MARRIED TO THE DEVIL

Another small piece of video from the USER project.

If you have trouble getting it here try this YouTube link:

ET CETERA…..

MICHELLE WILSON: BEING A PHOTOGRAPHER

The only reason Michelle Wilson’s name keeps coming up
on drool is because she keeps producing and showing
work. She’s an actual photographer.

Michelle and installation view

A while back I was giving a talk to a photography class at
a local college. I asked the class: “Who here wants to be
a photographer?”

All the hands shot up.

Then I asked: “What do photographers do?”

Silence.

Until one meek (or brave) soul slowly raised her hand
and said: “They take photographs?”

Bingo!

Photographers take photographs. They don’t take them every
once in a while, they take them all the time. They don’t just
take them when they’re told to, they shoot because they want
to, are compelled. Then they look at what they’ve done, do an
edit and prepare their selects for viewing. That’s what photog-
raphers do.

Batman by Michelle Wilson

About a week or so ago there was a very interesting post on the
Magnum Photos blog, titled: “Wear good shoes: Advice to young
photographers“.

Any time you get over 2 dozen top shooters offering advice you’re
going to get conflicting opinions. The one constant, though, is that
photography is work. You don’t put in the work, you don’t get to
be a photographer.

Sarah by Michelle Wilson

So, props to Michelle. She’s obsessed. And that’s kinda (up to a
point) necessary if you want to be a photographer.

(Having some talent is helpful, too.)

Peewee by Michelle Wilson

AMNESTY

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned here an Amnesty International
project I was involved in. Small Places. Street people and pro photogs
were given disposable cameras and asked to shoot images about life
on the street.

The opening was last night at Gallery La Petite Mort. The show’s up all
week, if you have a chance you should drop by and have a look.

Banner outside gallery

A big crowd was on hand for the opening

photograph by Jason LeBlanc (street person)

Some more photos

My effort

XMAS GIVING

With the Xmas season upon us, well, I guess it’s BARGAIN TIME.
Here’s a couple of upcoming auction thingys you may want to
participate in…..

101 FRAMES

At Gallery 101. The theme this year is lust. A silent auction. Details here.

April + Eric, slippers; Tony Fouhse

SPAO PRINT (and bake) SALE

This one being held to help finance the Grad Exhibition. There
should be some swell work there, not to mention Khalia’s mom’s
cookies. These are famous cookies, having been featured right
here on drool not too long ago.

This is the photo I’ve submitted:

Jessica and Melissa, crack addicts, Ottawa, 2007

FINALLY

Sheila Casey’s Obama dress. Spotted at Gallery La Petite Mort.

PORNSTARS

Yes, don’t worry, there are photos of pornstars on drool today.
But first, some other business…..a different kind of moneyshot.

ADVERTISING

After all…..we’ve all got to pay the bills.

Below, are a series of adverts I shot for Best Western Hotels, Victoria
Park Suites. Capably art directed by Jared Barter of McMillan.

These were all shot on location in and around the hotel, using non-models, or as
we say in the biz: “real people”.

MY INNER GEEK

YOU CAN SCROLL RIGHT PAST THIS IF YOU JUST WANNA LOOK AT PORNSTARS

I’m conflicted about putting this in drool (after all, who really cares), but the
geek in me (every photographer has one of those…..an inner geek) tells me
to post this. So I will. I prefer to follow my instincts, whether they be geek
or creative (or “right” or “wrong”).

Below is a scan of a 4×5 negative I shot on a cliff overlooking Paterson, N.J.
I made a print from this a week or so ago. When I had a look at that print
I noticed that if you studied it closely, well, the amount of detail was pretty
much mind-blowing.

I’ve included here a detail of the street from the upper right of the print. the
street was at least a mile from the film plane. You can see each individual
person and car. The lo-res files here don’t do the detail any favors, let me
tell you. But, I must repeat, in real life, actually looking at the print, it’s
astonishing. Another reason I’m in love with my 4×5.

FINALLY, SOME PORNSTARS

Went and shot some portraits at The PornStar Ball.

The venue was totally packed, loud and dark, so we set up in a tent outside.
A small and very, very cold tent, I might add.

