after seven people — out of seven million — "may" have developed blood clots as a result of the vaccine. I don't agree with the decision, but respect how quickly they acted.

Yet another black man, Daunte Wright, was shot and killed by police just miles from the George Floyd trial. For the record hundreds of black men are shot and killed by police every year and nothing happens. Nothing changes. No one will act swiftly. Gun laws won't be changed. Qualified immunity for police officers will not be abolished. Politicians will wring their hands and send thoughts and prayers. And ultimately no one will be held responsible.

I can't begin to imagine how tired, frightened, enraged, and helpless the black community must feel. I'm not trying to be mega-woke, or virtue signal, I just can't post pictures of my life, unaffected by this madness, as if nothing is happening or not call out this inhumanity. It is happening daily to black lives and it's wrong. It is madness. It is heartbreaking. This country should be thoroughly embarrassed. It has to stop.

4/12/21A Moment In Time

Emma & Niko

4/11/21I See Spots

Kids And Kusama

4/10/21Ciabatta

First time. Fun. Came out well.

4/9/21Luray

Architecture

4/8/21Tourist

Luray VA

4/7/21Bustling

Downtown Luray

4/6/21Liberty Income Tax

Luray

4/5/21Luray Invaders

Punks Down South

3/30/21One Year Sflogino

I'll admit upfront I'm kinda insane. Definitely obsessive / compulsive. That explains why I'm making pasta every day. Yes, every day. By hand. I just want to get really good at it, and the only way I know how is to do it. A lot. You can follow along here on a sub-page of this site. Or there's an Instagram too. I think my wife is already sick of pasta. Luckily, my kids are not!

3/29/21Ambition

I was having dinner with a friend the other night. We got to talking about ambition and the desire to win. In this context we were talking about business or your professional life. The word ambitious has been stuck in my head since that dinner.

Mostly because the meaning of ambitious seems to have been co-opted to describe "successful at business at all costs". And I'm not sure why. The real definition is "having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed". Which can be very broad. Yet society tends to revere a very specific type of "ambitious" person mainly because of their financial success. Think Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, etc.

That has so little appeal to me. I wish more people were ambitious in life. Ambitious about being a better person to themselves. Ambitious about being a better spouse or parent. Ambitious about being a better citizen in general. Ambitious about doing the right thing. I think the world would be a better place. I'd love to see us look up to and admire those people more. There a lot of them out there! I think the world would be a better place for it.

3/28/21Welcome Hoke Baby

Luray VA

3/27/21Girl On Fire

Sharing a sunset with this woman

3/27/21A Fire In The Sky

Deep Purple had it right

3/23/21RGB

Kids

3/22/21New York

Via Red Hook

3/21/21Strong

Chocolate Chip Game

3/20/21Strong

Sourdough Game

3/19/21Street

Punk

3/18/21Big Kid

In a candy shop.

3/17/21This

And a house down Wildwood Crest. A boy can dream.

3/16/21Lucali's

Still the undisputed champ in my book

3/15/21Back to da Toscano

It had been too long. So good.

3/14/21Shady

Character

3/13/21Emma Marina Riveros Love

Polaroid SX-70

3/12/21Mi Flia

♥ March 2021

3/11/21Street

Art

3/10/21American

Mary

3/9/21Me In The Antelope Slot Canyon

My friend Tom sent this to me the other day. He snapped it while I was snapping some shots in the lower Antelope Slot Canyons in Arizona. That was such an amazing trip. Can't wait to get back out West again.

3/8/21Homemade Gnochhi With Short Rib Ragu

I made this last month and am just now getting around to posting it. This isn't "hard" to make per se, just takes time. But it's absolutely worth it.

3/7/21Homemade Chicken Sandwich

Even made the bread (yeah, I made the rolls) and homemade pickles. This sandwich was bomb.

3/6/21Homemade Carbonara

With real guanciale. Yum.

3/5/21The Kamoinge Workshop

Wonderful exhibit up at the Whitney right now of the early years of the Kamoinge Workshop. Was so glad that Lili and I were able to get over and check this out. It's breathtaking, heartfelt, raw, and honest photography. The kind that really resonates with me. Such powerful work during such a tumultuous time during our country. I love that these creative voices are finally getting broader attention. It's beyond deserved.

For more information check out the Whitney site

3/4/21Stars

And Stripes

3/3/21West Village

NYC

3/2/21She's A Work Of Art

PY at the Whitney

3/1/21Sourdough

I'm a year late to the pandemic sourdough craze, but I'm coming out swinging

2/28/21PY

And A Blurry E Train

2/27/21Sourdough Skillet Pizza

With Chorizo & Shallots

2/26/21Framed

Gowanus

2/25/21Cupboard VIII

Simone Leigh, 2018 (Whitney Museum of Art, NYC)

2/24/21M.A.D.

Dairy Maid

2/22/21Gowanus

Concrete Quarry

2/21/21My Mom With Her Dad

Charlie Martin & His Little Girl

2/20/21Snow Fight

Rooftop Fun

2/19/21Snowy

Smith Street Grocery

2/18/21Snowy

Brooklyn

2/17/21My Crew

Going Down

2/16/21The Light

"There are some who bring a light so great to the world that even after they have gone, their light remains" — Unknown

I took this photo of my mom on the last night of her life. I think it was around one in the morning. My brothers, sister, her husband, Lili, and I were all nestled in a tiny room sitting around her bed. We sat there and talked and laughed and shared memories of our lives. It was sad, yet special. We were a family, together, for the first time in a long time.

