Beaches and Bands

In moving to Seattle, I was a bit taken aback by the size of the city and the rows upon rows upon rows of houses.   For my own sanity, I decided to scale the city down and focus my exposure of it on small elements of culture and nature.     Thus, resulted in a Monday of beaches and bands.

People often leave behind personal traces to mark their existence, to record their experiences.   "I was here, I lived, I saw, I am."   One of my favorite examples of this practice is the careful stacking of rocks; the creation of a cairn.    Cairns are often used as trail markers in the backcountry, but are showing up more and more in urban areas as an expression of life and art.   I photographed this beach-bleached log and its population of cairns at Carkeek park.

Seattle is known for its plethora of live music and its draw for creative and unique work.   I have the lucky fortune to know Tommy Panigot of Garage Voice (above) and have been introduced to Seattle's music scene through a web of new friends.   The Head and The Heart (below) headlined the show.    They are worth checking out.  Although I don't believe I will become a band photographer anytime soon, I have a bit of an aversion to high ISOs, I had a lot of fun shooting throughout the night and working with unfamiliar light.    Plus the music was great, so you really can't go wrong. 

Move to Seattle

I’m from Minnesota, so I’m nice.  

This was my craigslist slogan for about a month of house hunting.  I eventually gave up the catch phrase and found my current home.   A small house decorated with art and instruments from past and present housemates, a visual history of an eclectic community of artists, musicians, and overall welcoming and generous people.  I may even go, as far as to say, they are nice.       

For those of you who know me little, I recently moved from Minnesota to Seattle to seriously pursue a career in photography.   Photojournalism, documentary and conservation projects are my hopes and dreams.   I decided that Seattle would be a great area for networking opportunities as well as the occasional coffee date with professionals in the industry.    I even decided to start blogging my photographic process and write down a few of the stories behind my images.   Luckily you, the reader, have this opportunity to gain an insight into the tangents and observations that make up my life.  

Since coming to Seattle, I have had the chance to help hang an exhibit with the Photographic Center Northwest titled Critical Mass, a fifty-piece exhibit from Portland.   If you don’t have the opportunity to stop by the gallery in person, you can check out the images on the PCN website. Critical Mass

Also, I would like to place a plug for a friend of mine, a wonderful nature photographer, Paul Raymaker.    His images are on display as part of the Ballard Art Walk.   His reception is March 13th from 7-9 at the Aster Coffee Lounge:   5615 24th Avenue Northwest.   Paul Raymaker

Please check this blog often for updates on my work, experiences and the stories I have the privilege to share with you.    Thanks for reading.