If someone was to ask me what my passion is, without hesitation I would say music. Everything about it permiates my soul to the point where a single song can elicit an emotion so severe that it can bring me to tears on even the happiest of days. Music is the soundtrack to my life. I can listen to a song and know where I was when I first heard it, who I was in love with, what man ripped out my soul, what best friend was on vacation with me, what show I was at, what town I was living in. You get the idea.
When I decided to do this assignment, I knew my destination. My friend Casey is a talented, beautiful, amazing and completely under appreciated musician and he never lets anyone into the sanctity of his home...except me. I wanted to shoot him in his element, his home, his "fortress of solitude". I was lucky enough to get the ok and after a couple of tries, I finally made it over to his house tonight. Of course, he lives two blocks away from me so it wasn't that hard for me, but it turns out that it was actually a bit of a struggle for him.
I knew that he didn't really like visitors. He's a solitary type of guy; loves to be alone, will take off in the middle of a party without a word to anyone, will sit with you at a bar and not say a word, can watch tv all night long and not want to discuss what you just saw. It's one of the things I love about him. I was in a mood tonight from a strange phone call this morning so when I arrived at Casey's I wasn't exactly in the right mind set to take pictures. I could tell that he was a bit un-nerved by having someone in his place so right of the bat it was awkward.
He was playing his 12 string when I came in. Such a beautiful sound, it resonates throughout the apartment as I put together my camera. I'm sitting on his bed facing him and he's framed by the sun through the window. I sat for a while letting him play as I hadn't heard him on the guitar for quite some time. He put the guitar down after a while and I proceeded to attempt some non cliche macro pictures. I'm not sure I succeeded, but I was happy to see that I captured the dust from his guitar, accumulated from months of neglect after taking second fiddle, if you will, to his piano.
I spent some time on the guitar as I was a bit shy to take pictures of Casey. I knew he was feeling a bit skiddish about the whole thing but still trying to be supportive of me and my art, which was awesome. I tried to respect his home and his privacy, but I just wanted to take pictures of everything I saw because I'm so enamored by his home. The piles and piles of books, magazines, records, cd's, musical instruments and everything that an artist would need to call it the space a home. I was jealous, honestly, and wished I had the creativity in just one finger that this kid has in his whole being.
I'm always amazed at his ability to create in "chaos". I put that in quotations because I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to organization. Some people may differ on this opinion, but honestly when things around me are in disarray, I find it hard to concentrate. Casey, on the other hand, looks right passed any distraction and continues to create. I love this picture because it shows you how he can have all these things around him, all these obstacle and still produce a beautiful melody or recreate the song he just heard moments ago, even if he had never heard it before in his life.
I guess I was feeling out of my element so I decided to head home after listening to some happy music I had requested as I listen to some pretty depressing crap sometimes. Casey was kind enough to lend me his guitar to try and take some more shots of the mother of pearl inlay. He followed me home a short while later and hung out with me for a while. A little wine to loosen us both up and I had him playing his guitar with the shadow of an overturned lamp to light him. I finally got the shot that I had been thinking of, which is above. I wanted a ghostly like image strumming a guitar. I feel like I captured that, all the while listening to made up songs about myself from the amazing mind of my subject. Oh so silly.
One of my favorite cords, g, is what I call the "fuck you" cord. It looks as though you're giving someone the finger, but I swear...it's really a cord! Ok, perhaps this one is a little over exaggerated
I didn't get exactly what I was hoping for out of this assignment, but I'm so grateful for what I did get. Time spent with a good friend, fond memories, silly songs, laughter, music, art, quiet, understanding and one more project under my belt. I'm so glad that Casey let me into his world, and I hope that others I ask will follow suit no matter how awkward. It's the unknown that creates the beauty. If we knew what was to come, we wouldn't appreciate it as much.
Next assignment: Color. Stay tuned...and if you would like to join in on my weekly assignments please let me know!
When I decided to do this assignment, I knew my destination. My friend Casey is a talented, beautiful, amazing and completely under appreciated musician and he never lets anyone into the sanctity of his home...except me. I wanted to shoot him in his element, his home, his "fortress of solitude". I was lucky enough to get the ok and after a couple of tries, I finally made it over to his house tonight. Of course, he lives two blocks away from me so it wasn't that hard for me, but it turns out that it was actually a bit of a struggle for him.
I knew that he didn't really like visitors. He's a solitary type of guy; loves to be alone, will take off in the middle of a party without a word to anyone, will sit with you at a bar and not say a word, can watch tv all night long and not want to discuss what you just saw. It's one of the things I love about him. I was in a mood tonight from a strange phone call this morning so when I arrived at Casey's I wasn't exactly in the right mind set to take pictures. I could tell that he was a bit un-nerved by having someone in his place so right of the bat it was awkward.
He was playing his 12 string when I came in. Such a beautiful sound, it resonates throughout the apartment as I put together my camera. I'm sitting on his bed facing him and he's framed by the sun through the window. I sat for a while letting him play as I hadn't heard him on the guitar for quite some time. He put the guitar down after a while and I proceeded to attempt some non cliche macro pictures. I'm not sure I succeeded, but I was happy to see that I captured the dust from his guitar, accumulated from months of neglect after taking second fiddle, if you will, to his piano.
I spent some time on the guitar as I was a bit shy to take pictures of Casey. I knew he was feeling a bit skiddish about the whole thing but still trying to be supportive of me and my art, which was awesome. I tried to respect his home and his privacy, but I just wanted to take pictures of everything I saw because I'm so enamored by his home. The piles and piles of books, magazines, records, cd's, musical instruments and everything that an artist would need to call it the space a home. I was jealous, honestly, and wished I had the creativity in just one finger that this kid has in his whole being.
I'm always amazed at his ability to create in "chaos". I put that in quotations because I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to organization. Some people may differ on this opinion, but honestly when things around me are in disarray, I find it hard to concentrate. Casey, on the other hand, looks right passed any distraction and continues to create. I love this picture because it shows you how he can have all these things around him, all these obstacle and still produce a beautiful melody or recreate the song he just heard moments ago, even if he had never heard it before in his life.
I guess I was feeling out of my element so I decided to head home after listening to some happy music I had requested as I listen to some pretty depressing crap sometimes. Casey was kind enough to lend me his guitar to try and take some more shots of the mother of pearl inlay. He followed me home a short while later and hung out with me for a while. A little wine to loosen us both up and I had him playing his guitar with the shadow of an overturned lamp to light him. I finally got the shot that I had been thinking of, which is above. I wanted a ghostly like image strumming a guitar. I feel like I captured that, all the while listening to made up songs about myself from the amazing mind of my subject. Oh so silly.
One of my favorite cords, g, is what I call the "fuck you" cord. It looks as though you're giving someone the finger, but I swear...it's really a cord! Ok, perhaps this one is a little over exaggerated
I didn't get exactly what I was hoping for out of this assignment, but I'm so grateful for what I did get. Time spent with a good friend, fond memories, silly songs, laughter, music, art, quiet, understanding and one more project under my belt. I'm so glad that Casey let me into his world, and I hope that others I ask will follow suit no matter how awkward. It's the unknown that creates the beauty. If we knew what was to come, we wouldn't appreciate it as much.
Next assignment: Color. Stay tuned...and if you would like to join in on my weekly assignments please let me know!
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