Then I made forays into the club, where the ball was happening, to find an
assortment of dancers, pornstars and party-people to photograph.

Mostly the subjects’ first reaction, when posing, was to strike an overtly sexual
pose, cliché. I really just wanted to shoot them in a plain and simple way, to move
their sexuality back a bit. I didn’t want to eliminate the sex, after all…..that’s kinda
what the evening was about. But I did want to tone it down some.

The people I photographed were, without exception, fantastic to work with. They
were all personable, friendly and loved the camera.

I put together a short slide show of some of the pix. Just click on the arrow,
bottom left, to see the next shot. Please note, some of these shots aren’t safe
for work.

BONUS PORNSTAR

Yes kids…..bonus. We know what you want.

This one’s not safe for work either.

DONKEYS

Anyone who knows me knows I love donkeys. In fact, I’m pretty
much obsessed with them.

Imagine my glee when I received a package the other day with
this calendar in it…..

Donkey calendar copyright Avonside Publishing Ltd.

Thank you Cory (from McMillan).

MONEY SHOTS

David Wilkins, U.S. Ambassador to Canada

We were originally going to photograph the ambassador at the
U.S. embassy. Have you ever tried to take a bunch of big bags
into that place? Believe me when I tell you…..it’s no fun. The
security is nuts, makes getting on an airplane seem like child’s
play.

So, after a bunch of e-mails and phone calls back and forth
between England (this was shot for an English client) and me
and the ambassador’s people, the shoot got switched to his
residence. High on a hill in Rockliffe, overlooking the Ottawa
River. Less hassles getting in. Whew.

The day of the shoot we pulled up to the gate there and, after
a cursory once-over from the dude there, we found ourselves
driving up the winding lane that leads to his “house”.

While we’re waiting for the shoot to begin I ask the ambassador’s
butler, Gianni, what I’m supposed to call the dude. He smiles
a knowing smile, looks down at me and says: “Why, ‘Mister
Ambassador’, of course”. I already knew that and had been
practising all weekend, saying “Mister Ambassador” right out
loud so it wouldn’t feel too weird.

The ambassador finally comes out and is, of course, a great guy.
Unassuming and gracious, as you would expect. I started off calling
him “Sir”, slipped in a few “Mister Ambassadors” but, before long, like
always, ended up calling him “Baby”.

THE FUTURE

In the movies you can always tell when the action is taking place
in the future…..the President is black, the climate is bad and the
economy is fucked.

It would seem that the future has arrived.

Whenever I think about politicians I always recall the lines from
that great song by THE WHO: “Won’t get fooled again”. Goes a
little something like this:

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again.

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.

As much as I dislike Hollywood movies (with their plot-driven
scripts and happy endings).

As much as I can relate to rock and roll cynicism (all you need
is 3 chords and the truth).

As much as I believe that humans are poorly evolved mammals
(we’re seeing our destiny unroll before our eyes).

Still, I can’t help but hope for a Hollywood ending here in real life.

Look out for hope.

LOOK OUT FOR HOPE, Robert Frank

USER VIDEO

A lot of the shooting for the documentary video about USER is in the
can. But there are still bits and pieces to pick up and some gaps to
be filled. Plus, we’re still trying to line up interviews with people who
don’t like the work. (Please drop me a line if you don’t like the work
and want to be in the video…..Ottawa only please. I promise I won’t
take it personally.)

Here are a few point + shoot shots I took of some of the video frames
on Ben’s monitor:

Laurie, Me, Cheryl, Jennifer and Bubbles

Emily Falvey and Guy Berube

And here’s one and a half minutes Ben and I cobbled together a couple
of days ago. Sorry about the bad sound….we still have to fine tune that.

Press play> (Might take a few seconds to load.)

If you have any troubles getting the video here try this direct link to Youtube.

SPAO OPEN HOUSE

I was thinking the other day……where would Ottawa be without SPAO?

That school is turning into a destination for foto-related events; it’s invigorating
the Ottawa foto scene and creating discourse. Thank you.

