Big surprise in the mail today. A book, Symphony in the Flint Hills Field Journal, with one of my photographs in it. A check, and two tickets to the Symphony in the Flint Hills event. Thanks! Infrared image of Kansas Clouds and Sky taken at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
Brad, woodsman and bicycle adventurer.
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.
Behind the scenes on the 5th floor of the Kansas City Livestock Exchange Building. Justin and Kirk. Capture One running on the computer. Kemper Arena in the background.
Justin Border @jborder – Painter, Illustrator, Graphic Designer. Justin and I talked about how he enjoys experimenting with materials and subject matter to simultaneously calm and expand his wandering researcher mind. Actually we talked about a lot of things over the course of several hours.
I hate the word pose, and only “pose” people as a place to start from. What I have found, is that during a conversation people will settle into postures and mannerisms that are comfortable for them and reflect who they are. As a photographer you have to watching for this, and that’s when you make the portrait.
Zachary Weaver, playwright, actor, and intuitive inspirational speaker.
Tod Davis. Rock n Roller and one of the heads of Kansas City’s Two Headed Cow. On digital and film. Same camera, same lens a Hasselblad with the 150mm Sonnar. Phase One digital back and Rollei Retro 80s film.
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.
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.
Portrait made in my new studio space, Kansas City Livestock Exchange building located in the West Bottoms next to Kemper Arena.