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| April
'03 Featured Photo of the Month
Since this month is
our one year anniversary I thought that this month’s Featured Photo
would be sort of a compilation of sorts. This month I’ve been blessed
to have four people who were the subject or who are involved with the
subject write there own little commentary on their particular Featured
Photo. I'm honored that they would take the time to contribute to the
site so let's jump right in.
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First
up is Stephanie Smith from the band Kleveland. Stephanie was our first Featured
Photo last April. Here's what she had to say about her Featured Photo: I remember well the show Patrick Russell took pictures of Kleveland. Not because I met him, not because it was a great show, not because we were playing the grand stage at the Crystal Ballroom, with the killer sound and lights to boot. No, I remember the show because of the fight. The fight that broke out between my bass player and the drummer. It happened right onstage, half way through the set: a huge 'fuck you' match in between songs that looked like it was quickly heading towards a fistfight. I was so pissed I told them to take it outside and let me finish the show by myself. But they snapped out of it long enough to get through the set, which gave PR the opportunity to take some pictures.But I had no idea of he was even at this show until six months later when I received an e-mail from PR informing me Kleveland was the featured picture on his site. At first I thought who the hell is this guy putting my picture on his site? But I saw the pictures and realized this guy is good. PR will definitely be my first choice for the Kleveland world tour, 2004. Stephanie Smith Kleveland |
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up is the lovely Susan Jacobs from our May Featured Photo of the Month.
Here's what Suzie had to say: The photo was taken over five years ago when I was in undergrad. I look like I could be either fifty with a rough past or five trying to look tough. Maybe a little of both. David looks like he is suspicious of the camera/viewer and is somewhat protective of me. In the background are two friends oblivious to the world outside of the two of them. The visual depth of the picture is combined with my experience of the event. The layers and depth of relationships. Myself being the center of the picture mirrors my experience of feeling special and central on my birthday, like I wish everyone had the opportunity to feel. Few birthdays have compared. The photo also reminds me of acceptance. There I was in tiara, messy hair, leopard coat and dark eyes, feeling comfortable and loved. My friend thought it would be a good shot. My parents keep this picture up in their house. I have been blessed to have relationships in which I can feel free to be myself even when it's not pretty. A part of me (the egocentric) likes that I am the central figure in a professional photo, and a part of me feels somewhat vulnerable that this photo is out on the web. Guess which side won out. Thank you Patrick
for acceptance and friendship. |
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Next,
we
have Rita Brown from South Bittersweet Lane music who represents the band
Chamberlain, and David Moore who was our Featured Photo for August: The first time I visited Patrick Russell’s website, I was delighted to find some terrific Chamberlain photos posted there. At the time, I was working with South Bittersweet Lane Music on the release of the Chamberlain retrospective, Five-Year Diary and was immediately attracted to one particular shot of front man, David Moore, which I thought beautifully captured the strength, the presence and the passion that the band always exhibited on stage. We decided to license the photo for use on the retrospective release. Later, Patrick featured the same shot as his Photo of the Month. His commentary touched all of us who have had the privilege of working with this great band over the past several years and who mourned (and still mourn) the loss following their break-up in the spring of 2000. Patrick related the story of how he came to purchase a copy of Chamberlain’s 1998 release, The Moon My Saddle, at a show in St. Louis, stating that the CD “hooked me like a fisherman hooks a marlin, and I found myself flopping around in the Chamberlain boat with the other hooked fans.” I really liked this imagery – perhaps because I have been and will always be an occupant of that same boat!! Thanks, Patrick, for catching the light of Chamberlain’s voice. I’ll save what memory lends me when these days are gone… Rita Brown for Chamberlain
and South Bittersweet Lane Music |
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Last,
and most definitely lest is Kevin Wasmer from the band Enamel. Kevin has
been involved with this site from day one and was really the person who
pushed me to start the site. Coincidnetally, Kevin was our February '03
Featured Photo. Here's what Kevin had to say: So me and some guys have this little band, Enamel. Pat has been a good close friend of mine for a while now so when it came time to get hot rock-star promo photos of ourselves for our CD, there was really only one choice. Not to mention the fact that no one else in this sleepy little town knows their ass from a hole in the ground about taking cool pictures. We hooked up with Pat at a local studio and after some metering he started snapping away. Since Pat is such a goof he made it easy for us to let loose. He shot a roll of us against a stark white background first. We ended up using some of those shots for our CD inserts. Then we decided to try out a dark background. After some stodgy "rock" pose shots, Pat started shooting each of us individually. He told us to do whatever we felt like doing as he had the rest of a roll left. I think my pose in this shot was what I imagined I would look like on the cover of some corporate rock music magazine. What I learned from this experience was that if you plan out what your finished photo is gonna be and don't stray from that, it will probably end up looking pretentious and boring. It's not always easy to be spontaneous, but Pat seems to bring it out anybody, especially me, since I think I'll be a better photographer than him one of these days. Just you wait, Pat!!! |
Well, that wraps
things up for our first anniversary Featured Photo of the Month. I want
to thank everyone who has been behind the scenes helping me out over the
years. There are way to many of you to name, but all I can say is thank
you. I also, again, want to thank Rita, Susan, Stephanie, and Kevin for
contributing to this month's update. Next Month we'll have a brand spanking
new Featured Photo. As usual, if you haven't read all of our Featured
Photos do it before the cool kids find out. You can do that here.
Also, sign the Guestbook. Patrick |
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