Last Friday they had their annual open house and a gazillion people showed
up. Everyone was there: students, moms and dads, brothers and sisters,
commercial and art shooters, ad agency folks and so on and so forth. A
fine time was had by all.

SACHA THE SINGER

Shot Sacha Gabriel Mary Hebbert the other day. We banged on her door and
she answered wearing a sweater and pantyhose…..my kind of gal.

LINK

Every so often I have a look at my web stats. I’m pleased to announce that
over the past 6 months I’ve been averaging 445.92 visits a day.

Of course I always check out who’s looking, who’s linking and so on. This week
I noticed a link from Montreal photographer Aislinn Leggett’s blog. Being the kind
of guy I am, I go to check it out. You should, too…..she’s got good taste. And
I don’t say that just because she featured me. I say it because her blog is a
compendium of other photographers’ work that mostly really turns my crank.

A page from Aislinn Leggett’s blog

BUBBLE BURST

Okay, so the bubble’s burst. What else is new? You blow a bubble and how long
does it last? Not long. That’s its nature.

Lets see; since 2000 we’ve had the hi-tek bubble burst, the housing bubble burst
and the banking/stock market bubble burst. You’d think we’d be used to it by now.

Here’s what I think……I think that all these recent burst bubbles have taken our
attention away from the big picture, the long view. I think that since about 1950
we’ve been in a big bubble, one so big we couldn’t even see it. A bubble of (first
world) “peace and prosperity”. We think that that’s normal. Well, it’s not.

For the thousands of years that came before 1950 the world was always full of
trouble and strife. The default position for being alive on planet Earth has always
been struggle. Those fat, easy years between 1950 and now were the anomaly.
Only we couldn’t see it.

But, hey, enough of that. I’ll just keep carrying on like normal. Human, don’t
you know.

Here goes…….

TESTING TESTING ONE TWO THREE

I AGREE

Below is a 2 1/2 minute video where photographer Alec Soth describes his
approach, process and feelings about what he does.

What he says totally describes my approach, process and feelings. It’s kind of
unbelievable when you bump into something like this, something that seems so
true to you, so well expressed, that you wish you’d said it yourself.

Please check it out.

WORKING WITH MY HANDS

Been putting a couple of portfolios together. Lots of edit and post production
choices made. Then I printed the suckers.

I must say, it’s swell to work with my hands every now and then. I know, I know,
when I shoot I’m holding the camera in my hands. But that’s somehow different.

I’ve always been a fan of actually printing my photos. There’s something about
committing the time and resources that makes the process seem complete. Only
looking at my photos on a monitor reminds me too much of just entering data.
Making a print seems like, well, it seems like I’m actually making something
with my hands, it seems, somehow, more real.

Then I trim the prints and bind them. When I’m done I have something to have and
to hold. Let me tell you: that feels good. You should try it sometime.

portfolio prints

cover page and images from this years Jersey shoot

cover page and images from USER

____________________________________________________________________________________

YOU CAN STOP READING HERE UNLESS YOU’RE INTERESTED IN (MORE) HYPE

____________________________________________________________________________________

(MORE) HYPE

Photolucida Critical Mass: I’m please to say I’ve become a finalist in the Photolucida
Critical Mass competition thingy. It’s an international portfolio review. I guess a whole
bunch of industry movers and shakers are gonna be assessing my work over the next
month or so.

If you read drool regularly you’ll know that I always take “winning” and “losing” these
competition thingys with a grain of salt. I’ve had work win national awards and the
same work has been totally rejected for local awards. Last year I had work chosen
by American Photography 24.The exact same images were rejected by other juries.

Go figger. The way of the world.

Having said that I’ll also say that it’s nice to get chosen every so often.

Lounge Life: Seems that some blogs and web sites in Australia linked to my web site
and blog. Before you can say: “Dry as a dead dingo’s donger“, Loungelife magazine in
Melbourne decided to print some of my work. If you’re in Australia look for it next issue.

It’s been kind of a random week, this week. First, a blast from the past, then
a bunch of new stuff, just because……

PIG

This was one big sucker…..that’s a 9 foot wide backdrop she’s standing on.

