Job Special photo
A photo of mine was recently used for an article in this week’s Hour in the Career section. Each end of August/ early September, the Hour would focus on career/employment opportunities with articles about how some had started their careers, ways of starting out and the ins and outs of the industry. Hour writer Richard Burnett wrote an article about the behind the scenes of festival directors as Montreal boast a large population of festivals, giving people something diverse to do each week. He focused mainly on newly appointed Fringe Artistic Director (and long time fringer) Amy Blackmore. She had her beginnings as a volunteer and would work her way up into running the Montreal Fringe Festival.
As a Fringe photographer, I’ve always had Amy in my photos as she’s everywhere, from setting up for the Drag race, to having her own show. This was a photo from the Frankie Awards with a beer in hand (for which in Fringe Festival culture is very common). Still, it’s one of those rare moments where she’s standing in one place as Amy is a busy, hardworking person. The edition of the Hour featuring Amy Blackmore is still on the newsstands till tomorrow however it’s on the Hour site :
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Tags: Amy Blackmore, Festival Artistic Directors, Hour Magazine, Job special, Montreal Festivals, Montreal Fringe Festival, Richard Burnett
Adventures in Alley Ways
It’s been a busy time photo wise, festivals, camping trips and personal projects. I had time before my camping trip to do a photo shoot that was neither music, theatre or photojournalistic. It was a return to an old project of mine, my book project where every couple of years I would do portraits in unique areas around and outside the city.
Hannah Eichenwald was my model for the afternoon, I’ve known through the Fringe Festival and various social circles however I’ve never worked with her until that day. What I knew about her was she had a dance and theatre background, as of late I’ve enjoyed what the body does in dance. Our location was an alley way in the Mile End, I’ve been eyeing this one alley for about a month. If you ever frequent the area it’s nothing but beautiful alleys.
We opted for neutral tones and Hannah did a beautiful job on her make up. The beginning of the shoot as she’s a new model took a little time before I knew what directions to give her. I found out she was a fan of fairy tales and imagination, I told her to start skipping and twirling across the alley way. That’s when things clicked, I was thinking about kids that play in alleyways, how they can turn a narrow space into many things.
Hannah was fun to work with, with her dance background (how she was able to hold dance forms) and her active imagination we were able to produce some fun, beautiful results in an area where cars would go through. Funny moments when people would walk through and wonder what the Hell we were doing. Still, it was an adventure on it’s own.
I’m always looking for models, it’s a fun project, a fun experience. I get a lot of first timers and I get surprising results. Surprising as in that a lot of people are surprise that they have it in them to be part of a beautiful process.
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Tags: Alley ways, book project, Hannah Eichenwald, Mile End, Montreal Fringe Festival
I was going to put more festival photos however the guys over at chartattack.com are doing a web site overhaul so no photos from this week’s festival venture (just yet).
I was however watching a lot of the World Cup in the last month. I have a Chilean background so following soccer is the other sport I follow next to hockey. The World Cup is about the beautiful game and the teams that are vying for dominance every four years.
Spain were once considered great underdogs however in the last two years have showed a great dominance to the sport. It was not a surprise that they would be in the final. The great surprise that the South American teams (all 5 of them) made it through to the round of 16 and seemed like a threat.
Unfortunately all didn’t make it to the final. We’ll get them next time.
I was opting to go watch the game at Copacabana on St Laurent that day but due to working late, the bar was packed and opted to watch outside the bar with the others. The crowd at Frappe next door filled the sidewalk and streets, causing havoc with the police nearby.
I had my camera because I knew if Spain won there was going to be a big party.
And after 116 minutes there was. It wasn’t a pretty game but it was over, viva Spain.
I learned that the community around the St Laurent strip are very passionate about the sport. I was surprised how many Chilean flags and fans I was able to find when they were still playing. Yes to Brazil and Argentina however Uruguay?
Spain was the pick over the Portuguese as the round of 16 turned into 8, then to 4 and then that Sunday. I walked up to Rachel where the street was closed to traffic. The next block to Mary Anne was a sea of red and yellow. There were hundreds of fans on the street chanting “Yo soy Espana” I am Spain.
I was knee-deep in red and yellow, there was a girl on a guy’s shoulders, a fake world cup being passed around. Men kissing a stuffed octopus in tribute to Paul the octopus who was picking the winners of the tournament (he picked Spain twice, even against his home country of Germany in the semifinals).
It was a lot of wide angles, wanted to capture the mass crowd. I looked up. The Social Club were showering the hot and sweaty with champagne. I got some in my eye, it did cool me off however. There were drummers and dogs dressed in flags. Children wearing Spanish jerseys feeding off popsicles, tasting the victory of their newly minted champions. Senoras and Senoritas in flamenco dresses dancing on the streets.
The party went late, I was tired and missed out on the impromptu soccer game the young boys and old men were playing. The cops play a game or two. There was passion in that crowd, no destruction or trouble.
This was my third celebration this year, camera in hand (this time I couldn’t stand atop a garbage can). This one was very different in comparison to hockey. Soccer is passion, along with their fans. Most of these countries competing have a deep-rooted passion for the sport as well as their culture. It’s a bit of a parallel in comparison to hockey fans however I can’t wait till the next one in Brazil.
I wish to be at the biggest party the next time. A part of me wishes to take pictures of something like the World Cup, then again Spain was once the underdog, now El Campeones.
Spain party: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindylopez/sets/72157624486133416/
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Tags: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Copacabana, Frappe, Paul the Octopus, Rachel and Mary Anne, soccer party, Social Club, Spain, St.Laurent, underdogs, World Cup
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