It can be tough to navigate the city with a camera bag. They can be awkwardly clumsy, bulky, and vulnerable to bumps, scratches and sticky fingers.
Heavy Leather NYC’s Lookout camera bag addresses these concerns beautifully. Constructed of high-end cowhide leathers and microsuede, and built by American leather artisans, it is a perfect investment for DSLRs, rangefinders, and lenses.
Heavy Leather NYC is a “one-woman show,” that woman being Rachael Becker, who has built her brand from the ground up, having sold leather goods to Prince, Black Sabbath, Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, and Justin Timberlake. She keeps the production footprint as minimal as possible, with little waste and little travel.
Most of Heavy Leather NYC’s products are made in-house. The larger production is made by a small family-run factory down the street from the studio. “It’s a father, mother, son, grandfather and 2 dog team,” says Heavy Leather NYC’s website.
You can be sure that each bag is unique and created with love, care and skilled craftsmanship.
Photo: Alice Teeple
Photo: Alice Teeple
The Lookout bag is weather-resistant, generously padded and features a divider for lens and gear. Its universal design accommodates all cameras, including a DSLR with one lens, or mirrorless cameras with 2 lenses. It also serves well as a holder for other accessories, with two large pockets on the sides and an interior pocket under the flap for various sundries.
The front flap secures with a double nub closure, and the leather interior side flaps secure with a snap for extra protection. An adjustable nylon webbing shoulder strap, removable by two heavy-duty swivel hook clips, is included – it comfortably fits cross-body.
Our model Katie, an actress and visual artist in Astoria, took the bag out for a test spin in Astoria Park with a Canon 5D on a gorgeous early spring day.
“I like this bag a lot,” she said. “They did a great job designing it for working photographers. It’s really secure, it’s not cumbersome in any way. It’s comfortable to wear.”
The nubs securing the front strap are quite snug, so unbuckling the bag quickly can be a challenge. There are no reinforcements around the strapholes, which could potentially be troublesome if the leather isn’t cared for properly (leading to cracks or tears), but otherwise the front strap is quite secure.
This is a camera bag best suited for planned work and transport, not off-the-fly street photography that requires a quick grab. But its design and protection are well thought out and executed, as is its attention to detail. One feels perfectly comfortable walking around city streets wearing it. The leather is high quality and buttery smooth. The top door is solid and secures well. The bag’s sleek triangle design is chic and timeless – and it comes in black and brown. It’s a good choice for pragmatists and the style-conscious alike.
Photo: Alice Teeple
Photo: Alice Teeple
The depth of the bag makes up for the usual standard: Katie’s DSLR and a 80-200mm easily fit inside; there wasn’t room to store many other lenses, besides a spare nifty fifty or 35mm, or one telephoto. But as far as protection goes, it’s absolutely stellar, feels rock n’ roll, and the included strap is comfortable.
Heavy Leather NYC’s leather camera strap, embossed with the company’s logo, was also tested during this excursion. It fit easily on Katie’s 5D, and felt secure and comfortable as well as stylish.
Photo: Alice Teeple
All in all, the $200 for the bag is absolutely worth every penny and is an investment in local artisan production.
The leather strap runs $65, and it too will last with proper care. Heavy Leather NYC’s products will long outlive your gear, and will weather gorgeously for the next generation of shutterbugs. Highly recommended.
Summer is not over just yet! Get your whites on and come downtown to the 3rd annual Brookfield Place Tennis Open. Can’t get out to the open, no problem Brookfield Place has something for everyone. Life overlooking the Hudson is never amiss. Brookfield Place our very own gem delivers the excitement from Queens US Open to Downtown, New York.
Brookfield Open Tennis
The Brookfield Tennis Open kicks off Saturday, Aug 25th through August 31st. Here you will find as much fun off the court as you will on the court, from delicious food, to open courts, tennis clinics for both children and adults to photo opts with some of your favorite tennis players. Or simply come out to refine your skills with their free clinics.
