Seasons of Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterlies carved out a corner of my room next to the foosball table. Bruce Weber's signature black and white photographs dog-eared, marked up, and thumbed through. I grew up on his depictions of young, beautiful, carefree adolescents running off lake docks half naked, lounging around a beach bonfire and every so oft, radiating an innocent sexiness through a hard look. There were no responsibilities in that world. No car payment, no homework, no after school job. Their world transcended mine. I became one of them.
I still want to live in that world today. As a photographer, these are the images I love to create. They remind me of vigor, hope and the pursuit of happiness. My youth is preserved in their creation.
"It takes a long time to grow young." -Pablo Picasso
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Comments
Kodi Schroeder:
Oh! So amazing and beachy. Happy to look at when outside my window right now is 14 inches of snow.
(12.11.09 12:37 PM)
Steven Chellappa:
Wow! These are amazing! I've always wanted to do a fun beach shoot like this! It's very J.Crew/ Ralph Lauren! I LOVE IT!!!
(08.10.09 10:39 AM)
Kayla:
I LOVE these! When is A&F gonna hire you? ;-)
(06.11.09 10:00 PM)
marco:
paul costello would be proud... dear mark... better to be catalog fodder than a fodder catalog
(06.11.09 01:33 AM)
Janine:
Fred I love love love these! The only problem is that they remind me that I live in dull rainy Northern Ireland...if we tried running off lake docks half naked we would be hospitalized with hypothermia. No beach spirit here. Bah!
(06.10.09 02:25 PM)
Ava Martinez:
Your photos are always so much fun, these belong in a magazine :)
(06.10.09 01:45 PM)
Stevi Savage:
fred, you rock.
(06.10.09 01:34 PM)
Kassia:
These are inspiring and amazing. Beautiful.
(06.10.09 07:25 AM)
Nick Decombel Fotografie:
Where is my surfboard ......... and let's go!
(06.10.09 03:23 AM)
Darren Sabino:
Awesome!!! Feels so natural.
(06.10.09 01:32 AM)
Amanda:
I don't get HOW you do this!! These pictures are just awesome. Every single one looks like something pulled from a multi-million ad campaign. Incredible work.
(06.09.09 11:55 PM)
Ronnie:
Love m and like the words accompanying them, there's a reason I come here,,,,inspiration.
(06.09.09 11:15 PM)
jasmine*:
Fabulous, but I wouldn't expect anything else from Talented You.
(06.09.09 05:33 PM)
matt sloan:
great job fred! you are a classy guy! these flow really well!
(06.09.09 05:13 PM)
Kayleen T.:
Looks like I could rip these straight from a magazine! And beautiful writing to go along with such beautiful images!
(06.09.09 04:46 PM)
cesar perez:
Fred, These are great man. Keep up the good work!
(06.09.09 04:24 PM)
becky k:
love every bit of these photos! you have such a great talent!
(06.09.09 03:52 PM)
stikman:
great images at the worlds grossest beach. You rock
(06.09.09 03:36 PM)
Diandra:
OOOOO... I love this shoot. I would LOVE to have pictures of me and my friends like this... just care free and loving life... and I'm 24. well, almost... next week :) But I think they're great! And I've never understood people's need to leave negative comments... if you don't like it, then go away.
(06.09.09 03:32 PM)
stephanie McBride:
hey, can i have my ball back? haha. fun, lively, well written and well shot. they were worth the wait.
(06.09.09 03:15 PM)
Lindsey Joy:
love these images, your style/lifestyle is fresh and inspiring!!
(06.09.09 02:59 PM)
Hansel Dobbs:
These are fantastic pictures Fred! Your on your way man. Your writing really reminds me of the writing style of Anthony Bourdain from "No Reservations". I really like it!
(06.09.09 02:56 PM)
FRED EGAN:
Nathan <<< You have my back and I like your style. What Mark fails to realize is that this is MY blog, not a public wall in which to graffiti with his demeaning words. Anonymity is a cowardly stance to take on the Internet...it displays no backbone. I leave all comments up here most of the time (it helps build a tough skin if nothing else) but at least have the decency to leave an email address/website.
(06.09.09 02:44 PM)
Christine (Artemis Clover Photo):
love it!!
(06.09.09 02:33 PM)
Nathan Michael :
Love these images, Fred! And Mark, can you share with us a link to your site...I'd like to see your work since you apparently have impeccable taste. Quite frankly, I feel like it was a shallow & jealous gesture.
(06.09.09 02:31 PM)
Lisa:
Beautifully stated - youth is all about longing, and the desire for a "magical" future (one that we are so sure we can achieve when we are this age) Just because we tend to put our "youthful fantasies" aside as we get older, doesn't mean we still can't revel in them every once in a while and re-inspire ourselves...
(06.09.09 02:29 PM)
cat from nextexit:
Inspiring and delightful. xoxo
(06.09.09 02:17 PM)
Brianna:
I get it - we have stacks off these from our teenage years. I liked this post :)
(06.09.09 02:13 PM)
heather:
I meant AF (gotta love typos).
(06.09.09 01:10 PM)
heather:
I always itched for that AE beach spirit, but I grew up far from the beach, closer to the mountains. We embraced ours with hand knit beanies and hot cocoa. Nevertheless, I am loving this creamy beachy goodness, (love the Picasso quote!).
(06.09.09 01:09 PM)
Briony:
i never really looked at the catalogs as a kid so i guess i missed out on this escape but your images are beautful and do portray the ideals of youth, fun and of course summer.
(06.09.09 12:47 PM)
FRED EGAN:
Mark <<< Yes, I am serious with this crap. It's called writing. And yes, it's a bit pretentious BECAUSE I was 15 years old. Try to view it in context.
(06.09.09 12:42 PM)
Mark:
"Their world transcended mine. I became one of them."
Are you serious with this crap?
A bit pretentious for these boring, catalog-fodder images, but I'm sure you mean it.
(06.09.09 12:32 PM)
Dennis Bullock:
I always think these shoots of yours are so cool. Cut another watermelon last night!
(06.09.09 12:29 PM)