The pig wrangler used food to get her into position. She ate 2 or 3 mouthfuls
then turned and destroyed the set. I got 9 frames off.

HYPE (TV)

Here’s some screen grabs from a TV commercial for St. Lawrence College.

The commercial is composed of doodles, still photos (which I took), voice over,
music and some swell animations. You can see the thing here.

(Thanks to Utopia Communications for the link, and the gig.)

SEX

Well, not really sex. Here’s a shot I took of April + Eric. They’re the
couple I’ve been shooting getting their freak on.

There wasn’t much action the day I shot this…..April had fallen at work
and bruised her ribs, which totally cramped her style. So they just fooled
around a little bit.

The shooting I’m doing with April and Eric is an on-going thing. The plan is
to show the pix next year at Festival X. I hope the festival’s theme next year
is SEX.

HYPE (Newspaper)

Peter Simpson, the Arts and Entertainment editor at The Ottawa Citizen, saw
my blog post about getting my generator stolen and returned by crack addicts.
He e-mailed me, asked me to write about that. And maybe some of my other
experiences down on the corner where I shoot the addicts.

The piece ran yesterday (Saturday October 25th). I’ll stick the copy at the
bottom of this post, in case you feel like reading it.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

This December 10th marks the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration
of Human Rights in Canada. In celebration of this, Amnesty International is hosting
an international campaign called Small Places to raise awareness about poverty
issues as a human right.

People from street communities around the world are being given disposable cameras
and asked to document their lives. In each participating city a number of professional
photographers are also participating, using the same cameras. The work will be edited
down and shown at various venues, world wide.

I gave a short talk to some of the Ottawa participants this past Saturday. The final work
is supposed to be completed and ready to hang by December 10th. I’ll keep you posted
and hope to be able to publish some of the work here on DROOL.

Some of the Ottawa participants

The type of camera we’ll be using

_____________________________________________________________________________

And, as promised….the 920 words that make up the article The Ottawa Citizen published:

DOWN ON THE CORNER

There’s a corner in Ottawa where anarchy reigns.

The people who inhabit that corner aren’t terrorists. They don’t blow stuff up
nor do they want to overthrow any system or government. Mostly they just
want to be left alone to fight their pain. Their weapon of choice is crack cocaine.
The battleground is their bodies and their spirit.

For more than a year I’ve been going to this corner over and over again, obsessed.
Obsessed with documenting the feel and the face of this small society. I work with
a camera and the cooperation and acceptance of the addicts I’m photographing.
They know me, I know them, we have an understanding. The work I’m doing
there feels like collaboration.

Some have said I’m collaborating with the enemy. They say I’m taking something
ugly and making it beautiful. They say that the addicts on that corner should be
swept away. Of course, where they’ll go, how they’ll be treated is left unsaid.
Addiction has always been with us, always will be. Lip service and knee-jerks
count for nothing.

I don’t go down to that corner to fight for or against the addicts, I’m not there to
judge. I’m there as an observer, one who has a point of view and the means to
express that point of view. The casual passerby will see ugliness and conflict and
degradation on that corner. Those all exist there, as they do on other corners, in
other places.

But there are other emotions and dynamics to be seen there, too. I see community
and fellowship, I see street mothers looking after the young women. I see one kind
of pain being replaced with another kind of pain, one that is somehow (we can’t even
begin to imagine) more acceptable to the addict. I see creativity, friendship and
humanity. I see humans.

Used in a certain way, a camera can be a key. Along with strong nerves and an
honest approach it can give the photographer access. Access to the subjects emotions
and stories. And those are not always what you would imagine.

Which brings me back to anarchy.

This is a tight knit group. They are used to looking after themselves, living by their
wits and feeding the beast. (Aren’t we all?) But making their corner “work” requires
that the addicts apply their own moral code (which, granted, is probably a lot different
from yours), and their own justice.

The other day I bumped into Nancy, an addict that hangs on that corner. She was beat
up, black eyed. Seems she had been stealing from the other addicts. That’s not tolerated
so she was roughed up. But she had another story for me…..she’d saved a 16 year old
girl that morning.

