I just wrote a big long post about this image and how much I love it, and how it connects me to several things I also love, but then deleted it. Because really all I want to do is show off an image I am proud of and that makes me happy to look at.
A photo I took on the opening night of Total Fest X made it into the Missoula Independent this week. It’s a shot of Dane Hansen, aka Bad Naked, making a huge mess of the Top Hat’s floor and himself. The text beneath the photo is a Pro/Con type discussion about Bad Naked’s “art.”
Near the beginning of his performance (or rather … “performance”) he tore into the paper mache whale he had on stage. I think ballons and candy were involved. Then, out came the fruit. Yep, wet, messy, sticky, gross, doesn’t-belong-in-a-bar fruit. Some revelers were giddy with smiles thinking how cool it was. Others, like the people that work really, really hard to organize the event and the volunteers that had to clean up after him weren’t so smily.
Personally, I thought the spectacle was barely more than that … a spectacle, and I’m really glad my camera didn’t get banana’d. Also, the music sucked.
Seeing how this post is going up on January 30 and it’s about 25 degrees and snowing outside, I can’t help but get a little nostalgic for last summer when I created these images for the Montana Council of Boy Scouts. The assignment was to create a body of work of scouting images to be used in the BSA’s marketing materials. The location? That would be Melita Island on Flathead Lake in Montana. Spending a few days on an island, in a very impressive rock and timber lodge, in July in Montana with amazing images unfolding everywhere I looked was a great experience. Now that the images are out in the world, I can share a few here.
The first printed piece I have seen with my images is the MT BSA 2013 calendar. (Needless to say, it is verrrrry different from the other calendar I produced in 2013.) It was designed by Eubank Creative. Overall the print quality and design are fantastic. It really hits me when my images end up in the hands of creative, capable designers and reminds me how much they can jump off a page when treated right. I am definitely looking forward to ongoing projects with the MT BSA after this one.
Another product that came out of the assignment was a promo video which features the Melita Island Camp and the K-M Camp near Lewistown, MT. Shooting video is definitely brand new to me, but is quickly becoming an important piece of the puzzle. I was very fortunate to have a good team to help me on this one, specifically Lou Ghaddar, who handled the editing. Check out the video on Vimeo here.
What a fun and funny ride this whole Lando project of mine has been. What started as a way to capture some zaniness and odd behavior of a friend has turned into something a bit more. Lando and I were interviewed by the Missoulian last Wednesday for an article they wanted to run about the calendars. Needless to say, we obliged. We were shocked, but we obliged. You can read the article here. When we began this thing, we didn’t expect anyone to really care, but now that we have had two newspaper interviews, some radio time, and a gang of social media buzz, our eyes are wide open.
With most of our inventory sold, we are encouraged about the future of this project. I have a pretty solid plan for the 2014 calendar and hope to beef up the product line a bit too. Greeting cards, postcards, prints, posters … they’re all in mind. Plus, Lando and I have been brainstorming some bigger and better goals as well. We’ll see. Regardless, this experience has been fun and affirming to me as a photographer. Naturally (and obviously), the spotlight has been on Lando from the get go. But I have been on the periphery of that light enjoying the fruits of my labor and learning a thing or two along the way. Sure it’s a goofy “thing” to have done, but I am very much looking at it through the eyes of a serious photographer too. And just like the gallery show I had a few years ago, which produced a few nice jobs, I trust the Lando project will generate some more work for me as well.
Onward … with high hopes.
And so it begins…
For the past umpteen months, I have been working, ahem … “working” on a project with a big, loud, weird friend of mine named Lance. He goes by Lando. He’s a character to say the least. We decided to capture and present to the world many different looks of Lando and package them up, calendar style. With many, many nights and weekends spent shooting photos of things that make certain people cringe, kick ass help from our web developing friend and lots of eye rolling from others, we have officially launched Lando406.com, and have pulled the trigger on ordering the first run of Lando 2013 calendars. 12 months of half-baked photos of a big dude doing big things: mountain biking on an exercise bike, loving cats, and getting whooped at tennis.
If you are in or near Missoula on November 2, 2012 we will be having a First Friday-type opening and sales event of the calendar at Stockman’s Bar on Front street.
I love having a personal photography project going on. There are many identifiable stages of the process, and right now, being at or near the completion stage, is always a good feeling and an even better reminder of why its important to keep at it. Laughter, happiness, accomplishment and all around good feelings are the reason to keep pressing on. We’ll see how “successful” this project is in terms of being a money maker. But even if it falls flat, I’ve created something, and at this point it can”t be undone. It’s out there and can’t be taken back. Onward.
My photo of national champion face puncher Amy Sowers got some real estate in the Fall 2012 issue of Distinctly Montana Magazine that is on stands now. It’s great to see Amy get a bit of the spotlight given how damn hard she works. Nice job Amy!
©Andrew Kemmis
I love those moments when you know – without hesitation – that there is no place else you would rather be and nothing else you would rather be doing. This is how Saturday was for me. Spent the day at the Treasure Bowl skating, shooting photos, connecting with old and new friends, and watching some rather notable visitors tear it up. Lance Mountain, Jeff Grosso, Steve Olson, Duane Peters, Arto Saari and a host of others were here to mark the 10th anniversary of the bowl … and maybe party a little. Here’s some photos:
It totally came, totally kicked some arse, and is now totally in the books. Talkin’ about Total Fest of course. And in case you’re unaware, Total Fest is a Missoula-based rock fest geared toward lesser known, independent bands. Another way to say it is that TF is a living, breathing, performing laboratory in which scientists study how humans interact when subjected to three days of noise, youth covered in jean shorts and tank tops, former youth who speak of the “good ol days,” while being subjected to a lot of other people’s body odor. Funny thing is, the whole shebang is damn enjoyable.
This was the fourth consecutive year I have photographed the fest. Each year has its own unique vibe, and this year was no different. Hard to describe, but I liked it. I liked that the first band I photographed was more or less a country band. A little bit later, it was a surf rock band. Enjoyed a dose of stoner rock. And to cap things off, some face-melting hard rawk. (it’s spelled like that to emphasize how rocky the rock really was. got it?)
The weekend was also a great time to hang out and float with some good friends who were in town, float a river, drink a few beers and recreate scenes from “What About Bob.” It’s how all good weekends go, right?
Here’s some photos:
Spent a night in a USFS Lookout Tower recently. Was one of those life experiences that, once you’ve done it, you wonder why it took so long to do it. Very, very amazing night. Highlights include finding surprisingly (and refreshingly) cool weather on top of a mountain, 360 degree views, doing laps on the wrap around porch, never-ending sunset, and scratching another “first” off the list.
With the mercury topping out around 95 degrees in most of western Montana lately, it is obvious that summer is here fo’ real. While that’s hot, it’s laughable by the rest of the country’s standards. Nonetheless, I’ll take it … gladly! The hot conditions lately are responsible for me having a great birthday with family, attempting to do some river surfing on the 4th of July, shooting photos around town (between dips in the river), and generally enjoying some amazing evenings sitting around the fire pit (which is actually a wheelbarrow). Here are a few images from the last week or so.
