Editorial Photographer | F-Stop Magazine

I was pretty fired up when I heard a few weeks ago that two photos from the collection below would be published in the June issue of F-Stop Magazine.  Since I value the mission and quality of the publication, it’s hugely flattering and a significant accomplishment.

More than that, though, this shoot was the first entirely personal photo editorial I’ve ever produced.  One Sunday afternoon — after spending an entire Saturday on an event shoot, and while prepping for a client shoot on Monday — V & I were talking about something we wanted to try ‘on the next shoot’ when we realized we could just go for it at that moment.  So even though we were dog tired and should have been/could have been working on anything else, we were inspired to set up a black backdrop, one Alien Bee on a stand, and whip out my 100mm f/2.8 macro to try something different.  Something exciting to us.  Something meaningful.

I love this editorial because the subject is V.  I wanted to show that a man at 50, who’s had a rough time in life, could be both sensual and powerful in his ruggedness.  To me, V has had the most extraordinary experiences.  He left home at 14, worked as a coal miner in Bohemia, then owned and operated a climbing company throughout Europe where he cleaned cathedral spires and other high-altitude architectural items needing touch-ups.  When he came to America, he worked as many jobs as he could to pay the bills and find his own American Dream, eventually learning the craft of copper, which he does full-time nowadays in a shop in Salt Lake City (he’s their master craftsman).  When V broke his back paragliding in 2008, he lived in his car as he struggled to recover without money for rent, physical therapy, doctors appointments, or medication.  Imagine, re-learning to walk while living out of your car, your only affordable luxury a membership at Gold’s Gym so you can shower with some regularity.

Today, and everyday, he inspires me every day with his work ethic, integrity, sheer talent, patience, accountability, and huge, huge heart — and I just wanted an opportunity to celebrate him.  Give the world a chance to see him through my eyes.  Both vulnerable and strong, assured and compassionate… he’s a man with a story written on the lines of his face.

[fyi :: my favorite image is the second one below.  It reminds me what an incredible dancer he is.]