Darker Liz by Kansas City Photographer Kirk DeckerLighter Liz by Kansas City Photographer Kirk Decker
I spent some time working up the backstory for the first image, but decided it would be more interesting to see what other people see in it. What’s going on here?
Both images were created during a portrait session with @lizzi.leigh who, among other things, is an actress and isn’t stuck with being one person all the time, like the rest of us. Here’s her take on it, “Learning the craft of acting and character study have helped give me the courage to explore and spelunk the deep darknesses of my soul as well as the heights of my happiness and wildest dreams.”
Portrait of Lee Decker by Kansas City Photographer Kirk Decker
Lee Decker @leedecker97 Chess player, summa cum laude graduate from Truman University, and part-time exorcist (reasonable prices, results not guaranteed). Lee’s chess set is modeled after medieval pieces discovered on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. One of the things I like about Lee’s portrait is that it simultaneously reminds me of the Muppet Christmas Carol, Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and the French Revolution. The chess pieces on and off the board being the Elect and Preterite with Lee himself being the “Hoity-toity Mr. Godlike Smarty-pants” omniscient storyteller.
Ben Parks – Kansas City based artist (@brancesoftree) and musician (@oftree). To say that Ben does large scale portraits and figurative work doesn’t really do justice to his art. You need more words like “amazing” and “soulful” which can also be applied to the music that he and Laurel (@fiddlemaiden) create. The loop, almost butterfly, light in this portrait comes from a gridded beauty dish – something Ben found to be highly amusing.
Monday Memories – Brent Pulsipher, 1979/80, Graceland College, Lamoni IA. 4×5 Kodak VPS in a Burke and James 5×7 view camera. A LDS instructor at a RLDS school, I don’t think he got anyone to drop the R in RLDS, or what the administration thought of him, but I remember him as one of the most interesting instructors at the school. A few years later when I was a traveler in a aging 63 Chevy with money for gas, but not for hotels, he opened his house to me, and was the kindest host I have ever met.
Extreme Farmer David Wayne Reed. Not only is his tractor bigger than
yours, it goes to eleven. When he is not Extreme Farming, David is a
filmmaker – Eternal Harvest, playwright – Help Yourself, Jolly Rancher, Mother Trucker, director,
producer, and actor. KC Pitch (2017 Best of KC issue) says he is one
of 25 reasons ‘Why We Love KC Now.’ Mr. Reed hosts and produces the
popular storytelling series, Shelf Life, and, is an insightful and genuinely nice guy to be around.
Portrait made with a vintage Hasselblad on Kodak Portra160 film.
Fine Art portrait of Beau Bledsoe by Kansas City Photographer Kirk Decker
Beau Bledsoe @beaubledsoe, consummate musician, founder of Ensemble Ibérica and Alaturka. Amazing how the sound of his Martin guitar filled my small studio. Beau’s portrait was made in my Westbottoms studio with a Hasselblad 555ELD, 150mm Sonnar, Phase One digital back and traditional Hasselblad film backs.
Photograph by Kirk Decker of a high school librarian in the 1970s.
Archive – Photographs by members of the Kansas City Society for Contemporary Photography – Potter Gallery, Missouri Western State University, October 1-26.
This photograph goes waaay back in my archive. Seventh Grade, 1974 Valley Center Jr. High, Valley Center, Kansas. I would have been 12 or 13, and becoming obsessed by photography. I remember taking this photograph, but when I look at it now, I feel as if I’m somewhat omnisciently looking at another person’s work. I know this photographer, I know where he is going, I understand him.
He shot up a lot of film during this time and the photos are not half bad for a Jr. High kid. But occasionally, he will (I think) just nail one. These images are where my omniscience fails me. Where did this come from? Did he get this one because he was always hammering away and got lucky? Was he actually paying attention as he idly flipped through the art books in the library? This is where I lose the connection and make the connection. Today, I have a much better idea of what’s going on with my work, but the occasional “where did this come from???” still happens.
Side by side windowlight portraits done with a Nikon D800 Digital camera and a Nikon F2 Film camera. I’ll be posting a number of these and I’m not going to say which is which. The film is Kodak Portra 160. The lens is a Nikon 105mm f/1.4 shot wide open. This isn’t meant to be rigorous comparison or even a film vs digital. It’s just something I did for fun.
Film and Digital Windowlight portraits by Kirk Decker
Film and Digital Windowlight portraits by Kirk Decker