A man had come by with a picture of his daughter. He knew she was on the corner and
wanted to find her, take her for treatment. Nancy knew the girl, where to find her. She
took the man to his daughter, he put her in the car, rescued her. At this point Nancy started
to cry. I asked her what was wrong, after all, she helped save that girl. Nancy told me,
through her tears, that she, too, had a 16 year old daughter, addicted. The authorities
had just taken her baby away because she wouldn’t go for treatment. Seemed that Nancy
had saved the wrong 16 year old.

In my mind that one short story encapsulates many of the complexities of that corner.
A thief who was caught and punished, who underneath it all has a kind of honor and
concern, too. Wants to help. Only it’s often easier to help others than it is to help
yourself. And I don’t think that that dynamic is particular to that corner or those addicts.
Seems to me that it’s just the human condition.

Then, a couple of Sundays ago I was back down on the corner, shooting. I use a small
Honda generator to power my light when I’m working there. About the size of a sewing
machine, weighs 25 pounds. There were the usual subjects down there that day, but a
whole lot of strangers as well.

After I’d finished shooting I turned off the generator and started talking to Jennifer, an
addict I’d just photographed. About 30 seconds later I looked over and the genny was
gone, stolen. Seems one of the strangers took it. Had a look around but it was long
gone. Man, I kissed that thousand bucks goodbye.

Before I left I gave my number to a few of the addicts I know, asked them to get in
touch if the generator showed up. I get home and about 30 minutes later my phone
rings. It’s Keith, one of the people I’d given my number to. He had found my genny.
What are the chances of that happening? When was the last time you heard about
crack addicts recovering and returning stolen property?

I didn’t ask Keith any questions about where he found the genny or who had stolen it.
Just thanked him and he walked away before I could give him any reward money.
Seems that that’s not the reason he found and returned my property.

I think that my property was returned because, in a way, I’m one of them.
If you looked at the people and culture that exist down on that corner with just a tiny
shift in your perspective, you’d see that in many ways you’re one of them too.

Ever get hung up?

You know the feeling….you’re fixated on one thing, can’t see the whole scene,
you feel confused and stunted. Disconnected.

This occasionally happens to me when I’m shooting. Circumstances and juju
climb on top of me and I can’t get out from under. Call it: A Bad Day. Every-
one has them. Problem is, in my line of work failure is not an option.

There are those shoots where, after it’s all over and I’m driving home, I can’t
stop thinking about what else I could have done. I wonder why things got so
gummed up.

Often, in these cases, it’s just me being too hard on me. The client is pretty
much satisfied but I feel like I’ve somehow failed.

Fortunately I’ve been shooting long enough to have a bag of tricks I can fall
back on. When I’m feeling hung up I reach into that bag and pull something
out. It doesn’t really satisfy me but, hey, I’m never satisfied.

The reason I bring all this up is because I got hung up trying to figure out
what to write about today. Its been a slow week, shooting-wise. I’ve been
chained to my computer doing post production on pix that I can’t show you
here and now. (The hi-light of my week was one day where I was dealing
with people in 5 different time zones: Vancouver, Toronto, London, Zurich
and Sydney).

So, being hung up, I rooted thru my archives and came across this image:

I shot it in Ohio, 2005. Did a scan and some post production on it and then
just kinda forgot about it. It didn’t make the final edit from my Ohio trip and
until today (when I was desperate) I’ve never really considered it again.

Now that I look at it, though, I’m pretty much fixated on it.

I tried to find some other shots that I might use to flesh out this post. But,
in the end, I got hung up on this shot. I wonder if that’s because, to me,
this image, all by itself, seems to sum up what’s going on down in the U.S.A.
right now? You know…..the whole end-of-empire scenario that seems to be
unfolding right before our eyes.

MASHKULTURE

Couple of weeks ago (or something) the hits to my blog and web site went
way up. Turns out mashKULTURE featured me on their web site.

Kinda weird since mashKULTURE’s mostly about about kool caps and kicks and
shit, with the occasional art thing thrown in. I’ll take it though since their site’s
pretty international….for instance, here’s the thing in Hungarian:

To check out mashKULTURE (in English) go here.