Brookfield Place Tennis Open
John Isner and Lucas Pouille will be at Brookfield Place New York to celebrate its 3rd annual Brookfield Place Tennis Open with an event today August 25th presented by Prince, the leading global racquet sports brand. John Isner and Lucas Pouille, Prince Brand Ambassadors, will square off for a fun, public match to kick-start the Brookfield Place Tennis Open in Lower Manhattan.
Come on over to Brookfield, for participatory demonstrations and games with prizes!
Brookfield Place Tennis Open
Families, no problem, don’t leave the children with their nanny, stop by for their kids camp and adult and kids clinics on the court.
Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment is partnering with The Bowery Presents — AEG Presents’ regional partner — to acquire the operating rights and assets to Webster Hall, the legendary music and entertainment venue located in Manhattan’s East Village. The parties will assume the long-term lease to the building, which will continue to be owned by current owner, Unity Gallega.
“We are excited to build on the iconic history of Webster Hall,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. “Webster Hall provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to connect with artists early in their careers and expands BSE’s venue footprint into Manhattan. We appreciate all that the Ballinger family has done to make Webster Hall an industry leading venue and we are looking forward to working with them, The Bowery Presents and AEG Presents to make it an even greater destination for live music.”
“Partnering with The Bowery Presents and Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment to program and operate this iconic live facility will continue to enhance Webster Hall’s worldwide reputation as one of the industry’s most important venues,” said Jay Marciano, Chairman and CEO, AEG Presents.
Webster Hall has undergone several waves of transformation throughout the past century. In the 1920’s, Webster Hall notoriously held masquerade balls and was nicknamed “the Devil’s Playhouse.” RCA Records purchased Webster Hall in 1954 and renovated the venue to include a state-of-the-art acoustically-treated ballroom. Notable artists who recorded in Webster Hall’s studio during this time included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan (his recording debut), Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, and Julie Andrews.
Beginning in the 1980’s, Webster Hall reemerged as a leading rock venue in the City, hosting artists such as Eric Clapton with Keith Richards, U2 (the band’s first-ever U.S. show), Tina Turner, The Beastie Boys, Prince, Sting, Metallica, Aerosmith, KISS, B.B. King and Guns N’ Roses. The Ballinger family began running the venue in 1989.
What do Barbra Streisand, Audrey Hepburn, Jay Leno, Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, and Goldie Hawn have in common? Superstardom aside, they have all hired Dick Guttman to do their public relations. Comparable to a movie director, oftentimes the general public does not realize when a publicist is doing their job as the strategic buffer between a client and the media. Despite that lack of recognition, Dick has been doing well for over 60 years, and is generally credited for invention of the Oscar campaign.
While owning a thriving business would be enough work for most people — Dick is the namesake of Guttman Associates — Dick made time last year to complete a 600+ page autobiography, Starflacker: Inside The Golden Age Of Hollywood. The book is filled with interesting stories from Dick’s decades in Hollywood, including appearances from Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Cary Grant, and Kirk Douglas. Another book is reportedly in the works from Dick, who often contributes to The Huffington Post. His writing credits also include two feature films and four television movies.
Downtown caught up with Dick by phone, chatting for much more than the anticipated 20 minutes with the Hollywood legend. At a later date, more from our conversation will run on the Downtown site. For now, Dick and company can be followed on Twitter, while Starflacker is available for sale through Amazon and other fine retailers.
I was very entertained by the Huffington Post article that you wrote about working with Prince right around the time he passed. You had mentioned that he had stormed out of the meeting, that you had quipped a funny line there, and he said basically that you had one favor that he would honor…
Dick Guttman: It wasn’t like he slammed the door or anything. He’d had enough and it was a shock to me because it was the first time I really had met him. I’d been working on the film [Purple Rain] and really loved the film. I knew that it was going to be a success because his people were there, but there was another audience entirely. If it reached me it was going to reach everybody and I had some ideas. So just at this point he just got up and left and I actually was angry and I said, “I look forward to not working with you,” which really shocked everybody, including me…It must have been three seconds, four seconds, but it seemed like three or four days and everybody in the room was just in shock. Then the door opened and he gives a smile…He says, “Okay, you got one.” He wasn’t that angry, he just said, “You caught me, okay, you got one.”
