About two years ago, I started what I wanted to be a focused series on people with plastic, pantyhose or whatever over their faces. There’s three sets I did that I never shared, but are some of my favorite work I’ve done. I never completed that series, and there’s still a few sets of like to do with the full intention of doing some kind of gallery or show with them eventually.
I have always known who Dustin is, as he is the only person doing what he does at the level he does it in our area. Back in 2022 I finally reached out to him to pop up at one of the GNO events that Samantha and I hosted at our shop and studio in downtown Trenton.
Dustin is an easy person to get along with, so it’s not a surprise we hit it off immediately as we are both certified YAPPERS.
Nowadays, Dustin has become a local mogul. “Taxidermy Kingpen” and just all around “it” guy. His wife April was pregnant with their youngest the same time I was pregnant with mine. Dustin was gearing up and in the planning mode for Misfits when I reached out to him to be apart of this project.
I love working with people I know, or want to know. Regular people as opposed to actual models. My style has always been I can coach anyone and I’ve been known to scout people at grocery stores or out and about. I usually have key elements in mind for a concept, but then let the concept evolve around the person I’m working with. I don’t always know what everything means…sometimes it just -is- whatever its going to be, all on its own.
This set with Dustin feels like that. It became what it needed to become. Dustin is one of the most successful entrepreneurs I know. But that doesn’t happen magically. He’s also one of the most hardest working MFers I’ve ever been around. Yet he doesn’t take himself too seriously, he has FUN doing all it is that he does. He’s real. He’s approachable. He’s always ready to give a helping hand, to help pull someone up and help them succeed.
I’ve been around a lot of guys who want everyone to think that they’re the expert. That they are the end all be all of knowledge, their chops are undeniable and that they all have the keys to success when in actuality they ain’t shit. Dustin is the real deal and the only person he’s proving anything to is himself everyday.
When I look back on this set, again I am reminded of how down to earth he is, and how it feels to be out here doing the most all the time. Life is a little slower for me now than it was then, and in all the years past. But it’s the Wild West, and you better paint up and carry on with whatever it is that you do. Every damn day. Dustin is an incredible reminder of that.
