dz foto

mon ami Sandro!

2009-08-31T22:39:00.000-07:00

Kota Kinabalu, BORNEO

This classic out take comes from a recon trip to Borneo with one of my best friends on the planet, the one and only Vittorio Alessandro Di Suvero... better known as Alex Di Suvero in his by-lines in the New York Times and the illustrious pages of National Geographic's Adventure magazine.

We met at an outback bar in the middle of Australia when we were both on assignment at the Eco-Challenge adventure race. I remember the barkeep wore a wife-beater t-shirt and running shorts barely covering the stump of one leg that was clearly taken by the local legend of a crocodile - the widow maker!

Here we were two Italian-American photojournalists on assignment at the Eco-Challenge Adventure race a good 8000 miles from home. At the time Alex was working out of Hong Kong where he lived abroad for eight years. I felt an instant brotherhood through our shared passion for adventure and respect for photography as an art form. Alex is one embodies all the best qualities of my ideal of an artist. Cosmopolitan, erudite, multi-lingual, ambitious and driven by an intellectual curiosity that is second to none... our friendship started right there and then.

Some years down the road Alex was selected to head the international team of shooters for the MSOQ (mild seven outdoor quest) and thank goodness he asked me to be a part of the team! The next three years Borneo became a big part of my continuing education in the best of action and adventure photography. In this respect, I owe Alex a debt of gratitude as a shooter and a friend.

In Malaysia the highest mountain in the territory is the 13,000 foot granite monolith, Kota Kinabalu. Alex and I climbed this beautiful sea-to-summit massive six times over the three years we shot this race. One of my favorite stories of this wild and exotic part of the world is climbing this bloody mountain with Alex.

As you may know - Borneo is a land of extremes. Extreme scorching equatorial temperature, torrential rains, rotten jungles and gigantic natural phenomenon, (i.e., the worlds biggest flower). At one point on our slog up the trail to the top Alex was buzzed by a creature that was so large he gave me a heads up to 'look out'!

Being a clever boy... I said - 'that thing is so big it should have a set of license plates!'

This buzzing hybrid part C130 troop transport and part giant wasp like the size of a sparrow stopped flying past us - did a complete 180 U-turn and zoomed right to the back of my hand and bit the hell out of it! ... the hand swelled up like a balloon and I was sick as a dog for days!

Always the astute observer, Alex pointed out that at the very moment I had disrespected the nature - the huge bug took offense and changed directions to pay me back. It was a perfect example of what being a smart-ass will do for your karma... he was of course, quite right.

It was a lesson that still reminds me of what my Grandma Di Zinno used to admonish us boys with ... "if you got nothing nice to say - don't say anything at all!"

Merci beaucoupes mon frere Alex!

a few simple words - a world of meaning

2009-07-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

DATELINE: Brooklyn, NY

Thats my little brother... ya. He is the tall drink of Guinness jumping off of the Brooklyn Bridge next to his best friend and fellow Venice local Jaime Burtis upon Dom's graduation from Sarah Lawrence ... but alas I digress.

I remember the first time I recognized my brother Dominic had found what he was born to do... no it wasn't when he was a classically trained guitar virtuoso who did a gig on a world tour as a guitar tech (roadie) for the popular metal band known as Megadeth at the ripe age of only twenty-two years old.

Nor was it the time he had been a self-admitted failure as an aspiring knuckle head surfer living deep in the hood in Venice Beach. It was really more than ten years ago now we were sitting together in an impossibly hot indoor cafe in with the young man in the foothills of the Himalaya in Northern India. This Rocker turned Buddhist scholar would eventually become a Harvard Graduate - but not before he shared something priceless with me - his friend.

We had been together for two intense weeks of travel and teachings at temples ostensibly so I could see up close and personal the world he had immersed himself in. Dominic had become the rarest of things ... a Westerner living, breathing and sleeping as one totally immersed in the monastic life at the Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies a Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism in Dharmsala - the capital of Tibet in exile.

One of Dominic's friends there was a young Tibetan nun named Ani Tenzen whom with her smooth shaven head showing just a hint of stubble and scarlet robes personified the beatific image of shyness. She only spoke her native Tibetan to my brother and he would translate for me.

Ani Tenzen spent many days with us and observed me making photographs of everything all day every day. I made action shots of a courtyard full of young monks practicing the thunderclap of debate in the school of dialects... she was there. When I arranged for portraits of a trio of young candidates known as Tulkus (thought to be reincarnated Lamas) she was there quietly present. When I was privy to a rare public audience with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama - Ani Tenzen saw it all.

Then near the end of my stay - she spoke directly to me for the first time. In perfect English she said carefully choosing her words, "... Now I understand!" At first I was quite stunned and amazed - but then I quickly gathered myself and asked her, "Ani Tenzen ... what is it that you understand now?"

And then without fanfare - this timid young woman gave me the best compliment of my professional life... when she said, " Photography is your meditation." I just could not believe what I was hearing. For one who has dedicated her life to the discipline of meditation on a daily basis she not only noticed but took the time to mention it to me - but only after great consideration, deliberation and finally a deep knowing.

Photography is my meditation.

In her world mediation means not only focusing on the important things - but also to discard the noise, throw out the trash and dismiss the wrong view. The more I thought about it the more I knew that Ani Tenzen had taught me more about my work in a simple declarative sentence than I had gained from years of tuition at University.

I shall be forever grateful.

Tashi Delek

~ dz

sushi, ju-jitsu and brasil

2009-07-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

400 - 0

There are so very few chances in this life to actually meet the people you most admire. When the auspicious occasion presents itself you just have to absolutely go for it. Late one Saturday night not too long ago I found myself standing on a sidewalk in Santa Monica with my two brilliant friends Sean and Joel at a Sushi bar on Wilshire.

Then it happened - he came out of the shadows.

The dark silhouette of a figure coming towards me. I just knew it was him. The same way an animal recognizes the unique arc of his own predator -- with a slight sense of rising alarm and in slow motion. It was none other than MMA Ju-Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie! Of course, I was quite taken aback at first since this was the last place on earth I had expected to see 'the MAN.' As he glided by I smiled and bowed my head gently and he gave me a wink. . . the kind that self-possessed celebrities do when they know with a confident glance they have been recognized and understand in a nanosecond that you won't be 'one of those' fans who is going to be a nuisance.

As I explained that Rickson (pronounced like Hick-son) had just passed us by, Sean and Joel (whom I love like brothers) just didn't get why I was so thrilled see this living legend. The fact of the matter was that I had just finished watching his definitive documentary on dvd and he was really at the forefront of my mind. The point I tried to make to my young palawans was how important it was to show respect to the special ones while we have the chance -- and not wait until the opportunity passes by.

So, after our dinner I found just the right time to go unobtrusively up to this undefeated *(400 wins and ZERO losses) World Champ and introduce myself. It was a dream like chance to be able to appreciate the man in person even for just a fleeting moment. Gracie, to his lasting credit received the attention with all the class of the hero he has been to me so many times over in the last two decades. We spoke briefly about our mutual affection for three-time world champ Brazilian Grand Prix driver Ayrton Senna, and his interest in photography and Brasil. . . and then I took my leave quite pleased that once more I had kept the personal bargain with myself to recognize one of my personal heroes - person to person.

obrigado,

dz