The Moving Wall Memorial

August 28, 2008

The Moving Wall Memorial is a traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. It made a stop last weekend in Sparta, MI, with a moving ceremony and dignity unlike any memorial. If it comes to your hometown, don't miss it. Check out this {slideshow} of the experience.

 

Rothbury Music Festival

July 9, 2008

They turned a 2000 acre ranch in Michigan into an enchanted, eco-friendly, four day music festival for about 40,000 friendly people. Originally I had no plans for going, but after a couple of days of intriguing news reports, I had to seek out a ticket. Saturday morning
I found a guy who needed to leave, so I threw the tent in the van,
met my contact and bought his wristband—then proceeded to catch
up with the party. It turned out that two days at the festival is all I really needed.

The bands were pretty well covered by media photographers, and you can find that stuff anywhere on the net. My concentration was on the people and representing the feel of the festival environment. Check out my top 40 shots {here} and don't miss the link at the bottom of the page to an extended gallery.

If you want more detailed information on the festival, go to the website at rothburyfestival.com. Trust me, you're going to want to go next year.

 

National Go Skateboarding Day

June 22, 2008

I can't say I knew anything about it, and I haven't been on a skateboard in years, but I did get some nice silhouettes of these guys. Check out this {gallery.}

 

Festival of the Photograph 2008

June 17, 2008

I'm still in recovery from the festival in Charlottesville, VA, but I thought I'd post some galleries for now. I'll rewrite this later.

Gallery I
Gallery II
Gallery III

 

Shooting Loosely

June 8, 2008

I needed to lighten up, take a short break from the garage sale stuff, and throw my camera around a little. What's better than a street festival for that? These were shot yesterday at the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts. Check out the series {here.}

 

April Wedding

May 12, 2008

I was the second shooter at a wedding last month, so with wedding season in full swing I thought I'd post a series. I'm not pursuing wedding photography as a career, but if that's your thing and you want to add a photojournalistic or less formal angle to the package, please be in touch. Check out the {gallery.}

 

Duke Creek

May 4, 2008

I suppose one nice thing about the long winter is that the creeks aren't all overgrown with brush for the first week of trout season. We might even have decent casting lanes for the next two weeks or so. Anyway, after a little coaxing from my good buddy Brandan, I had a line in the water on friday afternoon. I also packed a camera, and was trying to work out a bumper sticker like "A bad day of fishing is better than, err... equal to, maybe less than, a good day of photography..." I don't think I exactly nailed it. Here's a {gallery.}

 

Lucky Light

April 22, 2008

Sometimes in unexpected places, say, a political fundraiser, you stumble upon good light and a charming situation to match. Go to the series {here.}

 

Emerging Photographer's Fund

March 25, 2008

I recently had a short series edited by David Harvey from a story submitted to his Emerging Photographer's Fund. The images are from the Skelletones series, and can be found on his site in "Essays" under the link to the EPF. You can go directly to the images {here.}

The Fund started as an online assignment from David to participants of his blog. The assignment was to shoot a story of our choice and put together a strong editorial sequence, as a way of nurturing our shooting and editing abilities. This experiment found legs and funding was established, and $5000 was awarded to Sean Gallagher to continue his story on desertification in the Western Gansu Province
of China. Based on this experiment, funding is expected to continue as part of David Harvey's continuing effort to promote new photographers and emerging work.

davidalanharvey.com

Leaving Chicago

Published

March 5, 2008

The photo above was published in the Winter 2008 edition of Resource Magazine. Resource is a publication out of NYC with a focus on the production end of the photography industry. You can visit their website {here.}

I've also been invited to submit my Skelletones series to FILE magazine's online galleries. Go to their site {here.} I'll make another journal entry when that project is posted.