Did you often encounter that kind of demand from a superstar entertainer? Or was that the first major one that happened with?
Dick Guttman: You know, I never really thought about it at the time. At the time of his death, the question on my mind was I should put that story because I actually thought it was one that celebrated him…If anybody showed bad judgment it was I, and then I reconsidered. I put it into the light of who he was, he was a guy that came to Hollywood, he came into the entertainment field completely doing it his way. His managers were really brilliant, I thought, because they were about my age and yet they knew…a great manager pave the road for the client, he makes sure that the client gets a chance to express himself as he wishes to. That’s really what a manager does and they did an extraordinary job with him…They were just stunned by the variety of his talents, he could play any instrument…He came into the business and apparently he was treated very very badly by the different institutions or different companies. The label presumed his name, you know…then they felt that they own the brand “Prince” and that’s why he changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
Yes…
Dick Guttman That was his anger about that and I have a feeling that the studio, Warners, they really like the movie. But he was so insulated and isolated, I think they didn’t really reach out to him and I think he had a great distrust for anything that had to do with Hollywood. He comes into this meeting…I realized really just recently when I was writing that recall, I realized that from him I was just another Hollywood phony. Someone who is going to try to take his name, make promises, whatever it was that he hated. He really thoroughly distrusted all the instruments of the industry, the corporations, with good reasons actually, and so I was just another guy. Then when I said that, you know I think I pulled the plug on a hand grenade and I think he thought, “Why would a guy to go to all that trouble unless he actually had something to say?” He thought he’d come back and see, he says “okay, you got one,” prove it to me.
Right…
Dick Guttman: I thought it was a very charming thing that he did and I don’t know if the story I wrote on The Huffington Post was interpreted that way. I hope it was.
Yeah I think so, if the person made it all the way through the article. I think you made an interesting point when you defined what the role of a great manager was. I’ve noticed a lot of major artists in film and music in recent years have made their new manager a publicist, whether it’s their former publicist or their longtime publicist. Did you yourself ever think of getting into management?
Dick Guttman: Right at the beginning when, my partner was Jerry Pam. I mean there’s an interesting reason I left…When I was 19, I started working at a company called Rogers & Cowan — by leaps and bounds the greatest of all the the great publicity firms — and this was in 1954. It was right when the tide was starting to turn toward the end of the contract system, you know Jimmy Cagney and Bette Davis had come up against Jack Warner and there were little cracks in the walls…[People] were starting to think that they could make their own movies and by and large they never made the movies as well as the tyrannical moguls did. I mean, the greatest period was the 30s and 40s, and I came in and immediately I became a press agent…I formed a really close relationship with Warren Cowan, who was the “Cowan” of Rogers & Cowan.
Yes…
Dick Guttman: I was there a couple years and then I came into a personal crisis…I took off for Europe for a couple years. Really that was the best thing I ever did, but when I came back and went back to work at Rogers & Cowan, I was there for like 16 years…all the privileges of exercising my craft the way I wanted to and until one time where Rogers and Cowan was handling Blum’s Furriers. It was in Chicago, the greatest furrier in the world, its clientele was Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, Gala Kurchi…
They’re opening up a store in Beverly Hills on Wilshire Boulevard and Rogers & Cowan was going to have the kind of opening only Rogers & Cowan could do. They can always guarantee 12 to 15 stars at the thing, which is all you need…You’ve got a big event, you’re going to get lots and lots of photography and that’s what they’re going to do. I came in to Warren and I said, “I have a better idea.” He said, “What?” I said, “I think that we should have guests of honor for the event. “He said, “Who do you have in mind?” I thought what are they famous for I think that the guests of honor should be Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, and Gala Kurchi. Warren looked at me and said, “They’re dead.” I said, “I know that but I think we can get some great spiritualist and do a seance.” He said, “They won’t come.” (laughs) I said, “You don’t know that. Maybe they would come or not come.” He looked at me and said, “That is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard in my whole life.” I thought it was a great idea. I went back to my office and I had another one for them that I didn’t even bother to tell him. (laughs)
I get back to my office and I was so angry. I was handling Peter Ustinov, he was making a comedy in which he was directing Richard Burton, and it was being handled by a press agent named Jerry Pam. So we’re talking about something, he said, “Did you ever think of going on your own?” I said, “Just now.” I mean there are two things that I accept is regarding the future.One is Chinese fortune cookies and the other is confluence, and that was an incredible confluence, and so I decided to go into business.
