Last night was the Fall 2011 Levi’s preview in NYC. Go here if you want to see a few images from the presentation. Or, stay here if you feel like playing a little photohunt. There are 4 differences. Go!

In another example of deep pockets doing good work, Levi’s has opened a free photo studio/lab on Wooster Street, where the Deitch space used to reside. I dropped by yesterday to check it out. I normally try to avoid NY freebies that are open to the public, because they tend to be a bit too much of a zoo for my liking. I was pleasantly surprised by the absence of indignant people trying to horde the free resources. I chatted for a bit, with the guy running the outfit, and he said that really only time he had encountered it was when some DB came in on Saturday and monopolized the large format printer to print off his whole book and ran it out of ink.

They have an entire wall of vintage film cameras for loan (free), as well as film to load in them. Upstairs, is a light table and a library of reference material for photography.

In the rear space (top photo) there is an entire studio setup, with soft box strobes and a seamless background. Again, free. That is also where they have their print lab set up. Oh, they can also print t-shirts.  In the very front of the space, there is a display case with dozens of vintage Leica cameras on display.

And of course, there is a photo booth.

Or, maybe you just need a biga** calibrated monitor to check out your work. They have that too.

Anyway, I think that this is a really cool idea and that is why I’m going on and on about it. I may have to drop by with Reagan to borrow/shoot with some of the awesome old school cameras that they have.

I have been a huge fan of Shepard Fairey since I first discovered his work. Despite his recent legal battles, which include the City of Boston (for illegal street art), and the Associated Press (being sued for copyright infringement, Re: the image from which is based his “change”/”hope” image), I still think that he is pretty freaking awesome. A lot of street artists feel like Fairey has sort of sold out, with his commercial projects. He did a Saks ad last year (proceeds went to charity). Then there is his Obey line of clothing. Obey is what brought him to Times Square last night. He created a live installation to promote the collaboration that Obey is doing with Levi’s. The installation was right in front of the Levi’s store in Times Square. I was covering the event for SoJones. It was pretty cool hanging out, like that, with one of my long time, idols. I had a really great time shooting it.

Sorry to bomb this post all up with so many photos, but I really liked all of these.

^—There was a pretty solid crowd spectating (like there ever isn’t one, in TS)

^–Even though this thing was probably going straight in the trash, Shep still paid attention to detail.

Below was shot from a cherry picker. I kind of liked this vantage point. I wished that I had brought more lenses.