I was bopping around town this morning and bumped into these recruitment
posters for St. Lawrence College. I shot the portraits, Utopia Communications
did the concept/design. These are now appearing on a bus shelter near you.

Then I filled my car up with gas, went in to the thingy to pay. There, in the
magazine rack, was a copy of MORE magazine. “Hey”, I said to myself, “I’ve
got a shot in that”. So I whipped out the trusty point and shoot, then and there,
and took a picture of the page with my shot on it.

That made me think: “Okay, today I’ll blog about making a living, not about shooting
crack addicts”. After all, it’s the whole “making a living” aspect of my days that affords
me the opportunity to pursue my personal work.

some shots from federal gov’t recruitment campaign

So I came home and started writing this. Then, taking a break, I went into my
backyard and found this bird.

It totally looked like a goner. Made me think (as if I need any encouragement): “What’s
the point? We’re all gonna end up like this”.

It still had a pulse, though, and was moving around a little bit. So I put it into a box, put
that box onto my woodpile. Thought when next I went to check on it, well, it’ll be dead.

Okay.

I just went out to look and, what’d you know, the sucker has revived and taken flight to
fight another day.

I feel better.

Catherine, crack addict

—————————————————————————————

Man, it’s been a craaaaazy week spent getting my brain back together.

I’d been so busy, doing so much stuff, for the past month that when things
finally sorta slooooowed down, the usual happened.

I stopped but all the crap and stress and worries and niggley little bits and
pieces that I’d been running so fast to keep in front of, well, they just kept
moving forward. Before I knew it they’d swamped me. Took just about two
whole days to scrap all that shit off me.

But, I’m happy to say, things are now back to “normal”. Though the pundits
and economists are telling us, after the big market meltdown, that we’d better
get used to a “new normal”.

Who knows what that’ll mean for the foto-industry.

I’m a big believer in survival of the fittest and competition. I think it keeps folks
on their toes and striving. Seems to me that there’s been a huge increase of photo-
graphers in the past 5 or 6 years, coinciding with the advent of half-decent digital
cameras that were pretty affordable. It’ll be interesting to see what the survival rate
is for these new shooters, and the established ones too, in this (presumably) tough
new economic climate.

I don’t wish anyone ill. It just seems only natural that every so often the tree gets a
good shake and we see who can hang on. After all…..this is a tough planet.

My advice: Keep shooting, and shooting what you love. You’ll get more respect (which
can translate to jobs which equals the fabulous moolah) by exhibiting passion rather
than lowest common denominator, sliced white bread images.

Go get ‘em.

In the meantime……

CHINA DOLL

Here’s a shot I took of my friend China Doll for a magazine.

The reason it’s framed sorta funny (all that space on the right hand side) is because
the art director told me she needed to run a column of copy over the shot.

LAST PIECE OF FILM IN CANADA

I think I shot the last piece of Kodak Portra 4×5 film in Canada. That would have
been a couple of weeks ago. I phoned all the usual stores, looking to get some more.
That’d be Vistek, Henrys and so on. None of them had any Portra 4×5 anywhere in
their systems. So I called B+H in N.Y.C. Asked the dude on the line if they had any.
He said: Yeah, we got some”. Being once-bitten by the lack of film here in Canada,
I asked him: “How much you got?” He said: “337 boxes”.

I ordered me up some. Back in business.

I wanna know why the pissant camera stores up here can’t keep some film on hand
for those of us that like to shoot it.

And, below, is one of the reasons I like to shoot film. Here’s a snapshot of me
standing in front of a 42 inch tall print from a 4×5 negative, and a detail…..

I think you can see why I love the 4×5 so much. If you’re only shooting for the
web I suppose digi will do. I must say, though, that the actual shooting process
a 4×5 requires really seems to change the juju of a shoot. Plus, if you’re shooting
with prints in mind…..well, no contest. I was studying some prints from digi files
at Festival X. Sure they hold up, if you don’t make ‘em too big, but they just look
kinda plastic, synthetic. Prints from film have a certain organic feel to them that
seems to really do justice to skin and textures and so on. I’m a big fan of content
so I’m not gonna go crazy here, on this film vs digital thing (I know it drives some
people mad) because content doesn’t really care what you use to shoot. All content
requires is any camera, some brains and sensitivity plus effort. But I also like craft
and being seduced by the surface of things. Film’s where it’s at for that, if you ask me.

