once he found out that he would have access to video and lights for his EP release show at the bryant lake bowl, he had the idea to create a backdrop of photography and art by by some of his friends.  he lined up yours truly (um, me) and jenn barnett, wing young huie, sara montour, alexandra k, john alspach, and stacy schwartz.

my contribution to the show will be from my nyc snapshots series, taken last fall in…obviously…nyc.  i went there in august and it was about 850 degrees.  i brought three cameras and after the first half day, i schlepped it all back up to the hotel room and left in a skirt with pockets, my iPhone, and a credit card. and my room key!  geez.  it then only felt like 820 degrees.  i walked and walked and walked, and took almost all my photos with my aging phone.   i was very happy with the way they turned out – and one in particular caught ryan’s eye.  it was taken about 5 minutes before storms being pushed in from a hurricane further south dropped sheets and sheets of rain on the city for an hour.  i barely made it into a taxi in time, and i snapped the photo while i was hailing one.  i actually took two – this happened during the first half day that i was still toting big camera around, and i took it with both.  this is the one from the iPhone:

ryan said the first time he saw it that he wanted to use it as an album cover.  but!  someone had already claimed it as such the day before.  we stopped talking about it and he picked out one or two of the other photos in the series to use for posters/handbills.  months went by and the musician who originally claimed the photo for a cover went another direction.  ryan had decided to use another one of the series for the cover, a photo of a sign that says “cute souvenirs.”  we were working with the contrast and brightness to get it right for the cover and it wasn’t going well. i remembered i had taken a similar right-before-the-storm image with my nikon, so i pulled that out and sent it to him with a note that said, i just found this.  no one has ever seen it before.  i forgot i had it.  he replied a few minutes later saying, “that’s the cover.”

and so it is.  there’s always a story with these things.  cute story.  cute souvenirs.
please try to make it out to the bryant lake bowl on july 1st for this show – support local art, support local music!  details below,  see you there.

Thursday, July 1 - Vita.mn Presents:
Cute Souvenirs Session EP Release Show -
with guest Janey Winterbauer (and more) and a set by Zoo Animal
Bryant Lake Bowl Theater – Minneapolis, MN
$8 advance – $10 door. Buy Tickets Online (June 1) at BrownPaperTickets.com
or BLB Box Office: 612-825-8949
Doors: 9:30pm

august 9th of 2008 was a beautiful day.  i set out with friend/musician ryan paul to do a photo shoot after having waited for the perfect time of day, when the light was exactly just the way i hoped it would be . . . the sun setting and making that super pretty gentle light sideways across a hill down the road from my house, at the end of which was a completely hideous and ghastly abandoned house.

i had passed the house hundreds of times and the plan for this day was to take photos on the porch of it–where there were no less than 3 stoves, many unidentifiable tools and several other large appliances carelessly stashed.  the house is located on a farm, and there is a fully functional regular house on the property.  it seemed appropriate at the time to ask permission to be wandering around taking photos, so we parked and i approached the front door.  couldn’t get to it.  the only way in was through the open garage, the backyard, and on the porch.  i cautiously went through the garage and out into the backyard and found several dozen diseased, dying, bleeding, crying and otherwise heartbreaking cats and kittens.  fighting back tears, i stepped through the terrible kitty yard and up onto the porch.  i was terrified as i pulled open the screen door and knocked on the kitchen door. after a few minutes the door swung open loudly and cigarette smoke billowed out in a huge cloud onto me.  the creepiest of creepy old dudes appeared through the smoke and stared at me until i started to stutter. . .

“uuuuum….i.   i am a photographer?  annnnnnd……wondering if.    could i?  the house over there.  the broken-y one?  i can take pictures on the porch for a few minutes, please?  friend.  band.  needs pictures.”

and his answer:  ”THAT HOUSE?!? that house ain’t mine.  that old guy in, well he lives in CHANhassen.  he don’ care. whatever.  grunt.”

so i ran!!! back through the bad kitty place and ran!!! out the garage and leaped into the car, breathing so fast, and looked at ryan with sheer terror, and said, “it’s ok.”  and he didn’t believe me.  and i said, “no.  it’s fine.  tell you later.  oh my god.”

