You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2009.
I had the privilege of photographing Milwaukee model Faith EnFire last month. We went to a nature preserve west of Milwaukee and played around a bit. Faith was fabulous to collaborate with, and she worked hard so we could capture the moments we were after as we raced the setting sun. We came away with a wide range of styles and scenarios, and here are a few favorites:
Went back to my home state of Iowa recently for a funeral. As the sun set and we drove west, I made myself all but carsick staring through my camera and firing off frames from the passenger seat.
It was a fun exercise in chance and in creating my own luck. (Something that was recently discussed here.) I firmly believe that in photography, and in life, you make your own luck by knowing what you want and putting yourself in the right places at the right times so you can get that coveted shot. Or whatever you’re after.
I watched as an ever-changing landscape of hills, fences, telephone poles, trees, farms and fields whipped past at 75mph. If my reflexes weren’t fast enough to catch a scene just so, no big deal. I was in the right place, at the right time. I was all the more prepared the next time my lens met something similar.
The Bay View Compass, the newspaper for Milwaukee’s burgeoning Bay View area, features this photo of mine on its October cover. The editors asked me to photograph a session of the Bay View Martial Arts Club a couple of weeks ago. The students and instructor/owner Sahnya Thom were great to work with, letting me do my thing while they did theirs.
I wanted to capture a moment of intensive action and discipline. They didn’t flinch when I put my lens in the thick of it.
My pal, the writer Catherine Jozwik, wrote the accompanying article about how Bay View is home to a bunch of martial arts institutes.
The Shepherd Express, Milwaukee’s alternative weekly newspaper, hired me to photograph local AIDS survivor Maurice Jenkins for this week’s cover story. Maurice was a cool guy, and a pleasure to work with. He had some interesting things to say, specifically about being a gay black man with AIDS.
He had expressive hands. This is one of two photos that ran inside.
Here are a few others I liked:
A “hero” shot against the white sky.
A chain around Maurice’s neck carries the rings he and his longtime partner wore.
Maurice had several bright-colored paintings on his walls, including this one. Did he paint them? No, Maurice said. His longtime partner, who passed away two years ago from complications of AIDS, did.
Milwaukee model Grace Pamela and I set out for the pseudo countryside to conduct a loosely scripted shoot a few weeks back. We kept it simple: The two of us, a camera and the sun. A couple of my favorite frames…
The current issue of ONE skate magazine features a few of my photos, including this one of master shredder Mike Froemling, who lives in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. Mike skates hard, representing companies like Remedyz skates of California and Con.Artist Clothing from Minneapolis. We shot this back in the spring at a cool spot just off Brady Street. So nice to use a 50mm lens for skate shots, rather than a fisheye or an all-out telephoto.
