Often as you read bios about photographers or hear them describe their work, you will eventually hear a phrase along the lines of; “capturing an image” somewhere in the conversation. Personally, I have no interest in that; it’s not what I “do.” I want to capture a moment in time, a feeling, an emotion, one brief fraction of a second in life…freeze it and share it. It may sound like a minor differe
nce, but philosophically, the difference is huge. Michael Wilson, one of my favorite photographers working today, a friend and someone I respect and admire recently said; “I am a photographer, I stand in front of things and hope.” I like that. Many years ago, in a “previous life” so to speak, I owned a commercial photography studio in Atlanta and for several reasons, decided to change career paths. Life happens and changes come, but one constant in my life is that from the day my parents gave me a Minolta SRT-102 for Christmas when I was 15 years old, thru high school and my study of photography in college, to this day, I rarely feel more comfortable and at ease than when I have a camera in my hand. I am able to communicate and share in a way that that I could never do otherwise. Personally, I love music, live music especially; music and photography are two of favorite things. Shooting live concerts gives me the opportunity to combine and share these two passions with others in a rare and unique way. When shooting a concert and/or performance, I approach it a little differently than most, more like environmental portraiture. Rather than a traditional or photojournalist approach, or simply documenting the show, I attempt to capture the emotion of the performance and the performer(s), freeze a moment, a feeling or passion for eternity and then share it with others. I have been fortunate enough to have shot for Over the Rhine, Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Bettye Lavette, Alejandro Escovedo (and many others), ear x-tacy, music blog "Louisville MusiCulture" along with several venues, blogs and websites. This includes touring extensively with Over the Rhine on several occasions, documenting several of their tours, including the tour for the release of "The Long Surrender.”
I take a similar approach when shooting what I call “artsy stuff” (I also refuse to be pretentious), I hope I find something worth sharing, possibly a detail, or a unique angle of something that someone else may have just walked right past, never noticing, never seeing. To see something different, we have to look at things differently. There is beauty and uniqueness everywhere, sometimes we just need to open our eyes and look for it, not past it. And with portraits, my simple goal is to show people living life. I hope that someone can look at a photograph that I have taken of them and say, “yes, that’s me.” That’s the highest praise I can imagine. Again, thank you for your interest; I hope we have the opportunity to make a few pictures together.
