Last night Kevin Lynch brought the goods.

First he brought an amazing presentation of his work including celebrity portraiture, film posters, his exhaustive and up close coverage of the UFC fighters...

...including some very challenging before and after bout pics.

...and some chilling portraits.

...as well as an abstract series that he co-created with his wife called "Watercolors."

Then... to make it all the more real... Kevin brought UFC fighter Brandon Vera to sit and talk with him.

Brandon was so gracious and polite it was hard to imagine him breaking noses and spilling blood.


...but his input was very interesting. He spoke about his contemporaries and about the logistics of growing a 'career' in Ultimate Fighting.

Afterwards they both stayed standing through a round of Q&A and the onslaught of fans.

Kevin also brought his urban-legend-rare and giant book, OCTAGON. The book, which has more than 800 four-color and black-and-white photographs, was printed and hand bound in Italy, weighing over 50 pounds.

It ranges in price from $2,500 to $7,500, depending on the edition, and is truly a work of art.

But for those who wanted to purchase a book for Kevin or Brandon to sign, there were some more affordable volumes on hand.

...and plenty of opportunity to press the flesh and mug for the cameras...

Oh! And did I mention that Kevin also brought his mom?

She even came back afterwards and got her son to sign a few books.

(cute!)

In short, Kevin really knocked us out. Thank you Kevin, Brandon and Mom. Y'all come back now y'hear?

(All images © Unique for the Space)

Karen Kasmauski came to our IRIS Nights lecture last night and explained to us why she does what she does. "I was born an observer," she told those in attendance. An observer, yes, but also a storyteller.

While trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, she said that she settled on photography as a way to tell stories. The former newspaper photojournalist's only formal training in the field was what she describes as a life-long thirst to learn more about other people's lives.

In college, a palm reader predicted Karen would pursue a career in medicine. Obviously, that prediction didn't come true.

Still, maybe that palm reader was on to something. Over the course of her career, Karen has done several stories on health and medicine.

It was these stories that placed in her in some of the greatest danger. During one story about radiation, she was unknowingly contaminated with radiation after eating reindeer and moose meat from Sweden that was contaminated from the Chernobyl disaster.

Karen shared the story behind an amazing image of a survivor from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. During the shoot, this man, who was severely burned, asked her if she would be interested in seeing the charred and tattered jacket he was wearing on the day the bomb was dropped. She responded with a resounding "yes!" What a profound story in a simple yet powerful image.

Not only were Karen's many colleagues in attendance during last night's IRIS Nights lecture but so was her family. Here she is with her proud husband and daughter.

Great job, Karen! We can't wait to hear more of your observations in the future!

Click here to watch Karen's IRIS Nights lecture online. For more information about Karen, visit her official Website.

(All images by Unique for the Space)

Last night was our 30th IRIS Nights lecture!

We had two very special guest lecturers, Academy Award winning producer Corinne Marrinan and blind photographer Bruce Hall.

The subject of the evening was a short film directed by our own Neil Leifer, co-produced by Neil and Corinne, and featuring Bruce Hall along with two other blind photographers (Pete Eckert and Henry Butler) called "Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers."

I didn't know about blind photographers until I heard about this film. The subject matter was introduced in a very artful way in the film, through interviews with a number of well-known photographers talking about their skepticism or curiosity about how a blind person can even be a photographer.

Bruce and Corinne discussed the unique case of each of the three, as each of them has a different kind of blindness.

Peter Eckert lost his sight later in life, so he had a lifetime of 20/20 memories to draw on to create his ethereal, painterly images.

(photo by Peter Eckert)

Henry Butler has been completely blind since he was a baby, so his pictures arise out of his musical sense of timing and his connection to people he meets.

(photo by Henry Butler)

Bruce has been legally blind since birth - he has 5% of normal vision and can only see blurry shapes unless he brings something a few inches from his face...

(This is Bruce literally reading a note from his Doctor explaining his condition.)

...so he takes pictures with a sense of what he might be capturing, but then has to look at large prints of the images (or enlargements on his monitor) to even see what happened.

Corinne-who in her spare time has been a writer on CSI for the past few years- was completely charming and kept drawing great stories out of Bruce with her innocent-sounding questions.

(photo by Damon Webster)

Then we got to see more of Bruce's amazing underwater photography.

...including the one that Bruce said Neil Leifer loved of the glowing Garibaldi off the coast of Catalina Island...

Bruce then veered into his other work: his ongoing (life) project documenting life with his twin sons who are profoundly autistic.

This one is his favorite.

And that was a wrap!

What a great pair! Thank you so much for your Joie de Vivre Corinne!

And your wonderful work Bruce!

(All photos © Unique for the Space except where noted)

Those of you who suffer from acrophobia may want to proceed with caution while reading the rest of this blog post. That's because the breathtaking images of the world's deserts you're about to see have been taken by last night's IRIS Nights lecturer, photographer George Steinmetz, from high up in the sky...

...on board his own motorized para-glider!

As George explained to the audience, for him to really understand the desert, he needed to get high above the ground. His para-glider is lightest powered aircraft in the world.

His method of photography is certainly not all that safe. He shared a photo of himself that showed injuries he'd received when his glider once crashed during take-off in China. Several busted teeth and 17 stitches didn't stop him from getting back into the pilot's seat!

George told the audience that he has always been a very curious man. The camera is his excuse to explore the world and share his knowledge with the rest of the world.

Don't just think that the deserts are located in hot climates. George gave us all a geography lesson by reminding us that Antarctica, which he has beautifully documented with his own camera, is the largest and driest desert on the planet!

Stropping by to hear George's lecture was his friend Art Streiber, a very talented photographer in his own right.

But George's most important visitor last night was his own mother who watched him with great pride throughout the entire lecture.

Congrats on a great talk, George! Fly safely!

Click here to watch George's IRIS Nights lecture online. For more information about him, visit his official website.

(All images by Unique for the Space)