So going back to Prince, I knew that and our relationship was okay, it was cordial. I wasn’t the kind of person that he would place any great personal trust in, but we had it pretty good and then we pulled up some interesting things. I knew that it had to be something that would carry…get across over to the general audience. It was no question that everybody who loves that music was going to be there. and so I said I want to put them on the crossover show there that had some sexuality and honesty, The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. So I sent it out to a really great guy, one of their producers.
Dick Guttman with Uggie from “The Artist”
The guy booked all the comics, Jim McCawley, was it?
Dick Guttman: MaCawley, thank you, and Jim loved it and he called me says it’s not a go. I said, “Why?” He said the name of one of the producers on the show…I didn’t even think that it was racial, I thought it was generational…He didn’t get it and I was really disappointed, but then what we decided to do was to have a big premiere and a big party afterwards. I wanted to gather all the big Hollywood names to come to the premiere because that would show the crossover of whoever it was at the time was there. The general movie audiences will say, “Maybe this is for me.”
None of them were responding to it, so I got my cousin, who had great tickets for the Olympics. It was 1984. He had tickets for the closing [Olympic festivities], that was the get of all gets, everybody wanted to go to the closing ceremonies. I said let me borrow those tickets. I want you to take an ad in the Hollywood Reporter that says, “We’ll exchange two time tickets for the closing ceremonies for two tickets to the Purple Rain premiere and party.” He said, “Oh you just deprived me of going to it and I said I don’t think so, I don’t think you’ll get takers.” But what happened was we started getting calls from the different stars, we had a very star-studded event, but I think people and there were news stories about this strange guy who had offered to exchange the tickets for the premiere. Everybody thought, “Well if his tickets are worth more than the closing of the Olympics, let’s go,” and it sort of worked.
And it worked…
Dick Guttman: It’s the strangest, but I felt I had it right because it sort of addressed the fact that Prince did have to win over the people who were separated from the age, including the people apparently at the labels. He just had this distrust of any kind of Industrial Complex it was involved in the filmmaking.
2016 was a breakout year for critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter Frances in her native England. Following the success of her 2015 single “Grow,” Frances was nominated for both the BBC Sound Of 2016 and the BRITs Critic Choice Awards. She also performed at major music festivals and her music was streamed over 100 million times.
2017 is shaping up to be Frances’ United States breakthrough as last month brought the release of her contribution to the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, “What Is Love?” Mar. 17 is the release date for Frances’ debut full-length, Things I’ve Never Said, as featuring collaborations with Greg Kurstin, Jimmy Napes and Howard Lawrence. In support of Things I’ve Never Said, Frances returns to New York for a Mar. 27 performance downtown at Joe’s Pub.
Downtown had the privilege of conducting Q&A with Frances in advance of her U.S. return, getting to learn more about the artist behind the music. More on Frances can be found at www.francesmusic.com.
Frances: I’ve played a couple of shows there before. At Rockwood [Music Hall] and the Mercury Lounge. They’ve made me so excited to come back and play again because I find New York such an inspiring city!
Have you ever traveled to New York for pleasure?
Frances: Sadly, no. But it is a serious plan! I absolutely love it. I could definitely live there!
