Photo: Michael Gerbino

Influences

This is my first blog.

When I came into the office today I was greeted to a lot of pleasant changes and the name of a carpenter that worked for me in the past came up. We actually met on a construction site when I was a teenager. I was to be his assistant. The only problem was that he did not want an assistant or helper and he dubbed me "Mikey hands-in-pockets" for all the hard work I did not do for him.

We developed a relationship over the years and he became a huge influence on me. This is a man who smuggled himself into the country, in the belly of a gas truck to find a better future for his family. He worked 16-hour days, every day and was the greatest carpenter I have ever met: a genius with wood who single-handedly renovated my office and co-built my apartment with another brilliant carpenter and artist, Matt Stern.

The photo is from 1986 the last year the Mets won the World Series taken with an old school Mamiya RB67.