#tom martinez

[dailylambert-blog1]

adam and friends in estonia [x]

[adjacenttolife]

Tom Martinez, Art is My Weapon, digital photography on stretched canvas, 20" x 24"

[adjacenttolife]

Tom Martinez, Streets Matisse, digital photography on stretched canvas, 20" x 30"

[adjacenttolife]

Poets A.A. Pritchard and Osagyefo stop in at the opening of Tom Martinez' latest photography show Beat Cathedral of the Street. 

[adjacenttolife]

Beat Cathedral of the Street

Photographs by Tom Martinez

September 21 - October 26, 2012

Opening Reception Thursday, September 27, 6-8pm.

I was already deep into my descent into photography when I met Albee, who writes under the name A. A. Pritchard.  He asked if I could take his author photo for a collection of his poems (Howl Now!).  I did and when he saw the image he said, “Holy shit, man, you captured my soul.  You’re a Beat photographer.”  Having long been a fan of the Beats this high praise was music to my ears and a friendship was born that has led to several artistic collaborations, including this one. 

When I had my first solo show at the Old Stone House in Brooklyn Albee wrote me a poem praising the images.  Later, watching the Banksy documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop, I decided to move beyond “pure” photography by overlaying artistic filters (I like and use Ink Lines the most) in Photoshop.  Then I got the idea of embedding some of Albee’s words in the images themselves.  Something about his hard-earned, edgy Beat sensibility spoke to my soul and I wanted to celebrate my friendship with him and include him in what I was doing. 

Albee was enthusiastic and began sending me words to go with various images.  Sometimes I gleaned just one word from whatever he wrote, like “hope” in the case of the sculpture of an angel on the grounds of St. John the Divine.  Other times I’d use an entire phrase, such as “Beat Cathedral of the Street.”  That line resonates with my two careers as both a minister (at a funky little house church open to the World Religions, All Souls Bethlehem Church in Brooklyn, and my work as a photographer).  Kerouac liked to emphasize the dual meaning of “Beat” as both beat down and, at the same time, beatific.  To me, this means that while life can be hard and can certainly beat us down, if we remain open at the deepest dimensions of our beings, we will see the sacred light of life and love breaking through, often in the most unlikely places. - Tom Martinez

Curated by Mark Roth

The show, Beat Cathedral of the Street: Photographs by Tom Martinez resides at the Adjacent to Life pop-up gallery housed in Ninth Street Espresso (341 E. 10th Street at Ave B). Drop by for some beatific espresso and art to match. On view through October 26.

image: Free At Last, 28" x 42", digital photography on stretched canvas.

[kaitlyn-evans]

The Tom Behind Tom Brady

This is very inspiring. The Tom behind Tom Brady. Without him, Tom Brady might not have achieved such success. Tom Martinez seems like a really good guy. I'll pray that he gets a kidney transplant, and I hope he lives the rest of his life very healthy. You gotta love Tom Brady and Tom Martinez, especially after watching this.

Credit for video: CBSSports.com

-Kaitlyn Evans

[bosstownsports]

[kahlstrom]

"Always at the end of every kid I work with, I give them a quarter. And I tell them, when you need help, you call me. I am never going to call you, even Brady, and tell you what I see because you may feel fine in what you're doing. If you need help, if there's anything you think I can help with because I watch every game, call me. And here's a quarter. ... Brady used his quarter, and I had to give him another one, and he used that, and I gave him a different one. JaMarcus still has his."

-- Tom Martinez, mentor to Tom Brady, John Elway, JaMarcus Russell, Matt Cassel, and others.  Sourced from: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8207d666/article/positive-things-help-martinez-during-uphill-health-battle?module=HP_headlines