ARTHUR MOLA PHOTO-BLOG

03/09/2013 - JUNE 2012, MONTREAL

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:25:52 -0500

I love how everyone and the dog are in a clean line in this frame and how the girl is smack dab in the middle of it all. And for me the Dalmation gives it a certain look. I wonder what she was so bummed out about…

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Rollei Pan 25

03/08/2013 - MONTREAL, JUNE 2012

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:00:07 -0500

I frankly don’t remember exactly what was going on in this frame but it was when my friend Philip and I visited our other friend Richard in Montreal. I think we were walking around downtown. Love that city. And that was a great weekend.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Rollei Pan 25

03/02/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:48:47 -0500

Saw this while waiting for our ride from the airport. Reminded me of a cop movie for some reason.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X

03/02/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:34:43 -0500

Vanessa hanging out poolside. So much relaxation. Love the hat.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Rollei Pan 25

02/28/2013 - TORONTO, JULY 2012

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:42:37 -0500

Love the shapes and lines in this frame. Although I don’t go on most rides at The Ex, I know the feeling of waiting in line from when I was a kid. I’m cool with the rides at Wonderland … but The Ex … I just go there to make photos and eat deep-fried Mars bars. This could be one of my favourite photos from that day.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Fuji Neopan Acros 100

02/28/2013 - TORONTO, NOVEMBER 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:40:18 -0500

I was walking somewhere downtown during a rainstorm and saw this dude walking like this. I think he was trying to rush ahead of people but couldn’t get by with his umbrella at its normal height. Thought it was cool and I like the motion blur. It really caught the mood and rush everyone was in to get out of the rain. This was 1/4th of a second while I was walking.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-x 400

02/28/2013 - TORONTO, JULY 2012

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:01:22 -0500

Carnival scene while strolling through The Ex. Maybe he was really tired from all of the rides he went on and sat down for a break? I think we were looking for curly fries. Those St. Louis wings are really good too, though.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Fuji Neopan Acros 100

02/28/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:31:58 -0500

Met a lady and her Taco-Bell dog in the lobby of Vanessa’s grandmother’s apartment in Florida. She was very sweet. The dog seemed nice too. There are some interesting people there … with lots of stories.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X 400

02/28/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:09:21 -0500

Another quiet scene with a father and sun (I’m guessing) at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was a pretty nice walk actually.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X 400

02/28/2013 - TORONTO, JULY 2012

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:04:00 -0500

Looks like these guys were lost at The Ex. What an obnoxious place. I was a little out of it from all the sun too. But a great place to make street photos.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Fuji Neopan Acros 100

02/28/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:58:17 -0500

While waiting for Vanessa I saw this little guy waiting for someone as well. I hope his parents weren’t gambling away his college fund.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X 400

02/28/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:51:00 -0500

I thought this was a cool scene because it looks like an escalator to nowhere. Or the “Stairway to Heaven.” I’ll bet the casino is considered “Heaven” to some who spend their time there.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X 400

02/28/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:44:00 -0500

It was pretty quiet at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Not even sure what time we went but it must have been around 10 or 11am. Just a dude listening to his music, a few bouncers, and some palm trees on our walk over to the casino.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X 400

02/28/2013 - FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2011

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:13:00 -0500

When Vanessa and I went to Florida, we made a stop at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood where Anna Nicole Smith OD’d. We arrived pretty early in the morning but there were still a few people gambling. This is probably my favourite photo from “the floor” because I think it shows the mood pretty accurately. I’m not a gambler. I think I played a 25c slot machine … got up to about $22 or something … and then lost it all. And then I remembered why I don’t gamble. ;) These gamblers were like drones. Kind of like how people are with their smartphones nowadays. In fact, I wish there was a young kid staring at their smartphone the same way this woman is glued to her slot machine. That would have made it even better… maybe next time.