I remember sitting there and seeing the light cascade down outside the window and how tranquil it looked. It felt spiritual. I was grateful we were all able to be there with her. And all I could think was I wanted to take a picture of how peaceful and angelic she looked. I wasn't sure if I would ever share it, but I want to. Because even as her life ended she shined. She always shined. She was a remarkable woman.

2/15/21Red Hook

Weeds

2/14/21Church

In The Snow

2/13/21Martinez Grocery

Food Center

2/10/21Crownsville Medical Center

Archway

2/8/21Winter

Blues

2/7/21Crownsville Hospital Center

Abandoned Quarters

2/6/21Snow Patrol

Crownsville, Maryland

2/5/21Kiss

My dad kissing my mom. This is one of my favorite photos/possessions. My dad would probably be around my age now in this photo. I like to think they're together again. Somewhere. I sure hope so.

2/4/21Lady In A Blue Shawl

Elegance defined

2/3/21Mug Shot

Guilty As Charged

2/2/21Catherine Rosemary Love

1/10/1937 - 2/2/2021. Love you, Mom

1/31/21Crazy Tuco

Sis' Dog

1/30/21Bread Game

NY Times No Knead Bread (Came out decent. I need more practice.)

1/29/21All The News That's Fit To Print

Fujifilm Instax Wide 300

1/28/21Alleva

Little Italy NYC

1/27/21NYC

via Brooklyn (4-minute long exposure with ND Filter)

1/26/21All My Favorite Songs

Weezer is definitely in my top five bands of all time. And while some of their late work is let's just say not their best... they still put out some great, catchy tunes. This new one thankfully falls into that camp.

1/25/21Portrait of a Hiker

At the top of Anthony's Nose, Cold Spring, NY

1/24/21Red Hook Stroll

In Winter

1/23/21Morning Light

With Sleeping Lili

1/23/21New Typhoon!

Wonderful to see new Typhoon. They've always been a fav of mine. I've gotten to see them a few times at Mercury Lounge (damn remember seeing live music!?) and they've always been great.

1/22/21Coffee-Rubbed Tri-Tip

This recipe comes via the NY Times Cooking app (arguably the best cooking app out there). I was a little concerned the spice rub would come out tasting too much like coffee and be overpowering, but I'm happy to say this was superb. I think it would work even better if you have access to a grill — but alas city life meant we went with the pan-roasting/oven method. Even with that you get a excellent char and crisp outer crust. We went with medium rare (which c'mon is the only way you should ever cook a steak). This was an absolute winner — well except Niko — poor dude didn't love it. Still this will be making more appearances in the future for us for sure.

Initial Dry Rub

24hrs Later

Resting After Oven Roasting

After Resting — Perfectly Medium Rare

Plated (with quinoa and oven-roasted vegetables

1/21/21A Walk Through Chinatown

Taken with "Shōmei" — My Fuji X-T4

1/20/21NYC

In B&W With Winter Grass

1/19/21Orange & Red Door

In Red Hook

1/18/21Isolation

Winter at Storm King

1/17/21What A Drag

Here's a newish tune (2017) from an oldish band. Well technically a newish band from John Davis called "The Lees of Memory". But he'll always be the frontman and songwriter for the '90s band Superdrag to me. It's great to see him still putting out music.

1/16/21Empty Cafe

Fujifilm GW690II & Fuji Pro 400 #film

1/15/21Holy Moly

Sky

1/14/21Brooklyn

In B&W

1/13/21A Break

Just a quick note I've decided to hop off social media for the foreseeable future. Don't worry, this isn't some diatribe about the ills of social media. I think social media can be quite wonderful and enjoyable. Just personally I felt like it was sucking up a lot of my time. And I have a lot of things I'd like to tackle and focus on for 2021, so something had to give to make time for it all. Social Media was an easy one to purge. And two weeks into 2021 I've enjoyed being "off" it.

I do still check Twitter from time to time for latest events. But, I've unfollowed everyone there and on Instagram, too. Don't take it personally. For the love of God please care less whether I follow you. Just again, for me, I needed a break from "feeds".

I plan on using this site to post any content or thoughts. I like the idea of my own little space in the vast universe of the Internet. So, if you ever want to get in touch you'll need to drop an email — gasp — by clicking on the icon at the top right of the page or hitting this link.

1/11/21There can be only one

Like any photographer I lust after a bunch of different cameras (and yes I'm already very lucky to own some amazing cameras and lenses). It's just so easy to get swept up in the gear game. And it's fun to dream, too. But, the truth is I still adore my five-year-old Fuji X-Pro2. To me it's the perfect camera in so many ways. I mean just look at it! It's a sexy ass camera.

I go through these bouts where either I feel like everything I'm shooting is crap. Or I just don't feel like shooting at all (mostly because I tell myself my photography is crap). But then I grab my X-Pro2 and it just fills me with this buzz. The "thunk" of its shutter still can't be matched IMO. To me it just feels right. It makes the act of taking a photo a joy for me. I'm not sure I'll ever feel that way about another camera. If someone told me tomorrow I could only keep one camera and one lens there is no doubt I'd keep my X-Pro2 and my 23MM lens. And I'd be totally OK with that.

1/10/21Happy 84th

Mom

1/9/21Curved Shadow

I've been shooting a lot in B&W lately and digging it.

1/8/21Happy (50th)

Pete

1/7/21Mother & Child

Amor

1/6/21This Gal's Got It

Flair

1/5/21Stars & Stripes

In Decay

1/4/21Branches

Natural Sculpture

1/3/21Penalty

Boxes

1/2/21Hot Dam

New Year Crew

1/1/21Hello World.

Welcome to 2021