Lune De Miel

My wife and I were invited by our amazing friends, Yasha and Carrie, to stay with them in France for our Honeymoon. As they were leaving our engagement/wedding party (we eloped) they said something like, "You should come to France." Saying 'yes,' was probably one of the easiest travel decisions we've ever made.  I don't think we really put a lot of thought into what to expect when we got there. Maybe we would lounge away the afternoons at a cafe with a copy of 'Le Monde,' a packet of gauloises, and a glass of Pastis. Were we staying with Yasha and Carrie or in a guest house somewhere? Was there a town? I packed my most 'French' looking suit and we hit the road.

What we found profoundly affected us - the village, people, food, music, and pace of life. Deep in the heart of the Auvergne region of France is a little hamlet of ex-pats, artists, artisans, farmers, and musicians who have created a thriving community out of some old beat-up buildings. I'm not sure whether our hosts planned this, but the trip almost felt like some sort of Camp – Honeymoon Camp.  It was as if each member of the community wanted to impart some wisdom to us - the fresh young couple. At some point I decided that I needed to record Yasha and Carrie's vision and show the beauty of the life they have made out there. This is the result, a short film I've called, Lune De Miel. 

CAR2GO

I teamed up with director Josh Izenberg from BigYoungFilms to shoot and edit this film announcing CAR2GO's San Francisco launch for Austin Ad-firm Enviromedia. I think Josh did a great job location scouting, finding talent, and choosing clean shots.

FORTUNEs

My goal is to print these poster size. I think they're great.

Self-Portrait

Essaouira, Morocco. 2004

Chicago, IL. 2004

San Francisco, CA. 2008

Yelapa, Mexico. 2011

Zanzibar, Tanzania. 2011

Mendoza, Argentina. 2013

I love printing business cards and becoming whatever entity or 'company' that I say I am. Get a logo, set up a website and an email address and you're ready to go. This is America, after-all, where perception can become reality. Some of my various ventures have included: Facecollective (started as a multi-disciplinary artistic agency), Hasta La Pasta (my catering company), D.B.L.F. (the Doogan Boyfriend Liberation Front, which quickly disbanded when I met my wife), The Other America (a magazine), and most recently ClubSoda (my video production company.) While not all of these ventures have had staying power, all have had business cards. Throughout my search for the perfect business, the one name that has alluded me – is my own: Henry Dombey

When we first started coming to terms with the internet 10 years ago, there was a lot of pressure to have an official website with an official name, business card, logo, etc. Lately there seems to be a trend towards the opposite. There's an increasing awareness and acceptance that people have jobs, passions, hobbies, art-projects, and ideas – and all of these impulses are intertwined in an organic existential way, or they can be completely unrelated. I am continually telling my clients and peers that you should attempt to create one place on the internet that honestly represents yourself and your aspirations in a seamless and unpretentious way. As we all know, advice is easier to dole out than to take. However, I'm slowly coming to my senses and right now nothing sounds better than dropping all of the official and unofficial tones, the 'branding,' nuances, symbolism, confusion, and Bullshit. Let's just be honest, I feel like going rogue.

So here goes: My name is Henry Dombey. I'm a photographer, filmmaker, producer, chef, and part-time reverend (Universal Life Church). I am constantly confounded by art, focussed on logistics, aware of the light, repelled by waste, compelled by stories, interested in politics, driven by efficiency, skeptical of 'big battle-ships,' and excited by ideas. I am currently inspired to learn how to build things, write more, become a regular, give back to my community, produce events, and gather people around a common goal. I'm a husband of less than one year and will be a father sometime this month. Let's collaborate and make some ideas into reality.

– H.R.D.