Zeiss Ikon + 35mm f/2 Biogon + Tri-X 400

02/28/2013 | TORONTO, JULY 2012

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:58:00 -0500

We went to The Ex a couple times in the summer with a few of our friends. Honestly, as much as I was looking forward to the deep-fried Mars bars, I was mostly just excited to take photos. A place like that always has moments. I remember this was one of the last frames on my roll of 100 ISO film and it was getting dark. It must have been 1/8th of a second or something close. I wasn’t sure if it would turn out but I’m happy with it. Like me, I don’t think she was too keen on going on the rides. She stood there in the middle of The Ex for a few minutes, but I think her mind was somewhere else. Love the huge prize toy.

Zeiss Ikon + Biogon 35mm f/2 + Fuji Neopan Acros 100

01/10/2011 | TORONTO, SEPTEMBER 2011

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:05:00 -0500

This was one of my first, if not my first shoot (can’t remember) during TIFF in September. It was my third time covering the festival since I was 18 and I just remember this being one of my busiest days. I had something right before this shoot, and then immediately after I had to run over to MuchMusic for my live on-air interview about who I’m looking forward to photographing at the film festival (which was really great and I’m hugely grateful for them having me). I had another shoot right after my interview as well I believe. Timing was very tight in between them all. Even worse: parking was a total bitch… it usually always is anywhere downtown in Toronto, but with the excitement from TIFF… even worse. All of this happened at rush hour too… my God… I just remember the sheer madness but somehow it all worked out perfectly and was an amazing day. I said to Adrian, “I’m like the Canadian ‘Teenage Paparazzo” … even though I’m not a pap nor have I ever participated in the “sport” he seemed to like that. He was a really cool guy. I was really curious to meet him because of his movie! My girlfriend ran into him later that day while she was guarding my laptop and showed him the photos. It was a good start to a great film festival… my best so far!

Nikon D700 + 85mm

01/10/2011 | TORONTO, JULY 2010

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:18:00 -0500

Another photo from my summer in Yorkville creating this project. This one really typifies the area I think. It has all the right elements in the right places… and I love how this lens allowed me to get only the ass of the Lambo in focus. I was waiting for the right person to walk by and this girl was perfect for the finishing touch… thank you mystery woman. ;)

D700 + 24mm tilt-shift

01/10/2011 | TORONTO, JULY 2010

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:19:00 -0500

Another favorite from my “Yorkvillism” project from the summer of 2010… what a great couple of months that was. Drake’s “Thank Me Later” was pretty much the anthem of that summer and I actually ran into him outside ONE Restaurant while shooting for this series. I also saw a lot of interesting people including this man… his shopping bags are from Lacoste and Harry Rosen and his shoes are Prada. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is all I can think about. :) Again, like the last shot, a pretty unusual detail in this scene which is why I think it’s special. PS - for anyone wondering about the blur in this and the last shot… it’s not Photoshopped, it’s just the fabulous result of a tilt-shift lens.

Nikon D700 + 24mm tilt-shift (love this lens to infinity and beyond)

01/09/2011 | TORONTO, JULY 2010

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:28:00 -0500

I was digging up some older files from July 2010 and found this from a client project I was working on that summer. This is in one of Toronto’s “posh” neighborhoods called Yorkville. I really enjoyed working on that project because I got to walk around and find things like this. I thought the car was funny in the context of where it was and it reminded me of an LA scene. I also love all the construction and how anti-posh it really looks. People from Toronto would know that this is one of our city’s most chic areas. I used to spend a lot of time here as a kid actually so this project was very nostalgic for me.

Nikon D700 + 24mm tilt-shift lens

12/21/2011 | TORONTO, OCTOBER 2011 - COCO ROCHA

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:01:00 -0500

I’m the house photographer for the shOws and this year they were at The Ritz-Carlton with Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha hosting. I remember shooting Coco at fashion week back in 2008… someone told me to photograph her because she was the “next big thing” in modeling. It’s amazing how much she has changed in those couple of years looking back at my first photos of her. When she walked backstage at The Ritz, I knew I wanted to make this photo with the curtains, boxes, and stacked chairs… they really scream “backstage” to me and I love that vibe. She’s always so lovely to photograph.

Nikon D700 + Nikon 24mm f/1.4