Hepcat’s camera is broken so we won’t be able to do this again. But we did it in 2005. And the pictures are wonderful.

A soggy night didn’t  keep friends and neighbors from the Be Your Own Valentine
event at Mary Warren’s shop, Fou Le Chakra. Photographer Hugh Crawford
set up a small photo studio in the front of the store with his nifty
strobe light and the old gray backdrop that he’s been using for years;
it’s practically his signature.

Party guests enjoyed sparkling wine, assorted hor doeuvres and sweets
while taking  turns getting their picture taken with or without kids,
with or without significant others.

For some it was like going to the dentist – "Oh, is it my turn?" For
others it was pure bliss: "I’m ready for my close up, Mr. C."

A former house photographer at Fiorucci and the nightclub, Xenon,
Crawford has plenty of experience taking portraits at special events.
After a ten year stint in the computer biz, he’s returned to
photography full time concentrating on editorial and fine art
portraiture, Times Square street photography and a series of pictures
called Earth. Water. Fire. Air. His photographs of Park Slope appear
daily on Only the Blog knows Brooklyn (see No Words_Daily Pix).   

Crawford managed to keep his cool as a band of wild children, fueled
by chocolate chip cookies and too little supper, ran in and out of the
pictures unable to resist the cool photo studio in their midst. My
daughter was disappointed that her photographer-dad wouldn’t let her
help as much as she wanted to.