Model: Tieshedo Houston, Next Models, Miami Beach
Wardrobe/Styling: Fuscha Fashions
Makeup: Romina Porras
Hair: Damian Lopez
Photography: Sam Dobrow
Location: samdobrow photography studio, Miami, FL
Date: Dec 11, 2011

Figure Libre Spring/Summer catalog has shipped and product is rolling out on the shelves of retailers. This catalog was photographed, designed, and produced by Sam Dobrow. Sam managed the entire project from model selection, makeup and hair concept, catalog design and layout, to print shop production. Over 4000 copies of the catalog were printed and are being shipped to distributors, wholesalers, and retail store buyers across the country. The catalog features youthful designs for the fashion forward woman.

Parsley & Sage Spring/Summer catalog has shipped and product is rolling out on the shelves of retailers. This catalog was photographed, designed, and produced by Sam Dobrow. Sam managed the entire project from model selection, makeup and hair concept, catalog design and layout, to print shop production. Over 4000 copies of the catalog were printed and are being shipped to distributors, wholesalers, and retail store buyers across the country. The catalog features bold colors and designs for the fashion forward woman.

On April 14, 2011, the Rally Foundation held its annual Fashion Funds The Cure fashion show featuring girls fighting cancer at Bloomingdales — Lenox Mall. The event was chaired by Curtis Lofton of the Atlanta Falcons. Sponsors for the event include Mercedes Benz, Robert Mondavi Wineries, Verizon Wireless, and Jezebel Magazine.

In addition to several of the Atlanta Falcons escorting the Rally Kids down the runway, guests were treated to a fashion show from Bloomingdales current lines.

The event raised over $120,000 to help fight childhood cancer.

Over 200 photos are in the collection from this event. Prints may be ordered for a nominal charge at photos.samdobrowphotography.com/fftc2011

This image was selected from thousands of winners of the monthly Popular Photography “Your Best Shot” winners for publication in the soon to be released book from Weldon Owen publishing.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

To maintain the initial intentions and integrity of the magazine, a team of publishing experts sifted through several thousand submissions provided to Popular Photography magazine over the last few years in order to identify the best and most representative submissions to be considered for this project.

We are pleased inform you that your Contest winning Photo to Popular Photography magazine has been selected to be included Get That Shot! Popular Photography, which will be published later this year. As the book is intended to represent and index the magazines’ creme-de-la-creme examples, this will be wonderful addition to your portfolio.

The selected image that will be reprinted for Popular Photography’s first full length book ran in the April 2008 issue, showing a horse’s mane.

On behalf of Weldon Owen and Popular Photography magazine, we offer our sincere congratulations in having your submission translated into a timeless shelf-piece!

Sincerely,

Conor Buckley
Photography and Illustration Coordinator
Weldon Owen Inc.
415 Jackson St # 2
San Francisco, CA
www.weldonowen.com

Well, we’re under contract for this house in Coconut Grove. This is where Janice and I want to retire. If all goes well we will close in the next 30 days. Then we need to decide where our primary residence will be until the market improves for selling our Alpharetta home. It’s a lot smaller than we are used to. Anyone need some furniture?

Modern house, new construction in Coconut Grove. Close to everything, great pedestrian neighborhood. Has ready-to-build lot next door. Excellent construction, tall ceilings, impact glass, steel doors, marble floors, granite counter tops, travertine floors throughout, average kitchen appliances, high efficiency AC, private lot in good neighborhood.

Small but functional pool. 2 car garage, fenced in yard, needs some landscaping, side lot is a huge utility for guest house, larger pool and dogs. We’ll move the fence and make the outdoor space much more livable by landscaping the lot.

So, here I am in Miami Beach developing business contacts and looking at distressed real estate and I happen upon this. Well it just hit me funny. I mean, here I am in the heart of the worst market for residential foreclosures. People are loosing their homes to the banks. Prices have crashed as much as 75% in some neighborhoods from their peak in 2006. The clerk of Miami-Dade County has an online foreclosure auction site so people can buy up foreclosed properties like it's an eBay auction. Banks are not lending money to anyone with debt or an existing mortgage. Cash is king and cash buyers walk into a distressed property and beat up the seller. Yes, its like a banana republic in the real estate market.

So I look across the street and I notice this beautiful, modern architecture thinking it might make an interesting picture. I walk a little closer and see over the door "MEMBER OF FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK SYSTEM" and right above it "BANANA REPUBLIC". Yes it seems that a retail store now lives inside a former bank and they retained the character of the original architecture. Several years ago, this would have little meaning but today the social context is stunning. And then I see the "Save up to 30%" sign outside the door and I begin to think this is a unique moment in history. Ironically enough 30% below market value is about the discount you can get at auction on a distressed property. Every day hundreds if not thousands of shoppers walk past this store in one of Miami Beach's posh shopping districts and probably never notice the irony.

For those of you who are unsure about the meaning of "banana republic" Wikipedia defines it:

Banana republic is a term that refers to a politically unstable country dependent upon limited agriculture (e.g. bananas), and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy, corrupt politico-economic plutocracy. The original concept of banana republic was a direct reference to a "servile dictatorship" that abetted (or supported for kickbacks) the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, especially banana cultivation.

It’s Chanukah so I thought I’d post this photo of a seasonal art installation on the Lincoln Road Mall in South Beach (Miami Beach).

The installation is sponsored by Chabad, a Jewish charity, and built by artist Roger Abrahamsen. Roger personally gathered 10,000 shells required to build the 10′ tall menorah and dreidel. The menorah candles will be lit as a way to introduce people to the story and tradition of Chanukah. Read more on the Chabad website.

Chanukah is also known as the festival of lights because it is when the candelabra known as a menorah is lit for eight nights. Each night an additional candle is lit in the menorah until the final night when all candles burn brightly. In Judiasm, one of the key symbols in the temple is the ever lasting light which reminds everyone that God is always there. It is a sacrament to keep the lamp burning with purified oil. In the second century BCE the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Syrians and only a days supply of oil was found to keep the lamp burning. It would take eight days to produce new purified oil for the lamp. By miracle, the small vial of oil lasted the eight days while the new oil was produced. Chanukah is a celebration of this miracle and the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

The dreidel is a 4 sided top used in a gambling-like game by children. Children usually play the dreidel with “chocolate coins”. Each child puts a coin into the “pot” then one spins the dreidel. Depending on which of four Hebrew letters turns up, the candy in the pot may be (1) taken by the spinner, (2) half taken by the spinner, (3) divided among all the players, or (4) left in the pot for the next round. The next round starts the same way. The dreidel game has about as much to do with Chanukah as Santa Claus has to do with Christmas.

One thing I love about Miami is its cultural diversity!

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