Marisa Matluck Photo Blog

My close friends the Herzogs recently moved back to Miami in May. As a way to welcome themselves back, in true Herzog fashion, they threw a party. Correction, they threw one hell of a party!! They brought in Mike the BBQ Man and 2 amazing musical acts… Max Matluck opened for Rabbit!

I am not one to write music reviews but their album is easy on the ears, lovely in the heart and even more energetic when live!

You can check out their music on MySpace, follow them on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook or all of the above!

A few weeks ago, my friends and I attempted to go on a party boat. Not just any party boat, this boat was to be filled with people dressed in their best 80′s attire. Well, when we arrived at the vessel it was filled to capacity so we didn’t board. We were just too many people. So anyway, we ended up going to my sister’s apartment and enjoying the liquor that was left behind from the “pre party”.

In these photos you will see my sister’s good friend Bonnie. Bonnie is an awesome, awesome, amazing, filled with life, chick. She dressed the part of Madonna that night and put on an AMAZING performance of “Material Girl” at the karaoke bar. Thanks Bonnie for being my muse today when I was trying to decide what photos to update my blog with.

I never cared much for futbol (soccer for you Americans) until this year. Being in an office full of fanatics makes it that much more fun. I watched these boys in the office trade “monitas” (stickers) like 5 year olds trade SillyBandz. Every game was on in the office, I don’t think I missed one. I have to say, that although those vuvuzuela’s put me to sleep with their monotonous tone, I will miss them and the excitement that was the World Cup for the past month.

Yesterday I went to a super cool world cup celebration block party on Brickell. I wasn’t really cheering for any team in particular, I was there for the photo opportunities. I was really excited when I was allowed on stage and managed to snag a few shots of the Mayor of Miami!

Man was it a good time ! I think that 95% of the crowd was ready for Spain to win and when they did… it was mayhem.

I love this city and the energy that it comes with when crowds like this one gather.

I recently returned from a nice little vacation in Virginia Beach. Why Virginia you ask? Well, I happen to have a remarkably good friend who just happens to live there. Aside from being a good friend, Michelle is one of the coolest people I know. I called her up and told her I wanted to come visit and take pictures and for 5 days she showed me around and let me snap away.

We did everything from concerts (Hall and Oates & Passion Pit), to bike riding, wake surfing, touring… we even visited a haunted hotel. Actually, we tried to visit the haunted hotel (The Cavalier) but the doors were locked so we peered through the windows. I am also 100% sure that we saw a ghost on the top floor window and when we mentioned it to her friends later that night, one of them confirmed that some one had in fact jumped from the very window a long time ago.

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Its been a while since I have been out, wait , thats not true. Let me rephrase: It has been a while since I have been to the Vagabond. So this Saturday night, I headed out with my good friend Joanne. You may recognize her from my post “Downtown Joanne”.

Anyway, her and I were just dancing, minding our own business, when suddenly there was a man on stage getting whipped with a paddle. Crazy! I guess that is how the Vagabond is, anything goes. Its a place where you go if you feel like going out in nothing but body paint and a wig or dressing as funky and independent as you like. A huge jump away from South Beaches “Models and Bottles” rule. It is really a one-of-a-kind place and putting a label like “club”, “bar”, or “lounge”, really does not do it justice.

SO, when I entered the Vagabond, I realized I had left my camera in the car. Not cool. After a cocktail, I went back to get it because I just cannot be without it. What if I miss a great moment… I would definitely regret it! I got back just in time for the festivities…

Enjoy (but not too much)

You can also see more of my photo on nbcmiami.com just type my name in the search field!

A few months ago I invested in a Canon G11. I just wanted something I could carry around in my purse at all times that would not weigh me down but would take great photos.

My friend Joanne lives downtown. Downtown Miami.

I dont know if it is the smartest thing to disclose her residence but for photography sake, I need to. Last week, I spent a lovely afternoon going through her closet and drinking wine on the balcony with Joanne. I got snap happy, pulled out the G11 and the following blog post is the result of that wonderful afternoon.

Oh, did I mention that she is a fabulous Interior Designer!

Once when I was a little girl, I was stung by a Jellyfish. I was walking along the shore of the beach, picking up seashells, when I suddenly got stung by a Jellyfish. Some really smart person decided to bury said Jellyfish and place a beautiful shell on its grave to mark it. Little did they know that an innocent little girl would pass by, love the seashell, and pick it up while simultaneously getting stung.

When we see these creatures, we swim away as fast as we can. They sting. They sting and itch and it sucks. Jellyfish are weird, creepy, and they sting. However, when they wash up on the shore, there is something oddly beautiful about them. Even when they are not on shore, they float through the water so gracefully. Too bad they sting.

I came across a very blue Jellyfish while at the beach recently and pulled out my camera. I had never really gotten so close to such a creature as to where I was able to “study” it with my camera. I found the colors of the fish to be extremely rich and beautiful. In some instances, I almost felt sorry for the Jellyfish. The poor thing was washed on the shore, and slowly dying (if not dead already), while life just walked by it. It was quite a serene photoshoot.

Enjoy these photos, but please do not touch Jellyfish

Second Saturday is something I look forward to at the beginning of every month. For me it is a time of rejuvenating my creative expression. This month I started off on my own, just me and the camera, in my friend Karina’s art gallery. I was actually super impressed with this months exhibition (as well as all her past exhibitions). Her gallery featured instillation art by Yucef Merhi entitled “Words”. It was a myriad of lights and screens and projectors all used to evoke emotion in “Words”. Truly brilliant. It also made interesting photos for me as it was different to the other Tungsten lit galleries.

After roaming the streets and going from gallery to gallery, I was joined by a first time gallery walker. I love it when people are “devirginized” to the Wynwood gallery world. It is a great thing to do on a Saturday night and there is always something cool to see!

I hope you enjoy viewing the photos from Artwalk. If you would like to see more, you can check out my weekly photo gallery on NBC Miami. (woooohooooo!!)

I have to mention one last thing… While stepping into Butter Gallery, I noticed the bartender had a nice sign on his bar that said “Women of Wynwood.” Now, while driving to the studio on many a morning, I have noticed women wearing bright pink uniforms that dawn the logo “WOW”. So I asked said bartender what it was and he explained to me that it was a way to get women out of the homeless shelter and give them jobs taking care of the Wynwood neighborhood that so many love. I found it to be a great initiative and I look forward to lending my services to this cause. If you would like to help or for more information, please visit their website by clicking here.

Sorry I missed my usual post date yesterday… I was so sick this past weekend and had so much work to catch up on that I did not have a minute to do blog work!

But today (although I am squeezing this in) I found some time.

A few weeks ago, it was bring your best friend to work day. So I brought Maria. After many hours of editing I became quite restless and noticed the amazing sunset going on outside my window. I said to myself, “Self, what a great opportunity for a quick little photoshoot!”

So I took Maria upstairs to the roof of the building and we had ourselves a little fashion photo shoot. I should mention that Maria is no stranger to modeling as this has been her passion since I have known her (and thats a loooooonnnnggggg time).

To see more of Maria’s modeling and acting, check her out on Facebook by clicking here. There are links to her online portfolio on her Facebook page but you should pop in and say hello!

My last post was so well received I just had to put some more!