Creatives Project - Heather Hart

While in New York last year, some friends suggested we go check out a piece in the Brooklyn Museum a friend of theirs, Heather Hart, had done. It was called 'The Eastern Oracle: We Will Tear the Roof Off the Mother' and it was a pretty amazing piece to see and experience -- and I say experience because this is not a painting on a wall but a life-size roof of a house laid bare on the museum floor that you can walk on and inside -- I remember even having to sign a waiver.  It was a beautiful piece of work -- going inside to place gold leaf on the inside walls felt almost transformative.

Recently, I saw she was doing a piece here in the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park for the summer.  I was excited not only because I have been loving the temporary pieces SAM has installed there (loved loved loved last year's 'Air Below Ground' by Carolina Silva) but because I had seen images of the construction of 'The Western Oracle: We Will Tear the Roof Off the Mother' and it just looked so at home there.  You really should go check it out if you're in the area.

Thanks Heather Hart for braving traffic and rain to sit for a portrait in the Creatives Series!

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New Work for Village Theatre

I had been meaning to write a post about this for some time but it always seems things have gotten away from me….family, work, and an ill-advised move to California in the middle of all that!  But, this past year I have had the pleasure with working with the Village Theatre on some of their marketing and promotional efforts.  We shot some great images for ‘Big River’ (which I shot while perched precariously on a small boat and photographed while successfully NOT falling into a river!), got soaking wet on Tiger Mountain while shooting for ‘Trails,’ and had a lot of fun shooting stills for ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’  I was most excited to shoot the images for ‘Chicago’ though – such an iconic production.  Taryn Darr (aka Roxie Hart) delivered amazingly and I had to try and not sound like a totally clichéd photographer. Some great people over there at Village Theatre and I hope you get a chance to go check out one of their productions – ‘Chicago’ runs in their Issaquah location through June 29^th.

Creatives Project - Dorothy Allison

I had the honor of photographing the amazingly talented Dorothy Allison recently, author of 'Bastard Out of Carolina,' 'Cavedweller,' 'Trash,' among others. I really have no words to add, it was such a privilege to have the opportunity to take a portrait of her!

Creatives Project - t.w. five

I agreed to meet Paula and Pernilla, the collaborative artist duo known as t.w. five, in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, where they were touching up one of their street murals.  They told me in an email that it was maybe not the best neighborhood around.  I was a little nervous, given that the idea I had in mind was to tie the two artists up.

"Well, the Tenderloin is the one place where people probably wouldn't even look twice seeing two people tied up on the street," Paula laughed.  Pernilla continued that the neighborhood might not have the best reputation but that the people they encountered while creating their artworks were always respectful and appreciative of the work they were doing.

They were game to be tied but, ultimately, we ended up in a more private location on the other side of San Francisco.  While there, we did cause a bit of a stir; people stopped, and stared, and even took pictures.  But, really, the only thing that was really bothersome was the occasional burst of wind that would blow Paula's hair into her face.

Together, t.w. five create massive installation and street art pieces made of vinyl and I'm thrilled they agreed to be tied up for a photo!  Paula is Brazilian by birth; Pernilla is Swedish. They take their opposite cultures and melt them together in a way that is colorful and arresting, massive and gorgeous.

Creatives Project - Jeremy Fish

King of San Francisco?  Nope, that’s just artist Jeremy Fish (King of North Beach perhaps?), whom I had the pleasure of photographing from atop Telegraph Hill – though it does kind of look like he might be in a television news station or something!  You really should click on the image to see it bigger.  Anyway, I had a lot of fun photographing this awesome artist – and chatting about our similar backgrounds from upstate New York and the outrageous price of housing in San Francisco and the Bay Area in general.  I still can’t quite figure out how creative people can create and live in this city!

(Oh, you can follow me on Twitter or Like me on Facebook - if you're so inclined for those things! Or you can just check out my work on hipphoto.com)