Is there a New York destination you hope to visit on this trip? Any favorite restaurants here?
Frances: I’m going to have to wander down Fifth Avenue, that’s a must. I’ll stop into Katz’s Deli — it would be rude not to — but I really want to do The High Line walk!
At what point in your career did you become just “Frances?”
Frances: At the very beginning, I think. My full name is Sophie Frances Cooke. But I really wanted a one-word artist name, and I felt “Sophie” looked a bit young on paper — lots of curly letters! Whereas Frances is more angular and I found it really fun to have a different name to walk onto stage with. It helped with stage fright at the very beginning.
Do you have a favorite single-named musician?
Frances: Gosh. Adele, Prince, Beyonce, Björk — the list goes on!
Frances: Probably “Grow.” It’s the first song I ever released so it feels very special to me. But I also love it as a song because I’ve never written a chorus melody like that since. It’s quite bizarre but works somehow!
What was the first song you recorded on Things I’ve Never Said?
Frances: I think that was also “Grow,” because I recorded it for my first EP. But of the new songs on the album, I think we started with one called “Don’t Worry About Me.”
Are there leftovers from the Things I’ve Never Said sessions? Around how many songs were written for the album?
Frances: So many leftovers! I think I wrote somewhere between 100 and 150 songs in the end. There are a couple that I’ve already put aside for my second album, though. I loved them but they were a little too mature for my first album. When I wrote them I knew straight away that they were for my second album!
How did you wind up working with Greg Kurstin? Was that an introduction from your label? Did you know of his band The Bird And The Bee?
Frances: It was an introduction from my label, yes. A very lucky introduction indeed! It was one of my favorite writing experiences ever, he’s just incredible. And yes! Not until after our session, but I absolutely love the music. I think my favorite is “Will You Dance?”
Touring aside, what’s coming up for you in 2017?
Frances: I’m touring a lot, which is very exciting! I’m also doing some writing for other artists, which I absolutely love. I’m working on some potential collaborations which is seriously fun. I’d love to write for some more movies after my 50 Shades Darker experience, and I’ll be scheming for my second album! It’s going to be a fun year, I think.
When not busy with music, how do you like to spend your free time?
Frances: Hilariously, music! I always play music in the house, whatever I’m doing really. My family have some beautiful dogs so I love spending time with them, and my family, of course! I love going to the theater, watching movies, watching 10 episodes of Criminal Minds in one sitting. I love cooking, too. Normal stuff, really!
What was your favorite album on 2016?
Frances: Oh, that’s tricky. I love the 1975 album, Chance The Rapper, Beyoncé, Drake, new Radiohead. So many. If I had to pick one, it would probably be Lemonade.
Downtown is proud to premiere the music video for “Love Lion” by the U.K.-based Uncle Frank; the track will be featured on the forthcoming Love Lion album due out in March.
Uncle Frank, a band which mixes soul, funk, rage and love, is comprised of multi-instrumentals and producers Frank Benbini and Naim Cortazzi. The group has garnered airplay from BBC6 Music and BBC Radio 2, and has gotten recent coverage in The Sun, The Daily Star and Spindle Magazine. Uncle Frank released its debut album, Smile For Miles, in May 2014 as part of a three-album deal with MITA Records. Frank and Naim recently hit the road with UB40 for a U.S. tour, which included an on-stage duet with UB40’s Ali Campbell on Prince’s “Purple Rain” in New Jersey.
Said multi-instrumentalist/producer Frank Benbini, who is also one-third of the acclaimed New York band Fun Lovin’ Criminals: “New York City is my second home, I miss the place every day. I had two apartments over the years, first in Manhattan, second in Brooklyn. Love the food and my New York City friends and family — and the hustle, the New York hustle.”
The nubs securing the front strap are quite snug, so unbuckling the bag quickly can be a challenge. There are no reinforcements around the strapholes, which could potentially be troublesome if the leather isn’t cared for properly (leading to cracks or tears), but otherwise the front strap is quite secure.