Anyway…..

I believe that by not exploring what different cameras and formats can bring to the table,
a lot of photographers are short changing themselves. Of course shooting film is more
expensive and, if you were raised on digi-only shooting, probably more difficult.

Those who know me know I’m a fan of difficult. That’s where you grow, in the sea of
difficulty. I recently read a kool Chuck Close quote. He said: “Far more interesting than
problem solving is problem creation”.

So I say……every once in a while, ditch the digi, shoot some film, live a little, take a walk
on the wild side.

And, speaking of film and trying stuff and just plain working….. props to:

MICHELLE WILSON

The SPAO grad who just keeps shooting and shooting. That’s the way you move
forward. It’s called: work.

Michelle recently exhibited her Holy F**k portraits at Gallery La Petite Mort. Word
on the street is she’s gearing up to shoot the Big Halloween Party that Guy throws
down at his gallery every year. So get yer ass down there for the party and get shot
by a rising star.

Now if only she’d get her web site whipped into shape you all could see what she’s
up to……

Michelle Wilson

The Holy F**k portraits

Well, I managed to pump out a few FEST X posts.

The only problem was that the week of the festival was also one stoopid-crazy week
for me, work-wise. All my time and energy went into creating fotos, not consuming
them. So no more gossip/reviews/etc. from the festival. Photographing crack addicts
on the corner is obsessing me, fortunately the commercial part of my life that feeds
that obsession has been going full tilt too.

So…..some stories from the corner.

CRACK/ The Scene

Things are getting intense down on the corner. Not scary-intense, just intense.

The way I’m shooting this year is much more personal than last year’s approach.
As well, we’re making a documentary video about the project and the issues that
surround addiction and photographing crack addicts. This personal approach,
combined with shooting the video has led to much closer relationships with the
addicts I’m photographing.

Here are some scenes from the corner this past Sunday……..

Checking the background, figuring out where to put the subject and the camera

Joanne, Ben (shooting the video) and Alesha

Tracey

Jennifer

Jennifer

And here is the portrait I shot of Jennifer 3 days earlier. She was so strong that day…..

Jennifer, crack addict

CRACK/ The Generator

I use a small Honda generator to power my light when I’m shooting on the corner.
About the size of a sewing machine, weighs 25 pounds.

Last Sunday there were the usual subjects down there, but also a whole bunch of
folks I’d never seen, coming and going. After I’d finished shooting I turned the
genny off and started talking to Jennifer (see above). About 30 seconds later I
looked over and the generator was gone, stolen. Seems like one of the “strangers”
took it.

We had a look around but couldn’t find the perp…..gone in 30 seconds. Man, I
kissed that thousand bucks goodbye.

Before we left we gave our phone numbers to a few addicts we knew, said if
they come across it to give us a call. Get home and about half an hour later
Keith calls up and tells us he’s got the generator. What are the chances of that
happening? When was the last time you heard about crack addicts returning
stolen property?

I didn’t ask Keith any questions about where he found the genny or who had
stolen it. Just thanked him and he walked away before I could give him some
reward money. I ran after him and forced it on him, I’d do the same no matter
who had helped me.

I don’t know for sure but I believe that the genny was returned to me by “my
people” down there because they know I can’t work without it and they don’t
want me to stop photographing them, they support the project. I believe they
tracked down the thief, told him (or her) not to fuck with my stuff, maybe
roughed them up a bit and gave me back my property.

Returned genny

SOCIETY PAGE

And, lets lighten this up a little bit……here’s a thing from the society page of last
Monday’s Ottawa Citizen. A shot of Lorraine Gilbert, David Barbour and me. Shot
at the Fest X Gala Opening Party (or something). We look insane, don’t we?

HEATHER MORTON’S BLOG

Finally this week, a thank you to Heather Morton who published my 10+ list
on her great blog HeatherMortonArtBuyer. Please check it out here.