April 2013 – Elysium Photo by Rob Shaer

April 21, 2013

Trailer – Who Shot Rock and Roll

It’s been a heavy news week. So much happening in the world and with this week’s news in North America focused on Boston I was happy to come across this piece via Rob Haggart. While I seek to be topical, the macabre doesn’t always need the contribution of my two cents. There has been an amazing volume of photography out of Boston in the past week, and if you are keen to get a sense of what it might feel like to be the most wanted man in America, check out Alan Taylor’s In Focus Gallery at the Atlantic. Like many of my friends and colleagues I have been glued to the news out of Boston because so much of my life is spent in and around running events. In fact, one of my colleagues and his wife, were at the finish line in Boston about an hour before the event and for what felt like hours I was among many waiting for a text message or status update to let us know they were OK.

Today I hope you’ll make time to have a look at something a little lighter. When I try to remember the first photography that captivated my interest I think back to a number of icons of the medium. I was drawn to the drama and adventure of conflict photography, the outstanding work produced by the staff and contributing photographers of Powder Magazine who took crazy risks sharing the world of big mountain skiing, and the body of work shot by Annie Leibovitz from her time at Rolling Stone. I used to keep and hoard magazines for the content, retrospectives, anniversary issues and photo issues in piles on any flat surface in my room. Leibovitz wasn’t the only photographer shooting Rock and Roll, there were dozens, maybe hundreds, even thousands of photographers who have made iconic contributions to this archive of popular culture. Who Shot Rock And Roll is an exhibit featuring work from this medium. Produced by guest Curator Gail Buckland for the the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2009, the exhibit has made a four year tour around the United States and a stop at the Auckland Art Gallery in New Zealand.

Who Shot Rock And Roll started off as a book project for Buckland and later spawned the Exhibit featuring nearly 200 works by 100 different photographers from 1955 onward and has since been made into a short documentary film produced by the Anneberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles released in 2012. Above is the trailer for the film and what was my initial point of interest. This is really an examination of how photography contributed to the our understanding of Rock and Roll. In it there is a wiff of suggestion that these photographers, much less well known than their subjects, were legend makers. Listen for Henry Rollins as he suggests that “The right photograph can say so much, as much as maybe as the band’s best record.”

I’ve always wanted to go on tour with a band, at least for a few weeks, to document that experience. With time my collection of magazines have become a library of books, and until I get the chance to go on tour, I will have to content myself in these pages.

Anneberg Space For Photography

Who Shot Rock and Roll on Facebook

Gail Buckland

April 18, 2013

Inspiration – Ian Ruhter: When Dreams Collide

I sometimes get nostalgic for places that I’ve traveled to or worked in, even places that I didn’t particularly like or connect with. I find myself nostalgic for work that I used to do because time and memory have conspired to help me forget the challenges, the disappointments, the mental, emotional or physical costs of doing the work I once did. At some point time has kind and I have been able to let go of less favourable memories and experiences instead remembering the explorations or the absurdity of certain experiences. Even though there is a body of work behind me that I can’t imagine I would ever go back to, I sometimes catch my self wondering how I could have done things better, or differently, or thinking about that time I found the coolest coffee house Las Vegas, New Mexico.

I had the chance to hear Ian Ruhter speak at two events in Vancouver last week, even getting the opportunity to shoot a few frames of him myself and it was with this in mind that I asked Ian if he ever missed shooting Snowboarding. Ian was quick to answer and it without hesitation, he said no. There was no contemplation and he went on to explain how heavily invested he is in what he is doing now. I connected with the first video he and his team produced a year ago, but their new video, When Dreams Collide, feels so much more.

When Dreams Collide is a very personal document and very revealing of it’s subjects, not only Ian, but of Photographer Chase Jarvis, Snowboarder Peter Line and Hip Hop artist Ishmael Butler. One thing I found so compelling was the sharing of such intimate details of each of their struggles to pursue their individual passions. Somehow in describing how he had to rely on his wife’s tip money to process film humanized Jarvis in a way that was truly refreshing. Struggle is humanizing, it’s humbling and I believe that it makes us stronger. Ian was asked a question at one of the discussions last week by a young photographer, just out of school, about how to make it work when you feel like you can’t afford to move forward. He was very pragmatic in his response and while others on the panel reached for pretentious answers, he talked about shooting by moon light when he first started in photography, because that’s what was available to him. Be creative, his message read to the audience, persevere, work with what you have and have access to.

The above is an image from Ian’s presentation at CreativeMornings/Vancouver.

When Dream Collide

Watch When Dreams Collide:

Personal Work – From the Portrait Project with Gary & Elaine

Lots going on over the last month; but work is like dinner, it’s better to be looking at it than for it. It has been an interesting several weeks of photography including a snowshoe race, shooting trail running, road running and some personal work, a Ms Teen pageant and on going work on a cookbook project for a local restaurant client. I’ve also had the chance to hear and hang out with Photographer Ian Ruhter who has been in Vancouver for a number of local speaking engagements and wet plate demos, if you aren’t familiar with Ian’s work, have a look at the first video he and his crew produced about a year ago: Silver & Light.

Two weeks ago I ventured into the trails above North Vancouver with Ultra Trail Runner Gary Robbins to work on some profile pictures which would serve double purpose for both my personal portrait work and Gary’s need for some new Profile content. Gary took us to a great little trail hub that provided an opportunity for a variety of looks and we finished with a couple of head shot style portraits fitting for a trail runner and event manager. In looking back at this work and the photos that will follow of both Gary and Elaine, I see characters in their environments. These are studies of people in the places they are most comfortable.

By now the room that surrounds Elaine at her Piano will be very different. I haven’t seen it yet, but I understand that the shelves are nearly clear of books, packed and bound for new shelves in a new space in a new home. With lees than a month on the clock before Elaine and her husband Ken move into their new home I felt it was important to make a photo of Elaine at her piano in the house she has lived in for close to 30 years. I believe the spaces we inhabit, whether we choose them or they are chosen for us, become a part of who we are. I can’t wait to see Elaine’s new space, but I am glad we were able to get one last look at the old one.

One more look:

My space is subject to a perpetual cycle of cluttering and uncluttering. It is never static and often feels like a bit of a disaster. My workspace is often surrounded by piles of paper, folders, files and business cards and equipment transiting from one bag to another between shoots and assignments. One day I will make a self portrait of this chaos when I am brave enough to share, honestly, the state of my desk.