so we went over to the house and started poking around on the porch, taking some shots.  i didn’t know ryan well enough yet to know he would do this, but he immediately went over to the garage attached to the back of the house and shimmied his skinny ass under the 1.5 foot opening and started climbing through the house.  i’m thinking, “NOPE.  unh-uh.  i am NOT going in there.  no way, not gonna happen.  gross!!  who IS this guy?”  but all that comes out of my mouth is, “um, are you okay?  what was that noise?”  and what i hear from inside is:

“OH MY GOD!! HOLY SHIT!”  …crash….thud….”DEAD ANIMAL! you HAVE to come in here! climb under the….the door, climb und—-” CRASH.

nope.  not gonna.  not climbing under that door and going in there.  i followed along the side of the house, taking pictures in through the window so i could see what was going on.  (window height is above my head.)  i heard him smashing through the house, swearing, and then finally appearing out on the front porch.  ”oh!  hey.  the front door was unlocked.”

sigh.

needless to say, he convinced me to go inside and we spent a few awesome hours exploring the nasty house, taking photos, and admiring the sound of his new guitar in an abandoned house.

and there you have it, joseph.  the story of where your photo came from.

erik koskinen, by jenn barnett

i first met jenn barnett last year some time.  i think the first time we actually spoke to each other was as i arrived at a church to shoot a wedding with her.  i had long since known about and admired her work and i was mostly familiar with her band photography, although she has quite a diverse portfolio.

jenn is an avid music lover and has done much to promote local bands and musicians.  local producer/rock star ed ackerson summed it up well when he said, “Jenn is golden, a huge asset for our community as a whole.”

you will no doubt be shocked (shocked, i tell you!  jk) to learn that it can be really difficult to make a living based purely on photography.  and what is even more shocking (yeah, right) is that it is equally difficult to make a living performing music.  i admire jenn because she is a full time photographer, she has her eye fixed on the target and she’s making it happen.  but, like many of us in creative fields, it sometimes takes the support of the community to make it through.

i recently learned that jenn’s camera had been on its last leg despite having undergone repairs.  and then it died completely.  her only option to make enough money to replace her camera body would be to sell prints – she couldn’t rely on the income from new shoots, because she couldn’t do new shoots.  panic! complete panic.  i just can’t imagine being without a camera – mine is never far from my sight.  i can’t live without it.  i wanted to help but i wasn’t sure what to do.  then i had an idea.

jenn has done *so* much for local musicians and helping to promote them, both through creating amazing images of their bands and telling people about their music . . . surely some of them would rally to help her replace her camera.  and they would! they are!  the bands i approached immediately embraced the idea of donating their time to help.

as of yesterday, we have the final lineup – although i’m certain that any of the bands on the bill would be willing to work in a cameo if anyone else wanted to get in on this.  i started calling it the Jennefit (because i’m hilarious) even though that’s basically painful in it’s dorkiness.  it’s super fun to say!  say it out loud.  do it!  jennefit.

here’s what we are going to do, and i TOTALLY need your help, if you are reading this.  we are going to the turf club on march 26th and we are going to watch these kick ass bands play until they make us all go home:

the honeydogs
ashleigh still
erik koskinen
ryan paul & the ardent
the mad ripple (jim walsh)

here’s what i need YOU to do.

1. tell everyone you know.  right now, go do it. tell them to write it on their calendars.
2. come to the show!
3. if you are in the media, um – contact me?  please?  and write about this.  for reals.  kthx.

ready, set, go.

i set up his website so that he could take more control of updating it on his own, and shortly after he started working on some of his own handbills and banner ads – timidly and jokingly at first, swearing he couldn’t do it and sending me this ridiculous thing:

but when i just made fun of him, he made this, which is awesome (photo by alexandra k):

this morning he sent me a link, with only a comment saying that his favorite part was at 2:35.  it’s a video on you tube, and it’s for one of my favorite songs on La Vita Nuova, the album he released with his band this last summer.  i asked if his roommate made it, because his roommate makes videos and stuff.  he said “i made it.  really. me.”  and i was so proud!  and impressed.  and i want to share the video, and ask you to to listen to this great song.  enjoy!