Ice Fishing / Rabbit Derby

February 28, 2008

I spent last Saturday on Cranberry Lake with a local American Legion Post {Marne Post 376} documenting the Ice Fishing / Rabbit Derby. Fishermen gathered on the ice before sunrise to drill holes in search of pike and panfish. Nearby fields and wooded areas along the lake run with rabbits, making hunting convenient for the tournament.
Men tour the lake by ATV to socialize and keep warm with homemade wine and moonshine. Cash prizes went to the biggest rabbit, most panfish, biggest panfish, and biggest pike. Back at the hall, donated items were raffled for the purpose of raising funds to remodel restrooms to accommodate handicapped guests. All in all, it was
a full day of Americana. Go to the gallery {here.}

Tree Carvings

February 17, 2008

I've been slow to post, I know. Actually I shot these a few weeks ago on a winter walk down by the river. Is this public artwork or grafitti? I don't know—let me know what you think. Go to the gallery {here.}

Ruthie

January 9, 2008

Did you ever meet the girl next door? Here are a handful of shots from her attic. See the short series {here.}

NYE at Fight Club

January 8, 2008

I've got to catch up on my posts. One of the best ways to ring in the new year is to wing it. Wing it as in drive to Detroit with a friend first thing New Year's Eve morning—hop on the first flight available to DC—line up the hotel from the plane—if everything has worked out at this point, then take in a stroll around the White House and other DC sites—and then go find Fight Club, DC's underground skate park / music venue / all out good time.

It helps if you have buddy pass airline tickets courtesy of Anthony Smallwood, one of the founders of Fight Club. Thanks again Tony. See the series {here.}

Final Edit

December 15, 2007

This Summer into Fall I participated in an online assignment from one of the world's finest photographers, David Alan Harvey. He called for an experiment from the readers of his blog—for each to shoot a story for one month and create strong sequences from the work. Well one month turned into two, and to the experiment was introduced funding, which has ultimately evolved into "the first David Alan Harvey Fund for Emerging Photographers, under the non-profit umbrella of the Magnum Cultural Foundation."

I presume that this online study has been a loose version of one of David's international workshops. Up to 250 photographers participated in this project, with one to be awarded the grant later today. Most importantly, the stories of the core participants will likely be published on a site being set up by Harvey and company.

As many of you know, having seen me around shooting, I concentrated on a cultural study of Skelletones, a local all-ages hardcore venue. If you'd like to see my final submission, go {here.} If you'd like to go to David Harvey's blog to read more about the project, go {here.}

Mystic Dub at MSF

December 10, 2007

If you haven't been to a show at Hugo Claudin's studio, {Mexicains Sans Frontieres} make your way down there the next time you see a promotion come across Myspace or Facebook. The shows are unique to Grand Rapids, and offer a nice change of pace from the bar and bar bands. It's a laid back art scene and BYOB.

Recent shows include the Fantastic Merlins—a jazz quartet from Minneapolis, Tatsuya Nakatani—a contemporary solo percussionist, and singer/songwriter Mike Mangione from Chicago.

This {series} is from Friday night's show with Mystic Dub, a talented local reggae band. Also on hand was Folias, a superb flute and classical guitar duo, playing a mix of latin jazz and tango.

There's stuff to do in Grand Rapids—you just have to go out
and find it.

{Series 1} {Series 2}

Photo Wizard

November 1, 2007

Halloween (also known as gratuitous girl-watching night) passed over in spooky Michigan fashion. I've sought out a variety of haunts since Saturday to put together these series'. These shots come from The Bob, Sazerac, Billy's, and there might even be something from McFadden's in there. Special thanks to the folks who don't mind when I shoot free-style. That's when I get my best stuff.

For you photogs interested, that's my wireless flash on top of a monopod, covered with a paper lantern—both a clever wand and a good light source.

A Day in Michigan Wine Country

October 9, 2007

Yes, Michigan has wine country, and the wines are competing quite well around the world. This series is from a day with the family visiting vineyards—not a bad way to spend a Saturday in October.

Sorry about the lack of posts. I'm still rolling with the Skelletones stuff, but really just spending a lot of time editing the slideshow and preparing my submission. I think the final body of work will be fantastic—here's hoping!

And as much as I'd like it to be, humanfiles isn't all about the photography. I did pick up a design contract to develop a catalog, to which I'm dedicating a fair amount of time—and I'm working on my second contract. More on design and these projects later—but it's nice to finally have some kind of income!

If you want to see my day at the vineyards, go {here.}

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