John Updike & The Rea Award

It was my privilege in Spring '07 to be asked by Elizabeth Richebourg Rea to document the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of The Rea Award for the Short Story. The event was highlighted with remarks by Cynthia Ozick, the very first winner in 1986, and capped off with a closing address by John Updike the 2006 winner.

Especially gratifying for me was the opportunity to create portraits of all ten of the previous winners who were able to attend this once-in-a-lifetime gathering that, in the words of Ozick, was like one of those early "salon writer gatherings ... that will never happen again."

The evening indeed was a cultural high-water mark and transpired at New York's Symphony Space. The host, Ann Beattie, first introduced the celebrated actor, Lois Smith, who read "The Shawl", Ozick's moving story of the Holocaust. Following, came Deborah Eisenberg, Richard Ford, Joyce Carol Oates, Grace Paley, Tobias Wolf, John Edgar Wideman, & Joy Williams, each voicing hand-picked selections from their own body of work. The culmination was actor Campbell Scott's reading of "The Orphaned Swimming Pool" by the acclaimed John Updike who gave a very moving speech regarding the current state of the arts and, in particular, the lack of arts funding in the country.

In this era of embarrasingly diminished government funding for the arts, Elizabeth Rea should be congratulated heartily for continuing the tradition of this prestigious award started by her late husband, Michael M. Rea.

John Lithgow -- Revisitor From Another Planet

John Lithgow, of Third Rock fame, recently flit by Symphony Space, to read "Uncle Fred Flits By" by P. G. Wodehouse and, since I happened to be flitting by as well, it seemed only flitting that I flitograph it all.

































All in all, it was another fun evening at the diverse and exciting cultural institution that is Symphony Space -- I hope you are all checking them out because with events from short story readings by some of the world's most talented actors, to dance performances, to classical & international music, to film, to events for kids, and on & on, there is something for everyone to enjoy and enrich themselves with.

a farewell to winter (such as we knew it . . . )

Joel Simon Gave a Party . . .

Rock&Jazz&Hip&Hop&Jam On A Roll! -- Joel Simon, CEO & CMI (Grand Master Impresario) of JSM the killer music house, put everything into a mix & threw a party of parties . . . & NO ONE was missing this one!

Was it held on the Rebel Alliance's Starship Cruiser or was it burrowed down into the Matrix' Zion? No -- it just seemed that way given the designcool of the JSM facility where the big bash was held. Two live bands provided pulsating funk & cool Latin jazz; The Reverend Run (of RUN DMC) dropped by; Chris Classic and Boogie hammered down a slammin' jammin' wordstream; a fortune-teller made forecasts; and let us not forget the height-challenged gentlemen who served up the very colorful beverages!

Joel was recently named one of CRAIN BUSINESS's 40 Under 40, an outstanding honor that shows he knows how to do a lot more than party. So kudos to he & the rest of the band of outstanding talent that make up this great company.

Home Remedies

Last year, Tina Pohlman, an editor at Harcourt, asked if I could do a portrait of her in my 'Creative Executive' mode. She immediately confessed that she was not in love with having her picture taken however she needed a photo for a press release announcing her move to another publisher.

Since working with those of a camera shy disposition has become a specialty, happily the photo session was very painless and produced an image that met with the subject's smiling approval! Ironically, the portrait was eventually used somewhat differently than its intended purpose: the job situation was remedied via Tina staying right at home in a newer, bigger, & better position. And my portrait of her wound up being employed to announce her new/old gig with Harcourt. Additionally, Tina has been so happy with the photograph that it has been jet-setting around the globe with her in conjunction with featured appearances at The London Book Fair, The Jerusalem Book Fair and, just last month, yet another literary confab in Rome as she continues to scour the globe for great literary talent!


Plus, BONUS: I was then connected by Tina to photograph one of that amazingly gifted set whom Tina has signed, Angela Pneuman, for the jacket portrait on Angela's debut book HOME REMEDIES. It is a collection of totally engaging, entertaining and well-crafted stories by this incredibly talented writer, who also happens to be a fellow alum of Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!)



The book has just been released and I encourage everyone to rush out or get online and buy a copy NOW. Thanx, Tina! Congrats, Angela!!

Amy Sedaris Breaks Leg At Symphony Space (& Ric Kallaher Photographed It)

AMY SEDARIS and DAVID (not to be confused with her famous brother, David) RAKOFF appeared at SYMPHONY SPACE as part of the THALIA BOOK CLUB in a wild improv performance on exactly how to prepare a dinner party . . . or was it about how NOT to prepare a dinner party?

I'm not certain.

Neither am I sure at what point she decided or why (a dare? some strange take-off on the old theatre superstitious phrase of "Break a Leg"?) but she chose to give her entire performance from the vantage point of a wheelchair -- the audience having been informed by David at the very beginning that "Amy has had an accident."

Anyway, she walked away from the evening just fine (in her hospital slippers), even after David shaved her legs onstage.

The only other thing I can confirm is that it is tremendously difficult to get good photos whilst laughing so hard -- it was like "I Love Lucy" . . . ON STEROIDS!

The Animated Stephen King - Symphonic Arrangements by Ric Kallaher Part 2

Following the success of The Selected Shorts presentation of "OPERATION: HOMECOMING", I've been asked back by SYMPHONY SPACE several times as part of an ongoing and enriching collaboration. My second engagement was for a total crowd pleaser: STEPHEN KING, touring to promote his latest book LISEY'S STORY, being interviewed by Irish author, John Connolly.

Symphonic Arrangements by Ric Kallaher (for OPERATION: HOMECOMING )

SYMPHONY SPACE, the revered cultural institution on Manhattan's Upper West Side, has just updated their website and it incorporates an entire photo gallery of my images that I'd like you to see.





Last September I was asked by Liz Samurovich, Marketing Director for Symphony Space, to photograph backstage, the performance & post-performance events surrounding a very special presentation of the celebrated "SELECTED SHORTS" series called "OPERATION HOMECOMING: WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE".




This was an evening of excerpts from a National Endowment For the Arts project that had proven so populat that it had been adapted into a best selling bookturned. It is based entirely on the very moving and engaging correspondence of soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Sprinkled with humor but more often flavored with candid and startling emotion the letters and essays were interpreted for a packed house by Academy Award nominee JOAN ALLEN, MATTHEW MODINE and others. It was a very moving example of the power of words and live theatre.